A recent study has found that intruder alarms do not present any problem to skilled thieves, this is because householders frequently forget to set the intruder alarm or fail to lock their doors and windows safely.  Regardless of the many advancements in home security systems when homeowners fail to use them properly there is very little benefit achieved.

Almost half of the many burglars interviewed for a recent survey stated they thought home security has improved over the last 10 years but they also felt that the advancements wouldn’t be enough to stop them breaking in.

Merely 20% of those surveyed explained an effective security system was the most popular and influential factor for abandoning an attempted break-in.  40% mentioned being disrupted by the home owner was the primary cause of them quitting the break-in attempt and 40% of these surveyed said they would be put off if there was a noisy dog on the premises. 67% of those surveyed said they always followed an identical pattern of searching a house once they have broken in, normally starting in the main bedroom, because this is the typical location that valuables tend to be hidden, they then cover the remaining bedrooms and the main living room, this has proved to be the most efficient way of finding valuable possessions.

One interesting fact that emerged from research conducted with burglars currently serving jail sentences was that they consider children’s rooms to be the least rewarding to search. The average time that a housebreaking takes is as little as 20 minutes, the average age in which the first burglary was committed was 13, and two thirds of burglars prefer to work alone. Almost all professional thieves go out with the intention of committing an offence, that is to say it is organized instead of opportunistic though certainly if a ripe target presents itself they will take that opportunity to steal.

The main motivation to commit housebreaking is as one would expect money, over 80% of those surveyed cited this as their major motivation, they would search for a suitable target judging the potential value of that home by the type of car on the drive, any obviously valuable items that can be seen through the windows, the amount of cover that was provided by such things as fences or trees, the presence of an intruder alarm or dog, and signs of owner occupation. It should be noted that most of those surveyed said that even though they were not put off by an intruder alarm they would typically move on to a simpler target if one was available.

All interviewed were all convicted burglars serving time in prison at the time of the survey.

If you feel like reading more on how burglars select properties for breaking into why not check out this article on the Crimestoppers website in th U.K.  The article is by an ex burglar now reformed.