What Burglars Want Most From Your Home

The top items stolen in burglaries has changed in the past decade. Here's what thieves are looking for now.

Burglaries have been happening since weinvented places to keep our belongings, kicking off a cat and mouse game thathas seen the development of more secure locks and better alarms, screens andother devices designed to keep criminals at bay. But while the best way tominimise theft is still locking your doors and windows, the items that burglarsare most interested in have changed over time. Whereas a decade ago, DVDplayers were among the most stolen items,more recently burglars have been looking for mobile phones and tablets.

According to Dr Rick Brown, Deputy Directorof Research at the Australian Institute of Criminology, “there’s an acronymused within criminology – CRAVED, which stands for concealable, removable,available, valuable, enjoyable and disposable. Those are the features of theitems that tend to be stolen as hot products in the market.”

Here are the top things burglars arekeeping an eye out for when they gain access to your home or office – thingsthat are easy to carry and easy to sell.

Cash

Cash is still the king, even as most of usare increasingly shifting to using cards for payment. Cash is often the firstthing a burglar will look for, especially in a purse or handbag. “The key thingthat remains similar year to year,” explains Dr Brown, “is that it’s aboutstealing things that are ‘liquid’, meaning cash itself or things that caneasily be turned into cash.”

Laptops

“Some electrical items now tend to be lowerdown the list,” says Dr Brown, “either because they’re increasingly getting toolarge to steal – as in the case of televisions – or the price of them has comedown so much that they tend to be less favoured.” But don’t be fooled. Whileit’s a pain to lug a desktop computer, a portable PC like a laptop or even a tabletis the perfect size and weight for aspeedy getaway. In the past, such items would be sold at pawn shops or off theback of a truck but these days, the market is larger online.

Jewellery

Portable, valuable and easy to steal, jewellery is a great option for a thief looking to quickly turn gold into cash(silver and precious stones are also high on the hit list). But as is the casewith other burglaries, a bit of prevention goes a long way. “My number-one tipwould be to make sure doors and windows are secure,” Dr Brown says, “This prevents those walk-in burglaries, which account for a significant proportionof burglary offences.”

Carkeys

In the past, high-end cameras have been apreferred target thanks to expensive lenses and accessories, but now it seems opportunistic thieves have their eye on something new. “There has been a trendtowards the theft of car keys because of the difficulties in stealing carswithout the keys,” Dr Brown says, “It’s not yet at a level that puts it in thetop five but it’s one of those issues that’s rising.”

Mobile phones

In 2001, mobile phones were ranked theseventh-most popular target for thieves in NSW. By 2010 they’d jumped to fourthplace, taken in 15 percent of burglaries. The message here is, don’t leave your phone lying around. But if it is taken, having a ‘find my phone’ app activated might help you track down the thief via GPS.

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