A neighbourhood watch pilot program is helping Canberra's burgled homeowners beef up their home security, to reduce the likelihood they'll be targeted again.
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00:00 Stephanie Monk has been working hard to make her home as unattractive as possible to would-be
00:06 burglars, for good reason.
00:08 I witnessed an intruder on my property and also my neighbour's property.
00:16 After that I was jumping at noises and I was scared that this person was going to come
00:20 back.
00:21 Ms Monk now has a variety of so-called target hardening measures, including security cameras,
00:27 a big improvement on her previous system.
00:30 All I had was some screens.
00:33 A Neighbourhood Watch pilot program offering burgled homeowners a $550 rebate on installed
00:39 security products has returned some peace of mind.
00:42 The federally funded scheme was launched in November last year with capacity for 500 participants
00:48 across the ACT, the regional Queensland city of Toowoomba and three suburbs in Perth WA.
00:55 Offenders are familiar with the home, familiar with what the homeowner owns and often return
01:04 for a second bite of the cherry.
01:06 Criminologists say most burglars are inexperienced and deterred by visible target hardening measures.
01:12 They will go to the next house and they will find somewhere that's more suitable if they
01:16 think they're going to be caught by CCTV, by security cameras, by alerting other people
01:21 to their presence.
01:23 Professor Gaitley's research found access is the main consideration for offenders in
01:27 choosing a target.
01:29 The most common way they got in was open doors, open windows.
01:32 Then what they're looking for is not being detected.
01:34 So if you've got lots of bushes outside your front door or a gate where it's easy for them
01:39 to get behind the back of your house.
01:42 Homeowners can request a free security audit through ACT Policing's support link.
01:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]