People who live in condo buildings are warned to not let in strangers to either front doors or the parking garage.
Sure, they might not like you stopping your vehicle until the gate closes – forcing you to open the gate again - but better safe than sorry.
That sounds like a simple way to go about protecting your building from thieves, but not everyone seems to be listening.
Terry Adams is speaking out to the NOW because he’s fed up with his neighbours accidentally – or deliberately – letting in thieves who steal Amazon packages from the lobby or make their way into the underground parkade to steal bikes and smash vehicle windows.
Adams doesn’t want to say where his building is in Burnaby because he doesn’t want a thief to read this and think it’s open season.
“Things are already bad enough,” said Adams. “We got cleaned out by someone just after I bought here and it’s been nothing but thefts ever since then. I don’t trust my neighbours. They are either stupid about security or some people are letting in thieves deliberately or maybe some of the renters in the building are doing the stealing themselves. It could be an inside job. How else do they get such easy access? It’s really disheartening.”
There are many ways to secure your residence and reduce the probability of becoming a victim of property crime. Please take note of the following tips from the Burnaby RCMP that will help keep your home safe:
- Always lock patio doors and windows, even when you leave for a brief period.
- Lock your valuables in a safe or lockbox.
- Install motion sensor lights where possible.
- Keep shrubs and bushes trimmed to eliminate hiding places.
- Ensure first and second floor patio doors and windows have properly functioning primary and secondary locks.
- Install anti-lift protection on all sliding windows.
- Upgrade your door and window locks if necessary.
- Keep a record of the serial numbers of your valuables, in case stolen items are recovered.
- Report suspicious behaviour in your neighbourhood immediately to police.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44
