Our next Preventing Burglary seminar will be held on Tuesday, September 22nd at 6:45pm in our Kerrisdale Showroom.

Click here for more details and to RSVP.

We’ll have a wine & cheese reception before hand and then start promptly at 7:00pm. Afterwards, we’ll lead a tour through our 24/7 Operations Centre for anyone interested in seeing what happens behind the scenes when an alarm trips.

Our seminars always fill up … RSVP today to ensure that we’ve got a space for you on the 22nd.

Here’s a clip from a recent seminar discusses ‘Five-Minute Proofing’ and why it is the most important home security tactic…

Click below to watch a clip of a residential burglary in Atlanta that happened on Friday evening. The homewowner has posted on the clips on YouTube in an effort to help Police identify the suspects.

The the way this burglary happens is incredibly common. In fact, the video is almost identical to the M.O. used by burglars in Southlands from CCTV footage we published on this blog last year (I’ve re-posted that video below as well).

In both videos, one of the crooks calmly walks up to the front door and rings the doorbell a few times. If anyone had answered, the crook would have likely made up an excuse for being on the property (like being lost, looking for an address, looking for someone who doesn’t live there, etc.) and then left. This is why it is so important to ALWAYS ANSWER THE DOOR.

Once the house is confirmed to be empty, the crook goes back to get his accomplices and then kick the door down.

The fact that most residential burglaries, throughout North America, happen in an almost identical manner makes it easier to protect yourself.

Below the two burglary videos, I’ve added a clip from Realty TV where I describe exactly how a typical residential break-in happens and what you can do about it.

The most important tactic is to Five Minute Proof your most valuable belongings.

Here’s the Atlanta burglary footage from last week…

Here’s the Southlands burglary footage…

Here’s the clip from RealtyTV where I explain how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim…

The Telegraph ran a story today about a recent report commissioned by UK Insurer Legal & General that suggests that the use of social media sites, particularly Twitter and Facebook, could increase the risk of burglary.

Of specific concern in the report is the fact that of the 2,000 social media users polled for the report, two-fifths of them admitted to posting specific details about their holiday plans or times away from home.

Michael Fraser, who stars in a BBC program called Beat the Burglar, is a former burglar himself and had this to say in the Telegraph article:

“They gain confidence by learning more about them, what they are likely to own and when they are likely to be out of the house.

“I call it ‘internet shopping for burglars’. It is incredibly easy to use social networking sites to target people, and then scope out more information on their actual home using other internet sites like Google Street View, all from the comfort of the sofa.”

Of course, if a burglar wanted to see if you were actually home or not, they could just knock on the door.

If you have a monitored alarm with immediate response… you’re in pretty good shape.

In my experience, most crooks are not very industrious. If they were, they’d have a job. Most are drug addicts who are motivated by the need to score their next ‘hit’… which doesn’t leave a lot of time for planning out the perfect crime.

Instead, most burglars follow a very similar pattern… they will walk down a block, picking out homes that appear to be empty. Next, they will knock on the door to see if anyone is home. If there is no answer, they break in through the front door, go straight to the master bedroom, empty out the bedside table drawers and then into the closet.

Almost every burglar is looking for cash and things (like jewelry) that can be quickly turned into cash. It’s almost textbook. (You can read more about how the typical residential burglary happens by clicking here).

The Telegraph article goes on to explain why the Insurers say they are concerned about social media use:

“Our research shows that 41 per cent of people are divulging personal and private information to complete strangers on Facebook, such as their date of birth, where they worked, where they lived and what they were doing,” he said. “People are boasting about how they are having a fantastic time on a beach in Mexico on a webpage that has their home address.

“Criminals who put together the jigsaw can use it for identity theft or burglary. It is just as dangerous as leaving your windows or doors open at home.”

The report also found that almost half were unconcerned about social networking security. In an experiment, 100 friend requests were issued to random stranger. Nine out of 10 Twitter users accepted the stranger as a friend, with more than one in 10 Facebook users.

While posting that kind of specific information certainly won’t increase your security, it’s a long ways away from posing the same kind of risk as leaving your doors or windows open.

People should be cautious… but not paranoid.

Here’s the quote from the article that makes the most sense to me…

Privacy groups however have said insurance companies will simply use social networking sites to increase premiums.

Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, told The Daily Mail: “This is a disgraceful attempt to leverage yet more from customers.”

Is it a good idea to let the whole world know the specifics of your vacation plans on Twitter? Definitely not. Does it create enough of a new risk to warrant an Insurance premium increase? I don’t think so.

Home security is mostly common sense… it’s the really basic stuff that ends up having the most impact. It’s not so much about trying to imagine what you would do if you were a burglar, it’s about understanding how burglary actually happens in reality.

Ensuring that you remember to arm your alarm, five-minute proof your most valuable possessions and ensure that you’ve got someone to pick up your papers & mail while you’re away will ensure that you’re protected against the vast majority of would-be burglars… with or without a Facebook or Twitter profile.

I’ll be a guest on CBC Radio’s Early Edition tomorrow (Thursday, August 27th) at 6:15am PST with Rick Cluff.

We’ll be talking about the recent story about a crook who tried to steal an ATM machine from a Chevron gas station using a stolen backhoe…

In addition to regular intrusion alarms in people’s homes and businesses, Provident provides monitoring for many other things like boats, servers, HVAC units, sump pumps, furnaces, ATM’s and many other random devices/objects.

Protecting an ATM is very similar to protecting your home… it’s all about five minute proofing.

If you’re up at 6:30am, tune into CBC Radio One at 690AM or, you can listen live here.

Kerrisdale Days are here again… the sidewalk sale is on Thursday, August 27th and Friday, August 28th while the main event will be held on Saturday, August 29th between 9:00am and 5:00pm.

One of the big events is the annual Kerrisdale Idol competition that will be happening on the main stage between Starbucks and Shoppers Drug Mart. There is a $1,000 prize to the winner … but only 30 spots are available. Registration is first-come-first-served and will be happening at 8:30am in front of the stage.

This year will mark Provident’s 13th year of participating in Kerrisdale Days as a Business Association member and Sponsor (and security provider)… with Kerrisdale Carnival Days in April and Kerrisdale Days in August, this will be our 26th event on the street!

As always, we’ll be set-up on Yew Street between TD Canada Trust and RBC with our giant inflatable slide. We’ll have the slide set-up by 9:00am and will be giving out balloons all day long.

One of the most common questions that we get about the slide, once people see how big it is in real-life, is “how do you move that thing around and set it up?” … we filmed a short video that answers that question…

Channel 4 Action News in Pittsburgh ran a story last night about a burglary attempt in West Deer that was thwarted by a 10 year old boy.

The burglar ended up being 21 year old Brett Kreider, who lives in the same neighbourhood, who is now a suspect in 8 recent burglaries. As is often the case with most burglars, the accused burglar had just gotten out of jail… for burglary.

The M.O. of the burglar is almost exactly as I’ve laid out in previous posts about how the typical residential burglary happens… the fact that it ended up being a single person responsible for a ‘rash’ of burglaries is also typical.

Here are a few quotes from the story… (you can read the full story here)

The intruder ignored a dog, but when a 10-year-old boy spotted him and yelled at him to get out, he fled the scene.

[Police Chief Joe] Lape said the burglar had already broken into two other homes in the same neighborhood that day.Investigators said the burglar, who operates in broad daylight, usually takes pills, money, weapons and anything else of value that is easily carried away. He has also taken a truck from one of the eight homes police believe he’s burglarized

The really important lesson in the story, comes next…

Police said on one occasion the burglar knocked on a front door to see if anyone was home. When the door was answered, the burglar said he was looking for a dog and walked away.

This is what happens in almost every single burglary… before breaking in, the crook will first knock on the door to check if someone is home. If anyone answers, the crook will make up a quick story about why they are there and leave as quickly as possible.

The vast majority of burglars are not violent and are not looking for drama… if they were, they’d be robbing a bank or holding up a convenience store instead.

The most important advice about home security that you can give your kids, nannies, housekeepers or other people in your home is to NEVER IGNORE THE DOOR.

If someone knocks on your door, you should always let them know that someone is inside. Don’t open the door, but talk through it to let them know that the house is not empty. If you believe that the person at the door is in any way suspicious, call 911. If you live in Vancouver, you can also call us at 604.664.1087.

Barking dogs are rarely the deterrent that people think that they are. The fact is that most house pets, despite a good bark, are still house pets… and a motivated burglar can get by them without too much hassle. A human being, on the other hand, is almost always more trouble than they are worth… even if they are only 10 years old. In almost every case, a potential witness is far too much hassle and the potential crook will move on to the next unoccupied home.

I’ve written on this topic before on this blog back in 2006 with a post titled Answer the Door and another one in April after a Delta teenager ended up having to call 911 from a bedroom closet after a burglar had broken into her home after she ignored the knocking at the door.

Reuters reported on Monday that Lindsay Lohan was the victim of a second burglary in less than 3 months in her Hollywood Hills home.

Apparently, the most recent burglary was discovered around 3am when Lohan came home to find her safe ripped out of a wall. Lohan’s father suggested the burglary was an inside job due to the fact that the alarm had not been armed by a member of her house staff.

Whether it was an inside job or not, leaving/forgetting to arm your alarm can create a major risk. However, if you are relying on other people to arm your alarm system in your home or business, there are a few things that you can do to minimize the risk of someone forgetting… or forgetting on purpose.

1. Partition your alarm system

Most alarm systems are capable of having at least a couple different ‘partitions’. A partition is a group of zones that can be armed/disarmed independently of other groups of zones (ie. other partitions). Most often, we use this feature to separate a basement suite or garage from the main house…. or a Manager’s office from the rest of a retail store.

In cases where clients have staff working in their homes, particularly when they are not home themselves, sensitive areas such as a home office, master bedroom closet, wine cellar or other similar areas can be armed independently. If a safe has been installed, we can either arm the safe itself, or the closet/room that it is installed in, to it’s own partition. This way, even if the main house alarm is not set, the safe is always armed and will trigger a response anytime that access is attempted. (For more details about security for your safe, click here.)

If it’s artwork that you need to protect, we can install sensors that will trip the alarm (with or without a siren) anytime that a painting, sculpture or anything else you’d like to protect gets moved… whether or not the rest of the alarm system is armed.

I discussed how we use this technology to look after paintings in a Global TV News story that was filmed after the UBC Museum of Anthropology was broken into last year. Click on the link below to watch a 50 second excerpt from that clip. (You can watch the entire clip here.)

2. Set up ‘Supervised’ Openings & Closings

In commercial applications, Provident provides ‘supervision’ of the arming and disarming of client’s alarm systems.

The way this service works is that different staff members are assigned different permissions in our monitoring software. For example, while a business owner will be allowed to arm or disarm their business at anytime of the day or night that they please, a junior staff person may only be allowed to use their code between 8:30am and 7:00pm on weekdays. In the event that they attempt to use their code outside of those hours, we can either (1) program the alarm to simply deny access; or (2) allow access and send a silent alarm to the business owner to follow-up.

This service is also used to ensure that an alarm has been armed by a certain time. For example, if the last person out of your business typically leaves by 8:30pm, we can create an alarm that will automatically trip in the event that the alarm has not been armed by 9:00pm. If someone has forgotten to arm the system, we can either respond in person or remotely arm the alarm for you. Either way, the alarm is not left disarmed all night long.

Click below to watch a short clip from the CTV News last night regarding an initiative by the Vancouver Public Space Network to count the number of surveillance cameras in Downtown Vancouver. According to the VPSN website, the purpose of the count is to “inform the public, and to discuss surveillance issues with city hall and the police. We will also use the maps to create an art installation sometime in the fall..”

I’m quite confident that whatever number that they end up with, it will still be much lower than the actual number.

The image quality of most new surveillance cameras is increasing almost as fast as equipment costs are coming down. As a result, the number of cameras in both public and private spaces will only increase. With or without the 2010 Olympics, there will be many more cameras in Vancouver by this time next year. The vast majority of them will be installed on private property, but will be viewing (at least partially) public spaces. I don’t see any reason why this trend will not continue.

the ‘privacy’ issue

In terms of the privacy concerns, I believe that the law is already pretty clear. You cannot film someone where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Therefore, no filming in washrooms, changing rooms, staffrooms or other similar places. Anyone who gets caught violating people’s privacy in that way can face some serious consequences. “Privacy” in a public space… like a sidewalk or storefront is a very different matter and hasn’t existed in a very long time.

The real question is how is all of this technology is being used… and, most importantly, is it offering any real value in preventing crime.

I’ve posted on this blog before about why the vast majority of CCTV installations do not provide a deterrent to crime. The reality is that most CCTV systems simply provide a really frustrating video recording of your stuff being stolen… which you’ll watch hours after the crime occurred.

In the CTV clip below, I demonstrate how using video analytics can help turn a ‘regular’ CCTV system into a much more effective crime prevention tool by analyzing suspicious behaviour. By doing so, the CCTV system stops being a passive recorder of activity and, instead, becomes a pro-active tool that alerts responders to criminal activity just as it’s starting… not simply providing a record of it hours after it’s over.

We use this technology for many of our residential and commercial clients. In the example shown in the CTV clip, the system is programmed to detect someone standing right up against our showroom windows. Anytime this happens, the system creates an alarm (in the same manner that a motion detector or glassbreak sensor would trip an alarm on the inside) and a signal is sent to our 24/7 Operations Centre where our team can immediately review the live video and determine if a response is required.

We have this technology set up on clients property to create alarms whenever someone climbs over a fence, in retail stores when someone is standing for too long in front of the door after-hours as well as in office towers to detect unusual activity in hallways when the building is supposed to be empty.

Without question, the technology allows us to offer a much higher level of security for our clients and eliminates the need for a human being to sit and watch hours of live video footage in the hopes of watching a crime transpire.

Of course, like most other technology, it’s all about the human response.

Unless someone is set-up to provide immediate response to what has been detected, it’s of little value. That’s where our guaranteed five minute response comes in. Video analytics can be a very important part of your overall security system… often, using analytics allows us to respond to an alarm while a crook is still thinking of breaking in rather than after he has already successfully gained access.

Double click on each of the maps below to see the reported instances of Residential & commercial burglaries, as well as theft from, and of, auto in Vancouver between the 5th and 11th of August…

These heat maps are provided by the Vancouver Police Department.

Residential Burglaries

Commercial Burglaries…

Theft from Auto…

Theft of Auto…

Click below to watch a clip of a Vancouver thief attempting to break into a Bentley parked in a downtown parking lot.

The video demonstrates a few things…

1. CCTV is very rarely a deterrent to crime;
2. the real effort in any theft from auto or burglary is getting in.

Here’s what the car looked like afterwards…

What could have helped catch this crook?

Using video analytics could have helped catch this guy in the act… video analytics allow a camera to act as an intelligent motion detector. In this case, a CCTV system with analytics could have created an alarm by recognizing the suspicious activity of the thief… such as the fact that he walked from car to car, stood too long in one place as well as the fact that he was in the parkade at all during a specific timeframe.

The system could then send an alarm signal, along with a live video feed, that an operator could view in real-time… allowing them to dispatch security and the Police to respond and apprehend the offender.

We’ve got a live demonstration of this technology set-up in our Kerrisdale showroom… give us a call if you’d like to come by and get a demo.