Swish Warns Of Rise In 'Bumping' Crime Fuelled By Social Network Sites
SWDS/006 April 2008
Window and door consumer brand Swish is warning householders about the growing number of break-ins using the so-called ‘bumping’ and ‘mole-grips’ methods which increasingly threaten household security. This is fuelled by social networking sites, like YouTube, featuring worrying and detailed footage of these methods, which make it easy for a new generation of burglars to learn the tricks of the trade.
According to police crime prevention experts, millions of homes in the UK are at risk because of a weakness in cylinder locks which are almost universally fitted to PVCu doors throughout the UK.
Paul Lindsay, Swish’s General Manager, comments: “The ‘bumping’ method uses a skeleton key readily available and bought cheaply over the Internet to gain access to the cylinder lock mechanism. There may be a risk that a householder’s insurance won’t cover the break-in if the lock has been ‘bumped’ as there will be no evidence that the householder didn’t just leave the door unlocked.
“Another method uses mole-grips to snap off the cylinder lock once the handle cover has been removed. The forcing of cylinders which protrude from the lock is now beginning to rival the number of sneak-in burglaries.
“Whilst this is a concerning trend, householders can defend their properties from becoming easy targets by fitting cylinder guard handles and anti-bump cylinders which added to their overall security system put yet more deterrents in a burglar’s way.”
The doors and windows industry is constantly looking for new security innovations to beat savvy burglars. Anti-bump cylinders are one of the most advanced new security measures developed in response to this latest household security threat.
Previous advances to benefit consumers include internally beading windows to prevent burglars removing the whole pane of glass from the outside. Original window and door locks have also been improved by adding more locking points or shoot bolts to make it harder to break or lever them off.
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