Canberra trying to reduce the amount of burglaries through watch program

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A neighbourhood watch pilot program is helping Canberra's burgled homeowners beef up their home security, to reduce the likelihood they'll be targeted again.

Transcript

00:00 Stephanie Monk has been working hard to make her home as unattractive as possible to would-be

00:06 burglars, for good reason.

00:08 I witnessed an intruder on my property and also my neighbour's property.

00:16 After that I was jumping at noises and I was scared that this person was going to come

00:20 back.

00:21 Ms Monk now has a variety of so-called target hardening measures, including security cameras,

00:27 a big improvement on her previous system.

00:30 All I had was some screens.

00:33 A Neighbourhood Watch pilot program offering burgled homeowners a $550 rebate on installed

00:39 security products has returned some peace of mind.

00:42 The federally funded scheme was launched in November last year with capacity for 500 participants

00:48 across the ACT, the regional Queensland city of Toowoomba and three suburbs in Perth WA.

00:55 Offenders are familiar with the home, familiar with what the homeowner owns and often return

01:04 for a second bite of the cherry.

01:06 Criminologists say most burglars are inexperienced and deterred by visible target hardening measures.

01:12 They will go to the next house and they will find somewhere that's more suitable if they

01:16 think they're going to be caught by CCTV, by security cameras, by alerting other people

01:21 to their presence.

01:23 Professor Gaitley's research found access is the main consideration for offenders in

01:27 choosing a target.

01:29 The most common way they got in was open doors, open windows.

01:32 Then what they're looking for is not being detected.

01:34 So if you've got lots of bushes outside your front door or a gate where it's easy for them

01:39 to get behind the back of your house.

01:42 Homeowners can request a free security audit through ACT Policing's support link.

01:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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