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Crime
Prevention for Headcorn
Securing your
shed
While many
people take steps to protect their homes, they often forget the value of the
items stored outside. Garden sheds, outbuildings and garages packed with tools,
machinery and other valuable equipment offer easy pickings to thieves. Each year
householders lose hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of equipment, which is
easy to sell on and often untraceable. By taking the right precautions you can
reduce the opportunities for thieves and ensure that if your property is stolen,
there is abetter chance of it being traced and returned.
Here's how you
can cut the risk of theft:-
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Always put
tools and equipment away safely, items left lying around outside could be
stolen or used to help break in. |
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Disable lawn
mowers and other large machinery when not in use and chain items together to a
solid anchor point. |
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Record
details of your property (make, model, serial number and identifying marks)
and take photographs of items for easy identification. |
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Use close
shackle padlocks to secure shed ad install shed alarms and security lights. |
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Register your
valuable on the Nation Property Database
www.immobilise.com |
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Security-mark
your property using UV pen or a forensic marking solution |
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Ensure the
screws are not accessible when using a hasp and staple lock or pad bolts |
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Prevent
unwanted visitors form entering your garden by maintaining hedges and fences |
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Close your
garden gate and lock it from the inside |
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Use lockable
hanging baskets or secure the baskets to their brackets |
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Avoid leaving
house doors and windows open or unlocked when working in the garden. |
Burgulary/home
security
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Keep your
doors and windows locked when you go out |
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Keep your car
keys out of sight |
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Do not leave
cash and valuables on display in your home |
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Postcode your
valuables using a UV pen |
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Light up your
house during the hours of darkness by using low energy lights |
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Fit timers to
switch internal lights and radios on to give the impression someone is in |
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If you share
a door with other tenants, take responsibility and make sure it's locked at
all times |
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Don't leave
spare keys outside, or in a garage, or shed. |
Vehicle Crime
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If you have a
garage, use it |
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Remove all
valuables from your vehicle and don not leave anything on display |
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Always remove
portable CDs/radios and take them with you, don't hide them in the vehicle |
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Fit a
Thatcham approved alarm and a Secured by design anti-theft device to your
vehicle |
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When in the
city centre, use a designated car park instead of parking on back streets and
unlit roads |
Personal Safety
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Make sure
your mobile phone is with you at all times and don not leave it on display |
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Remain alert
and avoid walking alone after dark |
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Stay on well
lit streets |
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Get a
personal attack alarm and carry it in your hand |
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Carry your
bag close to you with the fastening next to your body, but if someone tries to
get it, let it go, your safety is more important |
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Don't be
tempted to hitch a ride or accept a lift from someone you do not know |
Remember always
report suspicious incidents to the police on 999 for emergencies and 01622
690690 for non-emergencies.
Message from Siobhan de Burca
Police Community Support Office
Rural neighbourhood Policing Unit
Maidstone Police Station
Palace Avenue
Maidstone
ME15 6NF
Tel: 01622 604392
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