| Few people are ready to move to the countryside. Most prefer to combine business with pleasure: to have an apartment in a metropolis and a summer house or dacha in the suburbs (region). But in this case, you will have to leave your country house for the winter, and it is not a fact that the property left unattended will not be damaged. Moreover, robbery is not the worst option. After all, criminals can throw a match…
If your house stands alone on the outskirts, in the wilderness, there are no options for protecting it — one, two… It is unlikely to be accepted for insurance, and security companies will most likely not agree to enter into an agreement. How can you guarantee prompt arrival «on call» to where, figuratively speaking, no beast goes, no bird flies?.. Such homeowners can only rely on an iron door and bars on the windows and hope that burglars will follow the example of animals and birds. But this is all a saying, the fairy tale will be ahead.
What they bring from summer cottages…
Of course, our fellow citizens' country real estate is mostly located in organized villages or garden associations. Which, however, are also emptied in an organized manner for the winter. And here, as they say, it begins… According to law enforcement agencies, more than three thousand crimes are committed annually on the territory of garden associations (mainly thefts and damage to property). Approximately 70% of them involve homeless people, mainly people from St. Petersburg. The fact is that in the Northern capital, vagrants are rebuffed, and they have no choice but to seek refuge in the deserted garden associations near the city.
But even in more remote areas, real estate is in danger. Judge for yourself. The further from the cultural capital, the more fallen people, alcoholics, drug addicts, and just people looking for something to pocket from a neighbor. In general, the social portrait of criminals is diverse. For example, once the police detained thieves who robbed gardeners, driving around in a Range Rover (perhaps bought with the money of hundreds of victims). But it is still homeless people who covet the property. They say that some owners came to their gardening in the spring, opened the door to the house and found a peacefully sleeping man who lived there all winter, ate up the stock of jam and pickles, and did not spare the compote.
The leader of the «thieves' rating» is building materials. And if you have boards or bricks stolen from a summer construction site, there is no chance of finding the thief. And from summer cottages and gardening communities, clothes (not necessarily new and clean, but good quality) and, as we have already said, food are most often stolen.
Uncle Kolya was walking with a Berdan rifle
How to protect yourself from possible emergencies? Obviously, you need a guard, live or electronic. Let's start with the first. Some people are lucky and live in an area where security is provided by the state. Yes, yes, it happens. By the way, one of the points of the «Program for the Development of Gardening for 2003-2010» provides for the allocation of funds for the development of security points, fire safety and communication systems. In implementing this program, the authorities entered into an agreement with the company «Lenenergozashita» to create a network of security points in the largest gardening associations. Such points are already operating in Mshinskaya, in Toksovo, and the opening of other «security points» is planned.
But let's say you're unlucky and have to solve the security issue on your own. What should you do in such a situation? Let's say right away: ensuring the safety of property alone is difficult and expensive. It's better to team up with your neighbors. You can hire a guard together, for example, from among the local residents. But this is not the best option. Such a guard, and therefore the place he guards, can attract local punks — you never know, they'll come to chat with a fellow villager… In addition, the legal status of guards remains a serious problem. After all, they, in fact, do not even have the right to use force. Perhaps they can admonish the intruder with a loud and weighty word.
The next, higher and more effective level of protection involves concluding a contract with a security agency (or a private security company). Of course, it is best when the village is patrolled by a squad of armed fighters; such «prevention» will scare off anyone, even the most daring criminal. But the constant presence of security guards on the site is not cheap — usually this is afforded by residents of comfort and premium cottage villages.
At the first call
Let's assume that there is not enough money for «on-site» security, then you can go the alternative route. Alarm sensors are installed in houses, and if they are triggered, a squad of off-site security arrives at the scene. This method of protection is usually chosen by small gardening associations.
An example is the Raduzhnoye gardening community in the Toksovsky direction. All 120 houses there are equipped with alarms, sensors are installed along the perimeter. An agreement has been concluded with a private security company, whose employees are always ready to come and provide the necessary assistance.
A quality alarm system has several levels. The first involves protecting the perimeter of the building (doors, windows and possible places of wall breakage) using contact closing sensors, volumetric sensors of the «curtain» type, and special acoustic glass breakage sensors. The second level — volume sensors (usually infrared), which react to the movement of people. Security systems of this kind are usually supplemented by a fire alarm system, since the central panels of security alarms almost always simultaneously perform the functions of collecting information from fire, heat and smoke sensors.
Any security system includes a system for collecting and transmitting information, which can be delivered to the control point in several ways. The most common is via wired communication channels. In this case, special multi-core cables are laid from each element of the security system to the security post (usually in special underground pipes), transmitting signals from sensors, video cameras, etc.
A more «advanced» method of transmitting information is via a radio channel. This is convenient because it does not require laying special cable routes, but it is much more expensive. In addition, we must not forget that the radio channel is subject to external interference, which leads to an increase in false alarms. Such equipment requires the installation of antennas on each cottage, adjustment and commissioning. In addition, for reliable operation of such a system, powerful uninterruptible power supplies are required in each cottage.
One of the most reliable protection options is to install a security alarm using a GSM modem. The controller manages the state of the security alarm, water and gas leak sensors, and fire sensors. In the event of an alarm, the controller can turn on the warning system (siren), automatically eliminate the cause that caused the alarm (i.e. turn on or off the heating, turn on the fire extinguisher, turn off the water), and send an alarm SMS message.
In general, it is not worth saving on «detection means». Just imagine that you bought a cheap Chinese alarm system, and it goes off for no reason — either a cat runs by, or a bird sits on the windowsill. And so a squad of fighters rushes through the mud and potholes to the place of the call, and there, excuse me, everything is calm. The first time, maybe they will forgive you, but the second time you will have to pay a fine for a false call.
Dirty money
Of course, speed is important not only when transmitting information to the dispatcher's console, but also when the squad leaves for the scene. Off-site security, as a rule, is effective only where there is a reliable connection and it is possible to arrive at the scene no later than 10 minutes after the signal. The response time in the Leningrad Region can be 10 or 30 minutes. (Before concluding a security contract, a measurement is made. The tariff usually does not depend on the remoteness of the facility, but is determined by the saturation of the equipment installed on it.) Although, on the other hand, in the region it is easier to detain a criminal hot on the trail, since the territory is not as densely populated as in the city. So, perhaps, it makes sense to use the services of off-site security even if the village is significantly distant from the security point.
Other methods of resisting intruders include the so-called chemical traps. They mark the intruder with indelible paint and thus force him to abandon his plan. Such devices are cheap, do not require electricity, are not afraid of frost and are a dummy $100 bill. There are similar dummies in the form of domestic «hundreds» and «five hundred» bills. Bundles of «money» are laid out in «typical» places. When trying to wipe the paint off such devices, the surfaces and everything that the intruder touches only get more stained. A special mat at the entrance will help secretly mark the thief's boots with a special composition — then, they say, the dog will pick up his scent in any weather.
Of course, each property requires its own «winter» security system. For a small country house, an iron door and a fence may be enough for protection (although an alarm system would not hurt either). A good cottage, left by its owners for the winter, simply needs to be provided with a video surveillance system, a set of warning sensors and reliable communication with a security company. |
