AIBU to think this is nuts? Police breaking/entering into homes?

[RoseRedder]

Firstly this is on the BBC website so I'm guessing this must true/truish?

It says

*Police enter homes as break-in warning

6 November 2013 Last updated at 21:53 GMT

South Yorkshire Police have adopted an unusual tactic to help warn people about the risks of burglary - by breaking in to homes themselves.

Officers attempt to enter unlocked houses, and leave a balloon to alert the residents about the ease of their entrance.

Joe Inwood reports.*

This can't be right can it? Does this mean the police can now enter your home without a warrant if they can get in somehow?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24842680

When I was a student we once got burgled and no-one noticed for two days.

We used to live in a terrace where you came down the stairs in the middle of the house and turned left for the front room/front-door, right for the kitchen/bathroom. I came down and turned right, had my shower, put the kettle on, and only realised as I went back upstairs that the front door was wide open and the telly had gone.

They do this in our area. Not with a balloon though. They just leave a card if you aren't in. The policeman that came to our house walked down the drive, passed the kitchen I was in, opened the side door and stepped over the sleeping dog. It was quite a wake up call for me especially when he pointed out my car keys where in the door he had opened without anyone noticing.

I hope you had words with your dog.

I was wondering that strumpeton
Or if they let a pet out

My front door is always locked but if they tried that in my house my dogs would go ballistic!

...As they are only ankle height and noisy, not aggressive no harm would be done but actually aren't the Police taking a bit of a risk to their own safety doing this?

I would be extremely, extremely unhappy about a stranger for this reason entering my home, however well intentioned.

To try my door and if it were unlocked, knock and warn me and give me a home security lecture - fine. But not to just walk into my house.

Yes, I wondered about the dog thing...our door is always unlocked, our dog is not the friendliest so I always thought "good luck to them" about any would-be burglars.

Mind you, whoever wants to could take everything from the porch and she'd probably not make a peep.

My 3 boxer dogs once pinned a would-be burglar down on the floor until my dad returned home from work. Imagine if that would have been a copper?! I dread to think.

Surely this cannot be right. Unbelievable.

I think if i came home a saw a bobbing balloon through my window I would think the family was holding a surprise party for me

Funny how different minds work, id think it was a calling card of a serial killer mylovelyboy

hahahahah funny things balloons dont you think strump

Would it be a helium balloon I wonder? I'd be expecting something nasty hanging from it :( I really need to stop reading trashy crime novels.

umm something sharp and pointy

I would shit a brick if someone walked through my front/back door whilst i was in the house. I do keep front door locked all the time but not the back as i and dcs are in and out to the garden all the time. I would be mightily unimpressed if a police officer scared the shit out of my dcs just to teach me a lesson.

No point having words with the dog. He's too old to be arsed really. Funnily enough he is a breed that people (wrongly) assume to be aggressive. Just to point out the policeman just stepped in to the porch where the dog was enjoying a snooze in the sun and then back out. He didn't actually come in to the main part of the house. He came and knocked on the front door to tell me what he had done and that he had also tried the car doors and the garage.

Thanks Orandlo

police aren't mentioned or am I not reading it correctly?

•Fire Brigade
•Gas and Electricity Suppliers
•Water Companies
•Housing
•Planning and Rating
•Mental Health
•Infectious Diseases and Illness
•Pests and Vermin
•Smoking
•Concerns about children
•Search Orders
•Bailiffs and Enforcement Officers
•Power of Officials to Enter Your Home
•The Right to Privacy

I think its different if the police come barging in with balloons. Sort of makes it kind of fun

smoking? the mind boggles

police are mentioned in the title. Always read the label first

I don't agree with this.

I tend to have my windows open a lot when in, it is good to air the house out even if it is 10 minutes during the winter months. Summer months they are practically open all the time.

My side door is opened when I am in.

Haven't I got the right to do this in my own home.

I think it's a perfectly acceptable idea.
When people are burgled they often ask where were the police, why couldn't the police find who did it, they should be patrolling streets instead of catching speeding motorists, etc etc.
Well this is the police doing their job of preventing crime.
If you are leaving your door unlocked not only are you at risk but your insurance may not pay out.

My windows are open from 8am when the dcs are dressed til 4pm (later in summer obviously). My bedroom window only gets shut on a saturday night so i can have a lie in on sunday mornings. I could not cope with windows shut all the time. I'd feel so stuffy.

Haven't I got the right to do this in my own home
Yes you have the right. You also have the right to smoke in bed, or wander across a busy road, but you must expect to be advised against it for your own good.