A Real Life Burglary

What happens if I am burgled and can my security alarm prevent intrusion?

Here we explain what happened to the burglary attempt at our Farnham Common showroom few months ago. This gives you a real picture of what could happen if someone tries to break in at your home. This is a real attempt and here we share what we learned to safeguard our belongings and how security system and police helped us minimise our loss.

A chain of push notification woke me up

I was woken up at middle of the night, with the non-stop push notification bell from my smart phone. Shocked and terrified to read the message, alarm triggered, office room window sensor alert!!. I switched to the CCTV camera App and I could see two men trying to break in through the two front windows. It was the newly refurbushed office windows and doors that we have built recently. More than the windows, it was our dream of a security business that they were trying to loot.

They kept on trying for atleast 2 minutes

I should say the burglars were well exeprienced. Even though the alarm was sounding so loud and the office was situated in a well lit highstreet across the road, they kept on trying for atleast 2 minutes by kicking and boxing to open the window latch. I could see on my smart phone that they left in 2 minutes time, disappointed that they couldn't get in.

Why 2 minutes?

Yes. They knew it is a security companies office that they are trying to break in and the burglar alarm would defenitely be connected to Police. So the average time of Police or the owners to reach the crime spot is around 5 minutes. Crystal clear, they did not want be caught. Just to note, this office is by the side of an A-road with light traffic and easy access.

Police at site within minutes

Since the burglar alarm was connected to monitoring station, the staff confirmed it as real alarm following sequential trigger and rang the Thames Valley Police. Around 4 to 5 police cars rushed to the spot with 8 police officers acting spontanously to prevent further damage. I reached the spot in another 15 minutes and spent the rest of the night wiping the broken glass pieces and dowloading the CCTV footage for the police force.

Next day, with tiery eyes I had to carry on with my usual work, with forensic officers poping in to get some finger prints. Nevertheless with a heavy head, I was glad that they were not able to ran away with my office computer.

police cars on crime spot in 5 minutes of the alarm

What saved us from a great loss?

Smart Security System: Thanks to the shock sensors fitted to the windows that triggered the burglar alarm. The control panel then triggered the sounder and sent messages to all registered smart phones together with informing the 24/7 Alarm receiving centre. With a URN (Unique Reference Number ) registered with local police, they were able to rang the Police on our behalf and they were on site within minutes

Secure Locks: Each of our windows and doors are secured with strong latches with no easy access to intruders. These steps retricted their active time of burglary to less than 2 minutes. And so the damage to our office was minor even though the impact stayed on for days.

Tips to protect your Home

Here, we list few tips to reduce your loss if someone had made up their mind to break into your home or office.

Restricted Time

Intruders never want to be caught. So we need to minimise the time they have planned by creating obstructions. Yes, lock all the internal doors when you are away and it takes time for them to break each of the door before they could reach the treasure.

Monitored Alarm

Display monitored alarm stickers on windows and get your alarm monitored on your smart phone or by a third party Alarm Receiving Centre. Keep a distinct notification sound so you never miss any alert. Also remember to allow notification from your alarm to be displayed on the home screen of your phone

Security Camera

A recorded footage would defenitely help you with confirming the alarm if not connected to monitoring station. In addition, this is a solid evidence for Police investigation.