Police officers armed with window alarms, SmartWater and smoke detectors have been out in force - knocking on doors as part of a borough-wide drive to combat rocketing burglary rates.
The borough’s Safer Neighbourhood teams have been joined by other officers as they speak to residents in burglary hotspots, after the Met revealed that there are more burglaries in Enfield than in all but one other London borough — nearly three in every 100 households were burgled in the 12 months to March.
The Safe as Houses initiative represents a significant outlay for the borough’s police, with teams taking it in turn to use a dedicated van to seek out unsecured homes. These are then visited by officers on foot, who give advice and hand out free devices which help prevent crooks getting into homes.
During the week prior to the visit, leaflets are dropped through residents’ letter-boxes to let them know officers will be in their area. Anti-burglary devices on offer include alarms and SmartWater, which helps police officers identify stolen goods. Officers also check locks and smoke alarms in homes free of charge, When locks are not up to scratch, a locksmith is sent round.
Sylvia Donaldson, a Palmers Green resident, said: “I have been burgled once before, so I am happy to have a bit of security here. “The sound of the alarm will wake the whole building up. Most of them have double locks. You do sometimes get unwelcome visitors — other people in the building can let them in.” PC Anne Berry also told Mrs. Donaldson about the Message in a Bottle scheme, which sees residents, put important medical information in the fridge so paramedics, alerted to look there by a sticker on the door, can easily find it. She added: “We try to come back to residents who are not in, but you are never going to get 100 per cent of people interested. “If it was an old lady on her own in an unsecured home then we would definitely make sure that someone came to see her, and we do get call-backs from the people we leaflet who weren’t in.”
Sergeant Ski Reed, who heads up the Palmers Green Safer Neighbourhood team: “The response can vary Last week we went out in the evening. We visited 160 houses and of those only four or five people weren’t interested. People will generally be quite willing as it is all free. “Every little bit that you can do to make it harder for criminals is something. It can be very easy to get into someone’s house if they have left a window open or if they have an extension with a flat roof. We have brilliant things such as SmartWater, I just wish that more people would use it. If they don’t fill in the form and send it off, then it is useless.”
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