Are you worried about crimes that may occur in your home or neighbourhood? Do you want to make sure that the perpetrator is caught and brought to justice? In this blog post, we will walk you through the process of correctly reporting a crime to the local police. We will provide tips on what information to gather and how to best communicate with law enforcement officials.
Being the victim of a crime is often a tumultuous experience, but it is important to remember these basic points to ensure that law enforcement officials can do their job effectively. While home robberies have been on the decline since 2016/17, according to Stats SA, over 141,000 robberies take place every year. The Western Cape is the third-hardest hit region in SA, and, despite Covid forcing many to work from home, it is still vitally important to ensure the safety of you and your family in the unfortunate event of a break-in.
So, what do you need to do if you find your home broken into?
PROTECT YOURSELF FIRST
The first, and most important step is to ensure that you are safe and that the perpetrator is not still in the house. If you have noticed a burglary you should immediately leave the property and contact your security service provider to give backup, if they are not already on the scene.
DO NOT DISTURB
You will instinctively want to check and see what items may have been taken, but it is crucial not to disturb the crime scene, as this may affect the official’s ability to find and trace fingerprints or other clues at the scene.
REPORTING
If you wish to report the crime and get a case number for insurance purposes, you need to immediately contact the police to come out to investigate the scene. Your security service provider should supply you with an alarm report that can be given to the Police. This will include details such as when the alarm was set off, what time it was activated, the time the armed response officer arrived and stood down on the scene, along with what was found in the initial inspection. Your Armed Response Officer will then assist in giving a statement to the Police. Once the initial reporting has been done, the Police Investigator will require a statement from the homeowner. During this time, the Investigator can accompany you through the home to establish what items may have been stolen.
RECORDING
It is always a good idea to have an asset register with all of your valuable items along with their serial numbers so that the reporting process can be made easier, it will also assist you in establishing which items may be missing. Besides this, a brief description of the items (size, colour, distinguishable marks, etc) will be useful for the investigator and security team to keep an eye out for items matching the description while on patrols. Images of the important items will also go a long way in assisting the security and neighbourhood watch teams to easily identify stolen items.
AVOID THE URGE TO CLEAN
It is human instinct to want to clean and fix the affected areas in your home. It is important to wait for the Investigator to first do their reporting duties before any attempts of cleaning are made at the scene of the crime. This is important so as to give the Investigator the opportunity to find any potential clues left behind by the perpetrator. If there is an extreme case where an item must be moved for safety reasons, ensure you first take clear images of the scene, and then remove the item with a pair of gloves to avoid contaminating the evidence.
The perpetrator may have also left behind evidence in the form of blood, spit, etc. It is imperative that this is correctly lifted and catalogued by the investigating team.
THE MORE THE MERRIER
When it comes to attaining evidence against a criminal, the more information that can be supplied, the better. If you have a CCTV system, then the footage may be paramount to the finding and arrest of the perpetrator. If you do not have CCTV around your house, check with your neighbours who may have street-facing cameras which may have captured visuals of the criminal. Whilst it may seem a little tedious, a quick chat with each of your neighbours to see if they have any additional information will be greatly beneficial to your case.
If you should ever find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having a home robbery, make sure to follow these tips. Having an orderly and well-protected crime scene will help law enforcement officials as they investigate the incident, and could potentially lead to the capture of the criminals involved.
Protect your home by installing a security system with cameras – that way, if disaster does strike, you’ll always be prepared.
If you would like our team to visit your home for an obligation-free consultation to review your current security infrastructure and check for any security “weak spots”, then feel free to contact us, and we will gladly assist.
0860 10 30 99