I need to vent about police who come out after you report a burglary and then pretend to advise you on security.
Last night I had a dinner with a friend who said her neighbor's home was broken into and crime was up in her area. She said her neighbor told her they entered by picking open the lock and that she had forgotten to set the alarm.
The police officer who showed up to take the report told them that alarms are the biggest deterrents and having a safe is a bad thing. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck for two reasons:
1. The police are not trained as security professionals any more than Flam's Lock and Key are trained to patrol the streets, respond to 911 calls, arrest criminals and all the other great things for which we need them.
Just because they show up at burglary scences and they see the MO's does not give them the license to advise on how to prevent it. Do they see more than you? Of course they do. But so does Flam's because we are called 'after the fact' to the same scene.
Let me back up for a moment and add that it is not all police officers who overstep their area of expertise, more than less know they are not security professionals. But after 60 years in business, we know it is too many and also that the Average Joe citizen will also ask for their advice.
2. The advice that was given was incorrect. First off, an alarm is our second line of defense. As I have said before, good pysical security is your first line of defense. The idea is to keep them out and send them next door. We also forget to set our alarm at times (we have) and most don't turn them on when they are home during the day. Would you call the police and ask them what are the best locks or what are other ways to secure your doors and windows?
As for advising against a safe, this is the first time in 60 years I have heard such nonsense. This officer said most theives know where the safe is. So what?
Unless you believe what you see in the movies, most people cannot open a safe. In addition, a decent safe is too heavy to move. What we do advise is that you always keep a few hundred dollars and cubic zurconiim, good fake jewelry, so they have something to take with them and run.
With that being said, I once again reiterate that a professional will get in no matter what, but 98 percent of break-ins are random and that is who we protect ourselves against.
Please don't confuse a uniformed officer for a security professional, anymore than we have asked you not to confuse a 'locksmith' with a security professional.
Yours in security,
Vikki Flam
