The vast majority of home burglaries are "opportunistic". A potential thief sees a chance, like an open door, and takes the opportunity to nick a handbag or car keys.
Having your home broken into and possessions stolen, can be very distressing. Victims report feeling shock, anger, fear – even a sense of helplessness. Let alone the loss of property.
What is frustrating is that much of this crime – and therefore the distress it causes – can be avoided. All we need to do is remove the opportunity.
Keeping doors locked even when we are at home; making sure that our home looks occupied. Crime prevention just takes us knowing the simple steps we can take and taking them.
As part of our How Safe Is My Place program, supported by RACV, we have built a fantastic online tool to help you identify the things you can do to help reduce the risk of a thief breaking into your home and stealing your stuff.
Our online “How Safe Is My Place” quiz is based on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). CPTED is a multi-disciplinary approach for reducing crime through urban and environmental design and the management and use of built environments.
But let’s drop the jargon. CPTED is actually just commonsense. Things like not having high front fences that criminals can hide behind and blocks your neighbours from seeing if there is something suspicious going on.
“How Safe Is My Place” asks you a series of questions to get you thinking about the security of your property, coupled with hints and tips for things you can actively do to prevent crime.
And it is not just about installing security equipment. Crime prevention can be as simple as putting a piece of dowel in the track of your sliding door.
Take the “How Safe Is My Place” quiz. We will send you all of your results so that you can prioritise your steps, and we will send you lour Top 5 simplest tips for preventing home burglary in Victoria today.
