Safe outside?

Many people take a great deal of trouble securing their house and the property
within it . . . but what about sheds and garages?


Sheds . . .
With the array of lawnmowers, power tools, garden equipment, bicycles, sports and other valuable equipment kept in them, security measures should certainly be put in place.

• Make sure that shed is near to the house or clearly visible from the house
• Make sure that the door, door frame and walls are solid and replace any damaged or rotten areas with new sections
• Often sheds are left unlocked or without any appropriate security, such as padlocks, chains or lighting. By installing these simple items can give better protection to your property.
• Replace broken glass panes with laminated glass. Fit windows with a grille fixed to steel plates inside the shed
• Fit key-operated window locks on opening windows. if the windows are never opened, screw them permanently shut from the inside.
• Use metal rings and chains fixed to the shed frame with security screws to enable you to secure your electrical items, ladders and tools
• Fit a battery powered alarm. These can be purchased from DIY stores and garden centres
• Make sure your household policy covers sheds, garages and outbuildings.

Garages . . .

• If you have a household alarm fitted, consider extending the system into the garage area to detect intruders
• Purchase a separate garage alarm, which can be connected to a standard electrical 240v socket with a three pin plug.
• Fit a garage door blocker on the outside of the door. This products bolts permanently to the floor, has a large 'T' bar shaped restrictor and a quality locking device.
• Consider fitting a pair of garage doors that are fitted either vertically or horizontally and can be locked either from the inside or the outside of the garage.
• Install dead bolts mounted one on each edge of the door inside the garage. When in use, the locks throw a bolt into the doorframe or the concrete floors of the garage.
• Various good quality 'up and over' or 'rolling' deadlocking door handles can be purchased to replace the existing poor quality locks to give better security.
• Consider purchasing loop cables. These have a long braided steel cable and a two-bolt anchor locking point. These fix to garage walls or floors and can be passed through expensive property such as quad bikes, etc. Some cables are alarmed.

Property . . .
Gardening tools and garden furniture are not cheap - what's more they are very saleable items for a thief. Don't make it easy for them to be stolen, and remember that tools stolen from your shed could be used to burgle your house, or someone else's.

• Postcode or property mark anything in your shed or garage that is of value and might be stolen, for example, lawnmowers, garden furniture, bicycles, sports equipment.
• Take photographs of expensive items - they may be useful to police for identifying the goods and returning them to you, should you unfortunate enough to have them stolen.
• Never leave garden tools and equipment outside, even if you are just popping back into the house. It only takes minutes for an opportunist thief to take them.

Outdoors . . .
You can make it difficult for a thief to get into your garden.

• Fit lights which come on when it gets dark and turn themselves off when it becomes light. Alternatively. install lights that come on automatically with a movement sensor.
• Make sure all fences are in good repair and that panels cannot be easily moved or lifted. The height for a perimeter fence or wall around the back garden is 1.8 metres (6ft). Attaching trellis to the top of the wood panels can increase the height of a fence and act as a further deterrent.
• Fit a padlock or bolt on the inside of all garden gates for security
• Laying a thick gravel path makes it impossible for thieves to approach without making a noise and is a good crime reduction alternative to slabs and concrete.
• Plant protection is another way of guarding your property. A selection of thorny bushes and prickly plants planted near to potential access routes, such as fences or walls, are not only visual deterrent but also a physical barrier to intruders. While these methods are ideal for making forced entry difficult through natural means, they should not replace traditional security measures such as padlocks or chains.

Remember the more difficult it is for a thief to enter your property the more likely they will leave it alone, they do not like noise or light or preventative measures which requires their time and the bigger chance of them being seen or heard.
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As well as these messages being sent out, the team here at Southam also rely on the vigilant members of our community to keep us informed of any information that is not reported to the Police.
We encourage all members of our Community to report incidents no matter how big or little they are.
This message if possible needs to be past onto all co-ordinators for your areas. I really appreciate your help, your continued support and look forward to working with you all.
Please report all crimes and/or incidents on the new non-emergency reporting number 101.
All emergencies on 999
Kind Regards
on behalf of  . . .
Claire Murray
PCSO 6247


SOUTHAM / WELLESBOURNE FARM WATCH & NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
Southam Police Station
High Street
Southam
Tel : 01926 684984
Email : southamfarmwatch@warwickshire.pnn.police.uk / southam.snt@warwickshire.police.uk
Please do not report crime directly to the team, the correct number for reporting is 101 (non-emergency) or 999 (emergency).