The results of the latest Jablotron survey say that a burglar can open an apartment with an average security level within five minutes

 

Prague, January 24, 2013

 

Jablotron, a leading expert in security systems, conducted a unique representative surveyamong Czech prisoners condemned for burglaries and thefts. They investigated what kind ofsecurity was the best in their opinion, whatattracted them to people’s homes and whatpeople’s most frequent mistakes were . 82% of burglars say: “I can open an apartment withaverage security measures within five minutes.” And people make it even easier for them;more than 80% of the prisoners got into the building through an open or poorly securedwindow.

 

 

The survey took place at the end of2012 with the aim of collectingthe experience of burglars and tomap the latest trends of committing this criminal activity.

 

In the criminals’ view the most frequent mistake people make is insufficient window security. This iswhat three quarters of the prisoners find the easiest way into a building. The next easiest way ofgetting inside is allegedly the cellar. On the otherhand, the entrance door often represents a hard nutto crack for the burglar and even the roof doesnot give easy access points to a building.

 

Which parts of buildings do burglars find the easiest to get inside?

 

1.Windows (84 %)

 

2.Cellar (74 %)

 

3.Garage (73 %)

 

“We continuously try to improve our products and services to prevent damage to the property of ourcustomers. We are a manufacturer of alarms and the operator of the biggest security centre in theCzech Republic and we are therefore strongly interested in the views of those we actually develop ourproducts against”, says Dalibor Dědek, the owner of Jablotron.

 

The survey indicates that out of the common security systems burglars find alarms (70 %), securitydoors of the NEXT type (69 %) and security glass (63 %) to be the biggest obstacles. More than halfof burglars would also be discouraged by a sign marked “This building is connected to an alarmreceiving centre” and the same number say thata watchdog would make them change their mind. Onthe other hand, 80% of the respondents said thatneighbours in the house next door did not mean anyobstacle for them and 2/3 continued burgling in spite of a sounding alarm.

 

What are burglars not afraid of?

 

1.Neighbours in an adjacent house (80 %)

 

2.External shutters (75 %)

 

3.Window foil (71 %)

 

What time of day do burglars find suitable? 52% ofthe respondents said that for a family house thenight was better. Conversely, 74% preferred the day in the case of an apartment building. Animportant finding is that over 40 % of burglars prefer a situation for their burglary when people aresleeping in the building.

 

What makes burglars select a building for their burglary? The Jablotron survey has revealed that inmost cases these are the “recommendations” of someone they know. But they can also be attractedby signs of a longer absence, full mailbox or thefact that the house is not ventilated and there is nolight. Displaying valuable things or boasting about theme.g. through Facebook is not sensible either.Today, social networks are used byabout a tenth of burglars for thepreparation of their burglary.

 

Ways of selecting buildings:

 

1.Friends’ tips

 

2.Full mailbox

 

3.Watching the habits of the inhabitants of the house/apartment

 

For 2012 the Czech Police register more than 50,000 burglaries with a total damage of nearly 78million Euro: The prisoners generally agree that due to advanced security systems getting intobuildings it is becoming much more difficult, but these data indicate that Czech people still have greatroom for improvement as regards property security.