Prowler outside - what should we do? Photos attached

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I've just been woken by our 3 month old DD and saw that our home security camera sent us an alert triggered by a motion sensor at 1am (stills from the footage below).

Somebody with a rucksack seems to be checking out the front of our house and it looks as if he might have taken a photo of the front door as he was leaving the driveway.

I'm so freaked out. It seems like he's scoping us out for a burglary. What should we do? We'll contact the local PCSO in the morning but should we call 101 or anything . . . ?

we have a beware of the dog sign. they wont come to houses with pets. Our old dog died several years ago and it took a while before we got another but we left the sign up and our dogs lead hanging on the coat rack by the door. Spate of burglaries on our cul de sac - immediate neighbours were burgled but not us.

Now we have a dog that barks at anything who comes up the path. which is useful when its a cat at 1am

I may be wrong, but I can't see a burglar being deterred by coronavirus.

I’d print the photos out and stick them all over your front door.

I have some mad suggestions which actually did help us after we had an attempted break in whilst at home. DP fought 3 of them off. After that, I put a lot of glass vases and glasses around the window sills, I put one of DS’s scary masks facing outwards in the window to look like a person watching, I bought timer switches for our lamps to go on and off all night at various times, and shone them against the coat rack to cast a shadow, I put the clothes airer and the scooters against the back door to make a big trip hazard.

When DP is not home and I am home alone, I tie up 2 pans to clang together if the door is opened. I am like one of the Goonies and I don’t care.

IamPickleRick 😂😂😂 love the scary mask idea...I'm going to do that.

Pickle, that sounds great!

@IamPickleRick Kevin McAllister is that you?😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Have you had the cameras long? Our neighbours got them and seemed to be coming around every few days telling us they saw someone checking our door handles/car doors. At first I was terrified, but no-one ever broke in. I think the majority of these prowlers are opportunists, looking for an unlocked door. It’s not a new thing, it’s just the technology making you aware of it. We lived there four years and the only break-in was when someone’s 16yr old left the patio doors unlocked mid-summer after sneaking in late one night.

Or there is this approach as used by a couple in America

Porterville homeowner scares off thieves with unique water-spraying device

I’m not sure about ‘unique’. Amazon sell similar devices, and of course there’s the possibility of the sprayed person striking back, but it’s an interesting idea to watch

abc30.com/5975192/

Thanks for replying, everyone, and sharing your experiences.

We've done (or are doing) several things until we can get the doors replaced with proper security doors. We've put sliding bolts on the front and back door, I've ordered signage (beware of the dog and CCTV) which we can put up this evening, we left the living room light and TV on until 3am this morning, and I'm ordering curtains for the living room as there currently aren't any.

Last night was unsettling and I didn't sleep very well (primarily because 13 week old DD was a nightmare and waking every hour) but hopefully the anxiety will fade a bit soon.

Security light if you don’t already have one.
Some smart tech can allow you to trigger a light inside the house when motion is sensed outside so opportunistic person thinks someone is coming - same for triggering a dog barking on Alexa but this would obviously wake you up!

Ah yes, security lights, we've ordered some for the front and back of the house.

I'd suggest door wedges for internal doors too, an age old simple device
that's overlooked. I have them on internal doors at night.
So if someone tries to comes through from the kitchen they will have to practically break the hall door down which will cause a racket that will wake me anyway.
And I have one on the bedroom door for peace of mind.

Get the rubber ones so they don't slide - they're handy to take on hols too.

Oooo that's a great idea, @TopShelf - definitely going to do that!

Round this way there are either cars of men who will kick the doors in, in broad daylight if the house looks empty. Often will smash a window if they can't get the door open.

People breaking in just to steal dogs.

Gangs of youths also kicking doors in and grabbing what they can, in daylight.

Locally they are bit subtle and climb onto flat roofs and into windows while the occupants are watching TV or eating their dinner, and then back out again. Some just find an unlocked door and wander in.

Or, like my neighbour and several others in one week, simply choose a house that looks empty and open the door with a screwdriver. This happened while we were out and had lights on as usual, neighbour was away and had no lights on, no blinds or curtains. Returned home to find the house ransacked. Door opened with a screwdriver or similar.

We always have lights on, some on timers, some not, regardless of whether we are in or out. Blinds closed. Outside lights on. No dog signs due to it attracting those that take dogs for bait or to sell on. I know someone who had her indoor cat stolen in a break in. They will take anything. Including catalytic converters from cars which is rife here.

People breaking in just to steal dogs

Blooming heck - you'd better get a 'Beware of the Mongrel' sign, just to play safe !

The door stop thing is so effective. I always do that if I'm home alone with the little ones.

Door stop idea Is great. Dh is often away.

They don’t care about the dog breeds unfortunately. Around here it’s to use them as bait

I'm not sure any fireman would approve of the door stop idea.

@OhhhPeee that's pretty scary. People trying door's on a regular basis. Kind of makes me wish a big burly homeowner somewhere would leave their unlocked and be behind it with a baseball bat. I hate hate hate thieves and they could all do with a good kicking.

Arrrrgh . . . so, we've now got footage of two guys checking the house out just after 3am this morning. Both are wearing masks and one is carrying a claw hammer. They check the door and garage door, and then go round the back. We've no cameras at the back so I don't know what they did there, but there are no signs of any damage so maybe the 'Beware of the Dog' sign deterred them.

I'm so freaked out. I hate this. We have two indoor cats so even just a broken window and some valuables grabbed from downstairs would be awful as the cats could potentially run away

Have you put up a "You're being watched"/CCTV sign front and back? Call the police again with the images. Your home is being targeted at this point.

Do you have the dog bark motion sensor alarm or light motion sensor?

CCTV signs are up, 'Beware of the Dog' sign on the back gate. Motion-sensitive lights were up but not working yet (DH trying to sort those).

Don't think the person we saw before has come back; looks to be two different people.

New home security system due to arrive Wednesday.

We called 101 again, sent the footage etc. but the police aren't interested as they've not actually broken in yet

This is so worrying for you OP. I'd be tempted to leave a radio or the tv on and a downstairs light now. Maybe have a couple on timers. Do you have a "you are on cctv" sign?