Protecting Yourself Against Home Invasion

In Kyoto Prefecture, many cases of home invasion and robbery occur. Criminals sneak into houses and appartments through unlocked doors or windows, or by breaking doors or windows. Criminals not only steal cash or valuables from private houses, but also sometimes injure residents if they are detected. Therefore you need to take necessary precautions.

To protect yourself and your property and out of responsibility to your family and your community, it is important to take preventive measures to discourage criminals from breaking into your house.

Here are some basic tips to help you avoid becoming a victim of crime.

The Kyoto Prefectural Police Crime Analysis Unit conducts in-depth analysis on home invation crimes and informs the public of its findings.

What is an invasive crime?

An invasive crime refers to burglary or theft crimes perpetrated in a private home.

The main modus operandi in such crimes are as follows:

• "Akisu"

  The criminal sneaks into a home to steal cash and valuables when the residents are absent.

• "Shinobikomi"

  The criminal sneaks into a home to steal cash and valuables while the residents are asleep during the night.

• "Iaki"

  The criminal sneaks into a home while the residents are present and awake, but without being detected.

How criminals sneak into homes

Criminals sneak into a home through unlocked doors or windows. Or they may enter a home by unlocking a window after breaking a glass pane.

In some cases, criminals unlock exterior doors and windows using special tools, such as the following.

• Thumb turn

  The criminal drills a hole in the exterior side of the door, and then inserts a tool that turns the thumb turn to unlock.

  To protect against this, place a protective cover around the thumb turn on the interior side of the door.

• Picking

  The criminal inserts a special tool into the lock cylinder to unlock the door.

  To protect against lock picking, replace your lock with a more sophisticated, secure one, such as a W-shaped lock.

• Cam rolling

  The criminal inserts a special tool into a gap in the lock fixture to unlock the door.

  To protect against this, pull on the lock fixture to check if there is any gap. If there is a gap, fill in by inserting rolled up wire or other suitable material.

Common features

• Criminals tend to enter homes through unlocked doors or windows.
• Criminals tend to enter homes by breaking glass panes to unlock windows.

Crime Prevention Tips

• Make sure to lock all the doors and windows of your home before going out and going to bed.
• Double- or triple-lock every entry door and use a door chain or guard arm for additional security.
• Add an auxiliary lock to your windows, away from the main lock.
• Replace your window glass with "crime prevention glass"(double glazing).
• Apply "crime prevention film" to window panes to make them shatterproof.
• Never keep large amounts of cash in your home.
• Install outdoor motion-sensing lights that turn on automatically as someone approaches.
• Provide maximum visibility to and from your house.
• Install crime prevention(CP) fittings and fixtures in your home, for high-level anti-crime performance.

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