There was recently a research report put together by the Alarm Industry Research & Educational Foundation that analyses survey data from 422 incarcerated male and female burglars. Part of the analysis focuses on the value of integrated solutions including alarms and security surveillance cameras.
Included below are some interesting snippets from that report:
- Approximately 83 percent of the offenders said they would attempt to determine if a home security alarm was present before attempting a burglary and 60 percent said they would seek an alternative target.
- Even during impulsive, unplanned burglaries, more than half of the intruders said they would discontinue the burglary if they discovered an alarm. Another 31 percent said they would consider discontinuing the burglary, while only 13 percent said they would continue regardless.
- Nearly 60 percent of the burglars said they would consider the presence of cameras or other surveillance equipment when selecting a target, and more than 40 percent said that would be a factor in prompting them to choose another target.
- About half of the respondents reported engaging in residential burglary, while 31 percent said they preferred commercial targets.
- Nearly 90 percent of the respondents indicated their top reason for committing burglaries was related to the need to acquire drugs (51 percent) or money (37 percent), which was often used to support drug habits.
- Slightly less than a third of the offenders reported they collected information about a potential target prior to initiating a burglary attempt, suggesting most burglars are impulsive to some degree. About 12 percent indicated they typically planned the burglary, 41 percent suggested it was most often a “spur of the moment” event/offence, and the other 37 percent reported that it varied.
- Male burglars often plan their burglaries more deliberately and carefully and were more likely to gather intelligence about a potential target ahead of time. Female burglars appear to be more impulsive overall, engaging in “spur-of-the-moment” burglaries.