Preventing Crime with Secured by Design

The UK housing boom of the 1960s-1980s drove the rapid construction of housing estates which were often built cheaply with little care for basic security. Architecture, design and construction flaws left homes vulnerable to burglary and this is what led to the Police Service establishing the “Secured by Design” initiative in 1989.

Secured by Design started by working with manufacturers, standards authorities and industry bodies to address recognised product quality issues to ensure that products on the market had the same attributes as products that had undergone testing. Over many years the work of SBD has made a significant contribution toward the fight against crime. A study taken from over 150 Kingdom Housing Association developments across Fife in Scotland showed that 3,000 homes built to SBD standards had experienced a massive 87% reduction in crimes over the 18-year period from 1997 to 2015.

How Secured by Design Reduces Crime

As one of Scotland’s largest housing associations, Kingdom Housing Association made it a requirement for every one of their developments to be built entirely to SBD standards. Doing this not only resulted in a significant reduction in demand for police services but there had also been a reduction in demand on the housing association services due to reductions in maintenance and repair costs. Crime prevention measures clearly go a lot further in reducing costs than the immediate impact on crime.

Homes were built to standards set by SBD to ‘design out crime’. Architectural design features included built in, natural surveillance and increasing attack resistance on buildings by using appropriately resistant doors, windows and locks.

Secured by Design and Your Home

These amazing statistics from Scotland demonstrate how its possible to significantly reduce crime by paying attention to the fundamentals. For example, by using high quality locks which have been tried and tested. Homeowners can raise the level of security around their properties by reviewing existing security features and replacing worn or substandard components with SBD approved products. A reputable UK supplier of Secured by Design approved security products is Insight-Security.com.

Door Security Chains

An excellent example of a well-known, highly effective security device is the ubiquitous door security chain. These are the door opening restrictor chains which are typically used to allow a main door to be opened just enough to identify a caller and find out why they are calling. If you pop along to your nearest home hardware store you are bound to find some of these devices on their shelves. But many of the door security chains currently on the market are substandard and do not provide any significant security enhancement.

Luckily, there is a Secured by Design approved door security chain, supplied by Insight-Security.com, which will genuinely improve door security. Recognised as a high security door chain, it’s designed to resist heavy door attacks. It has a short chain which ensures the door can’t be opened wide enough for a hand to be inserted, it uses reinforced metal work, welded chain links and strong fixings that make it resistant to even the most forceful attack.

Always use certified, high quality security products to be certain you are getting the protection you need.