It is increasingly common in recent years to come across news items about the theft of items stored in garages. At the same time, many of our readers have expressed concerns, given the actual increase in thefts, not only in Italy but throughout Europe. How do these thefts occur? What are the techniques of the thieves and the possible reasons for the increase in the phenomenon in question?
It often happens, due to a lack of space in our homes, possibly following a move to a smaller house, that items of all kinds (and sometimes very expensive ones) are stored inside garages. Criminals, with the awareness that such circumstances are very common, increasingly target garages, where they can often find equipment, furniture and clothes, as well as, of course, bicycles, motorcycles or cars. They steal everything they find, from items of value to cheaper objects, and then obtain cash by illegally reselling the stolen goods.
One must also be aware that thieves are more likely to steal from garages for two fairly obvious reasons. The first is that, often, garages are quite far from the owners’ homes (garages are not always directly connected to apartments) and they are therefore located in less frequented areas, especially during the night
The second is that the locks originally installed on garage doors do not usually provide an adequate level of security. Standard locks have a poor resistance to pulling and drilling, and do not adequately protect the door against breakage or lifting with a crowbar. In many cases, however, the main reason for the thefts lies in the weakness of the doors (made of very thin sheet metal e.g. 0.6 mm or 0.8 mm).
In order to access garages fitted with these types of doors, a method commonly used by thieves is to manoeuvre the internal release lever using a wire introduced through a small drilled hole, allowing the door to be easily opened from the outside. An example can be seen in the following video.
When the sheet metal is particularly thin the thieves are also known to make a large hole, through which to pass an entire hand, which makes the theft even easier. As in this case:
Keep following us – in the next blog we will take a good look at the three best ways to safeguard items stored in our garages.
Do you have a garage to protect? Find out how to do it on garage.virosecurityclub.com!