alan wrote
Rod Speed wrote

Summary:

'The good news is that while homes with no basic home security had
a 5.8 per cent chance of being burgled in 2009-10, those with enhanced
security had a 0.6 per cent chance – an odds ratio of one to ten.

However, the bad news is that homes with basic home
security – defined as window locks and double deadlocks
- had a 0.9 per cent chance of having been burgled.

Yes, but its not clear how much of that is very basic stuff like window
locks.

Do good door and window locks make any difference?

They must do if those stats are accurate or even close to accurate.

I wonder how many householders fitting all these secure mechanisms think
the thief will respect their property win the same way as they do
themselves.

I doubt any do.

Presented with a lock they will simply smash the glass or kick the door
in.

But doing that dramatically increases the risk
of someone noticing that you are doing that.

Youtube is full of videos showing how easy it is to overcome the best of
locks - often with a minimal amount of skill and a lot of brute force.

But its hard to do that so no one notices you doing that.

Many insurance companies will give a (fiver) discount if you have
"approved" locks on all opening windows. It's probably best not to take up
this offer if you occasionally leave a window open, or unlocked.

Do you know that the insurance company actually bothers
to come around and check that stuff if you make a normal claim ?

I find it hard to believe that they can afford to send someone
around to all of them, let alone someone who puts the time
into checking to see if the crim got in thru an unlocked window.

Do the cops even bother with that stuff ?