Back-to-school safety
Beagle Watch shares valuable safety tips to keep learners safe
#1. Please ensure that you know where your children are at all times
• Drop-off and collection times at schools are a time when criminals can potentially strike − especially when children are waiting outside the gates for someone to collect them, or when they are not aware of their surroundings and often busy on their mobile phones.
• When dropping and collecting children at school, please take the time and trouble to walk with them − right to the school gate.
• Please do not be tempted to merely drop them off and let them walk to the gate alone, as things can go wrong in a flash.
Fire-proof your property
Ensuring you are prepared for a fire emergency is vital. This includes investing in good-quality, well-maintained fire-detection measures.
• Invest in smoke detectors that are monitored. Beagle Watch has recently launched an excellent and very cost-effective fire kit solution that includes smoke detectors that are monitored around the clock by our Call Centre and professionally installed and maintained.
• Test and maintain smoke detectors, back-up batteries, and fire extinguishers regularly.
• Subscribe to a private fire-fighting organisation to ensure quick response in the case of a fire-related emergency.
• All Beagle Watch clients enjoy this additional peace of mind benefit with FIRE OPS SA as part of their monthly subscription.
Keep gates, garages and vehicles locked
Criminals continue to derail gates, break into garages and motor vehicles and even steal wheels, especially from SUVs and bakkies, warns Beagle Watch.
• Take extra precautions to ensure driveway gates are secure, and keep garage doors and vehicles locked at all times.
• Add additional safety measures to ensure gates cannot be derailed or forced open.
• Do not leave gates on manual during power outages.
• Keep garage doors closed and locked at all times, as well as any doors leading to the garage.
How power cuts affect alarm system batteries
Load shedding and power cuts wreak havoc with back-up batteries for alarm systems, warns Beagle Watch Armed Response.
• An alarm battery should last one to two years and needs approximately 24 hours to charge fully.
• With power cuts and load shedding, batteries start to run low (or flat) and do not have sufficient time to recharge fully before the next power cut.
• This leads to battery cells dying and the battery lasts for shorter and shorter periods, leaving you more and more vulnerable at the times you most need protection.
• An alarm battery should last at least three to four hours. If it does not, it is time for a replacement.
• To ensure your safety, Beagle Watch offers replacement batteries at cost for clients and non-clients. Phone our Call Centre or email orders@beaglewatch.co.za.
Do not ignore alarm signals or barking dogs
Please do not ignore alarm or electric fence signals (or barking dogs), assuming they are weather-related, warns Beagle Watch Armed Response.
“In several parts of our footprint, electric fences continue to be the target of opportunistic criminal activity, with a number of clients' fences cut to gain access to properties,” says André Aiton, Managing Director of Beagle Watch.
Especially during rainy or wet conditions, suspects tend to repeatedly “test” fences, to see if they are activated, resulting in alarm signals. “Clients assume the repeated signals are weather-related and then simply turn off the fence, opening the way for possible intrusion.”
“Should you receive repeated alarm or electric fence activations − or become aware of your (or neighbourhood dogs) barking incessantly − please contact our Call Centre so that our Response Officers can inspect your premises,” is Aiton’s advice.
Vehicle safety
Criminals are not only stealing motor vehicles, or breaking into vehicles to help themselves to valuable items, but they are now turning to stealing the wheels off vehicles parked inside clients'premises. Bakkies and SUVs are particular favourites.
• Keep vehicles locked at all times.
• Park vehicles in a locked garage at night, and lock the vehicle to activate the alarm.
• If vehicles are parked inside the premises, try to keep them out of sight from the street.
• Owners of SUVs and Bakkies should consider investing in wheel lock nuts as a preventative measure..
• Check that your home security systems, such as beams and electric fencing are in working order and activated.
Do not neglect your security when moving house
When moving house, please do not drop your guard regarding safety and security.
Wait for all the paperwork to be done:
Do not cancel your home insurance and private security before all the offical paperwork and final transfers have been completed.
Clients are often tempted to cancel their home insurance and private security when they receive the good news that their home has been sold. However, it can still take a good few weeks before the transfer of ownership is finalised. This means that, as the owner, you are still responsible for the property and would be liable for the cost of any accidental or other damages.
Keep you home insurance and home owners' policy in place:
Accidents happen, as do burglaries and theft from premises. Do not cancel your insurance before the move has been finalised.
Do not advertise that your house has been sold:
If possible, limit the time that the "sold" sign is displayed outside your property, as that could alert criminals to an imminent move. Also, when cleaning out or buying new equipment, be aware of what the contents of your wheelie bin or boxes on the pavement could reveal to potential criminals.
Kindly advise Beagle Watch of your move date:
This will enable us to schedule additional patrols and a standby vehicle for the day of your move and will also give us an opportunity to transfer the existing security system to the new owners, should they so wish.
If you would like to advise us of your move date, please kindly mail us at info@beaglewatch.co.za or contact us on (011) 678 1972.