Secured by Design support Met Police anti-burglary campaign

Secured by Design (SBD) and The Kisiel Group worked on the campaign with the Met, making available a house for filming ways that people can make their property less attractive to burglars. The property where filming took place was a Kisiel Group development in London which had received a SBD Gold Award for incorporating crime prevention techniques into the landscaping and physical security of the buildings on the development.

SBD is a police-owned organisation that works on behalf of the Police Service throughout the UK to deliver a wide range of crime prevention and demand reduction initiatives.

SBD has more than 200 SBD trained officers and staff in Police Forces around the UK and plays a significant crime prevention role in the planning process to design out crime in a wide range of building sectors. It has achieved some significant success including one million homes built to SBD standards with reductions in crime of up to 87%.

Companies and organisations that have security-related products that can reduce crime and keep people safe can be awarded the SBD Police Preferred Specification. To be awarded this, products must be subjected to vigorous testing and auditing by an accredited third party organisation and certified to a published standard to demonstrate they are attack resistant and can maintain their quality over time. This is the only way for companies to obtain police accreditation for security related products in the UK.

The Met’s Be Safe campaign advises Londoners to remain vigilant and to continue to make all efforts to keep their homes and belongings safe, offering steps that people can take to protect their home:

• Leave timer switches on lights
• Place motion sensor security lighting at the front and rear of properties
• Fit a fixed safe for small valuable items
• Fit a home security alarm
• Do not display your wealth on social media or advertise when you are going to be away from your home, especially if your security settings are open and public
• If selling any valuables online, do not disclose anything to reveal the address of where the valuables are stored
• If selling your property, be careful what is shown in the images placed on house-selling websites, as criminals can use these images to identify valuables and also analyse floor plans
• Keep an eye on those who are elderly, or vulnerable to distraction burglaries.

Superintendent Sean Wilson, the Met lead for burglary, said: “We do not underestimate the effect that being a victim of burglary has and want to work with residents to make sure they have taken every opportunity to keep their home and valuables safe.

“From today we will be delivering burglary masterclasses to Neighbourhood officers across London. These officers will spend a day refreshing their skills - not just in preventing crimes from occurring, but supporting those who have become a victim.

“We cannot be complacent and we must make sure that we all continue to take the right steps to, where possible, avoid homes becoming a target.

“We need to get everyone involved and enable them to look after themselves and work with us to prevent crime. This year’s campaign is about creating conversations at community events with our officers and through our social media channels. At these events, we will ask residents what actions they are already taking to secure their home and remind them of the additional steps they could take – often at a low cost.

“The campaign is supported by operational activity - but we know that simple crime prevention can make it more difficult for criminals and reduce the risk of burglary-related crime.”

To find out more about companies and products which meet the Police Preferred Specification and how you can protect your home and your belongings, please visit: www.securedbydesign.com