🚫 STOP BURGLARY • PROTECT YOUR HOME 🚫

I wanted to provide you with an update regarding burglary, which people around your area have highlighted as an issue of concern on the priority survey.

Safety Starts With Awareness, Action, and Looking Out for Each Other

🏠 WHAT IS BURGLARY?
Burglary is when someone enters a home or building without permission, usually to steal.
But its impact goes far beyond missing possessions.
Burglary can leave victims feeling:

- Unsafe in their own home
- Anxious or unable to sleep
- Worried about being targeted again
- Emotionally unsettled long after the event

Feeling secure at home is a basic right - burglary takes that away.

🔓 HOW BURGLARIES HAPPEN
Burglars often look for the easiest opportunity. Common entry points include:

- Unlocked doors
- Open windows
- Weak or damaged locks
- Unsecured sheds or garages
- Homes that appear empty

They typically target valuables like:
💍 Jewellery
💷 Cash
📱 Electronics
🚲 Bikes
🛠️ Tools
A few simple precautions can make a huge difference.

💡 HOW TO REDUCE THE RISK
🔐 Secure Your Home

- Lock doors and windows even when you're home
- Use deadlocks, window locks, and sturdy door chains
- Keep valuables out of sight from windows

💡 Protect the Outside

- Install motion‑sensor lighting
- Keep hedges trimmed to increase visibility
- Secure sheds, garages, and side gates

📹 Use Smart Security Options

- Doorbell cameras
- CCTV systems
- Timer switches for lights when you're out

These not only deter thieves but also help identify suspects.

👀 LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER
Strong communities are safer communities.
You can help by:

- Checking on neighbours, especially older or vulnerable residents
- Noticing unfamiliar activity
- Reporting suspicious behaviour early
- Joining or supporting neighbourhood watch schemes

A watchful community is a harder target for burglars.

🚨 WHAT TO DO IF YOU NOTICE SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS

- Call 999 in an emergency or if a crime is happening
- Call 101 to report suspicious activity
- Inform your local council or housing officer if relevant

Reporting concerns helps protect the entire street.

📦 WHEN YOU’RE AWAY FROM HOME
Take extra steps to make your property look occupied:

- Use light timers
- Ask a neighbour to check your post
- Avoid posting travel plans on social media
- Ensure bins are moved or put out as normal

Burglars look for signs that no one is home - don’t make it easy for them.

🏡 YOUR HOME • YOUR SAFETY • YOUR COMMUNITY

Together, we can reduce burglary and protect the places we care about.

While we will continue to pursue burglars in the area, there are steps you can do to help keep your property safe. Make sure that you:  

• Double lock your door every time you leave the house  

• If you can, move garden furniture or bins away from windows so that thieves cannot use them to gain access.  

• Use laminated glass or security film on ground floor and accessible windows.  

• Use a sash stop if you have sash windows to prevent people opening them enough to climb through.  

• If your windows open outwards, use a key operated lock – check these are locked before leaving the house.  

• Make sure all valuables are out of sight. 

• Keep handbags and keys away from letterboxes or cat flaps.  

• In the evening shut the curtains and leave lights on.  

• Set your burglar alarm 

• Lock your  shed or garage 

• Mark, register or record your valuables. 

Please go to our website to find the latest advice and guidance on keeping yourself safe.

If you ever experience this issue or have information regarding an incident, please report it using our online reporting tools at https://www.met.police.uk/, speak to an operator in our Force Communications Room via our online web chat or call the non-emergency number 101.  

Get Involved

Please consider getting involved and contribute to the local priority survey, we may be unaware of issues that you would like us to focus on.  Take a few minutes to securely and privately register and have your say using the button below, this will mean we can focus on things that matter to you. 

Please click here to complete the survey

We are working on our brand-new strategy for how we police London and we want your help. Our New Met for London: Phase 2 strategy will guide how we deliver on behalf of Londoners over the next three years.