17
Aug
2015
By Calvin at 10:19 GMT, 10 years ago
It’s not often I’m able to say this, but because Lancashire Police’s summer burglary initiative has included the promotion of our Home Security Survey I’ve been able to provide them with some feedback.
Home security surveys conducted by Lancashire residents using our application have soared during the past week and I’ve been passing the results back to them. So far more than forty residents have worked their way through the assortment of security questions we ask, which are determined by the type of property they live in, and of these only three have a level of security that will almost certainly prevent a burglary. A further 15 have a level of security that would defeat the majority of opportunists, but the rest of the homes surveyed fall some way below what I consider to be a minimum level of home security.
You can read more about the survey’s ‘risk assessment scores’ and what they mean on our Home Security Survey page, but in brief:
- 0 – 38 Burglary is highly likely
- 39 – 51 Burglary is likely
- 52 – 69 The Grey Zone
- 70 – 78 Burglary is unlikely
- 79 – 100 Burglary is highly unlikely
The ‘Grey Zone’ includes homes with what might be described as an ‘average’ range of security measures. For those with homes scoring between 52 and 62, who live in rural areas where burglary is around half the suburban rate, these measures might be sufficient to stave off the inevitable for quite some considerable time, but I have to say that that time is borrowed. Even those in the 62 to 69 bracket will be hard-pressed to prevent the determined thief from taking advantage.
The national average score for the 4,441 surveys completed since we launched the site is currently standing at 60.23. This is too low and residents should be aiming to achieve a score in the high sixties and preferably in the seventies. My home currently scores 74 and I’ve still got a few things I want to do to improve that risk assessment score.
None of the homes surveyed in Lancashire this past week have risk assessment scores that place them in the ‘Burglary is likely’ category, but you’d be surprised to discover just how many do nationwide. I hope the respondents act on the advice given to them in the free security report they’re sent, because as the campaign in Lancashire says: “It’s not just what they take...It’s what they leave behind”.
Source: Lancashire Constabulary: http://www.lancashire.police.uk/campaigns/summer-burglary-campaign.aspx
