I don't know about you but the Autumn is my favourite time of the year, the football season is in full swing, the leaves are falling, and Strictly Come Dancing is back on the telly, what more can you ask for?

However, the Autumn is also the favourite time of year for other members of our community too, the community of thieves and burglars. This is the time of year when it is very easy to spot when your house is unoccupied or not, simply by lights not being on in the house around dusk, yes it is as simple as that!

If you know you are not going to be home before darkness falls and you don't already use timers for your lights please purchase some before it's too late. My advice is to buy at least three for your property. Have one fitted to your hallway, another to a back room if possible and finally one to a bedroom. Obviously one size does not fit all and you may have different ideas for your property. You can also use a timer to bring a radio on, I would suggest a speech based station to give the
impression that someone is either in the house having a conversation or they are just listening to the radio.

Of course the greatest deterrent is an alarm, burglars do not like two things, one is to be seen the other is to be heard. An alarm really is a proven defence, they can be relatively inexpensive to install but like all things you only get what you pay for.

These are just a couple of tips on trying to make sure you do not come home to find you are the victim of a burglary, which I should add are still a rare occurrence in our area. Beware of the garden ornament thieves. There has been a spate of thefts from gardens in the area recently, such as sun dials and stone ornaments. Please make every effort to protect such items, this really
is easier said than done I know, but one thing you can do is, if you are going away for a night or two, please try to move valuable items from your garden to a more secure place under lock and key.

If you would like any more help or advice on these subjects please contact me.

Regards
Pc 2295 Rob Hawkes
Safer Neighbourhood Team
2295@surrey.pnn.police.uk