Police are reminding residents to make sure that they close and lock their doors properly and keep windows in unoccupied rooms closed. Between Monday night and Friday morning in the week closing July 28, there were 18 reported residential burglaries in Tower Hamlets in east London. Most burglars gain access to properties through open doors that have not been properly locked or through unattended windows that have been left open.
Opportunists will remove items that are on show even if the occupant is at home, therefore it is important that all valuables are kept safe and out of sight. Police say that they often find whole rows of homes with tool marks on the doors where a burglar has gone from property to property looking for the door that hasn’t been securely locked. Please make sure that the ‘unlocked’ door does not belong to you.
Detective Chief Inspector John Elliott of Tower Hamlets Police said: “Making sure that your doors are locked properly is just a small adjustment to your security routine that could mean that a burglar bypasses your home. It is important to remember that just lifting the handle on a UPVC door closes it, it doesn’t lock it.“
Open windows are also an attraction for the opportunist burglar. During the summer months it is tempting to throw open your windows, but if you leave an open window unattended you could be letting in more than fresh air.
DCI Elliott added: “The effects of becoming a victim of burglary run far deeper than a loss of property and burglary is not something that happens to ‘other people’. The fewer residents that have to endure the ordeal of becoming a victim of this distressing crime, the happier I will be.”
