You Have Something Worth Stealing.

You Have Something Worth Stealing.

by Jack Oakman

What I have got to say is to do with the way that you think. You have got to believe you have something in your home that a burglar would be interested in, something that he would break in to your house and steal it.

If you think like I used to think up until very recently, you probably say to yourself that you have nothing worth stealing. You think a burglar would not give your humble home a second glance because you are obviously not well heeled. Sorry but you are wrong, you only have to read through the newspaper, make it your local news, you will see that most robberies do not take place on millionaires row, they happen in very ordinary neighborhoods.

It is the homes of ordinary folks the burglar goes after. He will not think there is nothing worth stealing in them, he may not be expecting to haul off a collection of gems that is going to have him living on easy street for the rest of his life. He may be looking for stuff that he can sell for a few dollars, perhaps he has a drug habit, drugs are the problem behind a lot of crime these days.

All this was brought home to me when I had to total up the worth of my stuff when I was taking out fire and home insurance. For goodness sake was I shocked, the value of my CD and DVD collection alone, if I had to replace them all, was a big surprise. Would a burglar steal them, I don’t know but I think it likely, along with the TV and other stuff.

Another thing apart from the stuff I would lose, is that I came to realize how much I would hate it if someone broke in here. You read of folks who do not want to go in to their own home after a burglary, it never occurred to me before how awful that must feel to have some criminal stranger ransacking your place.

This is my tip really. You’ve got to stop thinking that a burglar would not consider your home, he would. Once you realize that you will do that much more to prevent it happening. I always did lock the door when I went out but really, that was the extent of anything you could call home security.

Starting off with a good look around my house I made a note of anywhere that someone could easily get in through.

Next I had a look from the outside asking myself if it was a house that looks like somebody has paid any thought to security. I then went about fixing up anything that needed it, nobody is going to get in here easily. Then I bought and installed a home alarm, not the best available I dare say, but a good one, it does its job. All of this cost me far less than I would have imagined and I feel so much less at risk now.

It all starts with coming to realize that burglars do not only pick out the homes of the wealthy, they could just as easy pick your home. Then you have got to do things to prevent that from happening.

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Jun 08, 2012

they take anything.

by: Anonymous


Of course they will take what you have even if it ain’t much. They will look for valuable stuff but if they don’t find that they will find something even just your prescription drugs.

You want to keep them out of your home at all cost.


May 05, 2012

Replacement costs.

by: Martin (editor)

Hi Jack,

You are so correct when you say that it can be a shock to tally up the replacement costs of all the valuables in your home.

I would guess that many undervalue what they have and like you did, think that a burglar simply would not be interested. It is usually only after a burglary they realize the value of what they have just lost. Good for you for figuring it out and for taking action.

Thank you very much for your tip Jack.

Martin (editor)


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