Secured Break-Ins

People have a habit of becoming very attached to their possessions. So attached that when such possessions go astray, become lost through inadvertence, or purloined through the audacity of a thief taking advantage of opportunity, the regret of loss sets in, a sobering emotion. Yet there are some people so trusting that they will not take ordinary safety precautions to ensure that their possessions remain in their possession.

The frequency of thefts keep police busy. So busy in fact that they are not always able to respond with alacrity and often arrive at the scene of a break-in long after the malefactor has departed. There are, needless to say, some exceptions. Home break-ins rank fairly low on the respond-scale, while banks rank fairly high so that occasionally robbers are caught in the act of exiting the scene of their mischief.

It seems that police in the city of Exeter in southwestern England decided to teach residents a few basics about home security. The first being that possessions should be stored securely behind locked doors. Unlocked doors, they wished to convey to area residents, represent an irresistible invitation to thieves to come along, make themselves comfortable and just take anything that appeals.

In their zeal to teach that lesson, they engaged in somewhat unorthodox behaviour. Police officers in Exeter cleverly 'broke into' homes that were not secured. They simply walked through unlocked doors and into unsecured homes. Where they busied themselves collecting anything of value, depositing these items into 'swag bags', and leaving those objects-full bags behind in the house, for the home owners to discover.

What a relief. They had only to unpack those bags full of jewellery, electronics equipment and other such, and restore them to their unsecured place of prominence within the comfort of their homes. Clever stunt, but was it successful? The initiative has been seen by some area residents as unlawful, illegal and uncompromising over-reach.

"Since when have members of the constabulary been allowed to enter into someone's private property uninvited and without a warrant?" fumed some unamused and irate people. "While I applaud their innovative approach, I think this invasion of the home is a step too far and I wonder where I would stand in law if I hit one of them with a baseball bat", mused another local.

Of course there were others who, when asked, expressed their gratitude to the police for demonstrating in quite an elaborate manner what they might have lost had their lax habits of leaving doors unlocked behind them left them sans treasured possessions. Many of whom appeared to be students whose learning capacities surely must be questioned.

Since it would appear that it has been among the students that the greatest numbers of break-ins had been occurring, and despite their losses, the inconvenience involved and the trauma of having one's personal space invaded and looted, they were still leaving their homes unsecured.

"Everyone the officers spoke to was very grateful for the advice they received and we have not received a single complaint from the householders", said a police spokesperson, defensively. Has the elaborate teaching scheme, however, been successful in teaching these slow learners to defend their possessions?