“—Dprevince

Page B6

>. “Sunday

September 5,1982

War declar

By KEITH MORGAN
Province Crime Reporter

War has been declared on tricky
burglars who break into 1,000 Van-
couver homes every month,

Proposed amendments to Van-
couver’s building code would re-
quire builders to construct homes
with greater attention to security.
The changes outline a series of
simple r es which pl ‘Ss
believe will be inexpensive but
effective in deterring burglars, .

“it’s long overdue but let's hope
it's just the start because there's a
lot of existing property that could
do with better security tod,”” says
Ald. Helen Boyce, who's been fight-
ing for such bylaw changes since
she and her husband confronted
two burglars in their home in
March, 1981.

Her attempt to introduce a sepa-
rate bylaw failed recently but the
new amendment proposals suit her

e.

The new code for residential
Properties would require the fol-
lowing:

© Deadbolt locks for all doors
leading to the outside,

@ Pin-type lock sets on exterior
sliding doors installed in such a
way as to prevent removal from
the frame when they are closed,

@ Visitor viewers in windowless
entrance doors.

© Where a mail-box or similar
opening is installed it will not be
larger than 0.06 square metres
(nine square inches) and not open
on the inside of the residence with-
in 1.2 metres (47 inches) of the ex-
terior doar lock.

Sliding windows must be in-
Stalled as securely as the sliding
doors,

The revised bylaw should be
through council by the New Year,
and its adoption could put Vancou-
ver two years ahead of a nation-
wide move to toughen up home se-
curity through bylaws. And it may
well form the basis of a new nation-
al building code set for approval by

85

The city would have been even
further ahead but for a freeze on
the bylaw imposed in 1979 when the
provincial government announced
its Intention to introduce its own
Province-wide building safety
code. That has since been rescind-
ed.

The police and city hall labored

long during 1978 and 1979 only to
see their efforts shelved. . .

Bob Mackie, assistant director of
Permits and inspections, is delight-
ed to see the amendments resur-
face,

“The cost involved is minimal
tor the builders," said Mackie,

“We haven't asked too much,
Just improved the minimum stand-
ards. It only becomes expensive
when things have to be replaced in
existing buildings."

Mackie said typical costs are
being investigated but early asti-
mates are low and not in the hun-
dreds of dollars range.

While Vancouver is about to take
the bylaw route, for the last year
the Hamilton-Wentworth district in
Ontario has been Operating its
ambitious voluntary Shield of
Confidence program.

In November, 1980, the
Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Po-
lice met various home building
related bodies and set out the
maximum security standards they
thought could be used in new home
construction.

ed on burg

If builders meet the standards
during two police inspections, one
during early construction and one
at the end, they are awarded a
Saield of Confidence certificate.
Decals on property windows show
buyers how security conscious the
builders are and help discourage
burglars,

The program goes many stages
further than the proposed Vancou-
ver code changes but the Hamilton
Police say the average cost in-
crease per home is still only a
stingy $200.

“The first house was built in Sep-
tember last year and a further 22
have been finished since then,”’
said Sgt. Tetry Sullivan of the
Hamilton-Wentworth crime
prevention unit. ‘‘And ground is
being broken for another 150 homes
all incorporating the measures out-
lined in the Shield of Confidence
program. .

“None of the houses built have
been broken into yet,” joked Suili-
van. -

There’s co such thing as a

lars”

burglar-proof home, police say, but
time is money even in the criminal
world so they won’t stop to mess
when there's a home just around
the corner ripe for a quick entry.

Sullivan says the measures
adopted are not new but a combi-
nation of long established burglar
deterrents. To date Sullivan and
his colleagues have had over 1,000
inquiries about the program.

“At first builders thought it was
going to cost them a lot but they
soon discovered it added about $200
to the cost of a home.

“Many builders are now saying
there's no increase in cost because
they are not using glass in areas
they did previously.”

The Shield is a sales feature and
it attracts 20 per cent reductions in
home insurance premiums for the
homeowners, says Sullivan.

‘‘Now we are thinking abour
some sort of program for existing
homes."'

And that’s precisely what Boyce
would like to see tackled in Van-
couver.

How to improve home security

readily available — you wouldn't
be able escape a fire without the
ey.

Vancouver city police have some
useful tips to offer people wishing
to improve their home security.

And if you don't think you need
their advice, Const. Ted Yeomans
of the police department's com-
munity relations section has some
eye-opening statistics that should
change your mind.

Yeomans says Vancouver aver-
ages 1,000 break-ins a month and
during a random sampling of 400
incidents, 25 per cent occurred
while the family was at home.

and the myth that the burglar
strikes at night is dispelled by the
fact that 64 per cent happened dur-
ing the day. Surprisingly, in 40 per
Cent of the cases the burglar enter-
ed through doors or windows left
unlocked.

‘Admittedly it is more expensive
to install new locks and other
things once the house is built,’ said
Const. Yeomans. “But there are a
number of things that ean be done
by the homeowner and they need-
n’t be too expensive.

“You can never be totally
burglar-proof but a burglar is not
going to spend even six minutes
trying to get into your place when
he can spend six seconds breaking
a lock on somebody else's house.

“One burglar told me he looks te
see if a house has deadbolt. If it has
he passes on to the next house,"

Here are a few tips on external
Security offered by Yeomans and
his police colleagues:

© Locks and doers — Police
recommend only one kind of lock,
the deadbolt variety. The key-in-
the-door-knob type is commonly
called a “friendship lock’ because
it only keeps your friends out. Yeo-
Mans says burglars can get
through the door in six seconds.

Deadbolt locks usually have a
key on one side and a thumb turn
on the inside. Those with keys on
both sides prevent entry by bur-
glars who break a nearby window
and reach through. But police warn
they can be dangerous in cases of
emergency when the key is not

© Vuinerable windows — Those
windows built into the door or with-
in about a metre (40 inches) of the
door lock are vulnerable.

@Stiding glass doors — They
combine the weakness of door and
window. The locks are generally
poor but can be secured easily. A
broom handle in the sliding track is
a start but a plunger type lock is
better. This is secured to the slid-
ing track and pushes a bolt into the
door frame. Screws in the tracts
Prevent the doors being lifted out.

@ Lighting — Good lighting dis-
courages any burglar from coming
near,

These are just a few ideas to
work on. [f any group or apartment
block is interested in a home se-
curity lecture, call community
relations which will try to set up a
lecture. The number to cali is 665-
2207,