Equipping your home with a personal CCTV camera can be extremely useful for a wide variety of reasons, ranging from deterring criminal activity to catching the culprits red-handed.

However, it can also act as an avenue for capturing the weird, the wonderful and the unexplained and commonly crops up in the news across the world for its ability to

Weird, Wonderful and Unexplained

While there are literally hundreds of examples of amazing home security footage the world over, ranging from chilling ghost sightings to attempted burglaries gone awry, we’ve picked a small handful of the best light-hearted examples of what goes on when the red light is showing.

The Weird: Taste Test

The electric doorbell has been a useful addition to home technology worldwide since its invention way back in the early 1900s. That being said, one use the humble doorbell isn’t famed for is its taste.

However, it seems nobody told Roberto Daniel Arroyo that fact and the California resident decided to put it to the test one winter evening.

In January 2019, Arroya was caught on a home security camera licking a doorbell of a local neighbourhood home… for three hours, no less.

Following the bizarre incident, Arroyo was charged with loitering while the moreish doorbell was thoroughly disinfected and presumably offered counselling.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFJy2gFQgF8

The Wonderful: Ludwig Van Beartoven

A family in Colorado returned home from a weekend away to find that their house had been broken into. However, upon closer inspection, the security footage told a far grizzlier tale…

Home cameras had recorded the whole incident, which showed that their house had in fact been visited by a wild bear.

The large black bear was seen prowling around the house throughout the video, nosing around the living room and other areas.

Luckily, the placid character refrained from exercising his right to bear arms and damage was kept to the bear minimum.

I did, however, stop to have a quick play on the piano during his brief stay.

The Unexplained: Creature of the Night

In June 2019, Vivian Gomez made a spell-binding discovery when viewing her own home security camera one Sunday morning.

The video, taken the night before, seemed to show a bizarre creature strutting down the driveway, performing a chicken dance.

Gomez made her weird home security footage public when she posted it on Facebook and it didn’t take long for the clip to go viral.

Many watching the video liken the creature’s appearance and movements to that of Dobby the house-elf from Harry Potter.

Meanwhile, others have taken a far less imaginative approach to the fantastical beast and chalk it up to her young son goofing around with pants on his head.

Either way, it remains a bizarre and disturbing sight!

CCTV from IDS Security

While CCTV can undoubtedly be great for recording cool and unusual sights that would have otherwise gone by unseen, it’s worth remembering that they are primarily designed as a security feature to keep you, your family and your home safe.

At IDS Security, we offer a variety of security camera solutions for your property, ranging from conventional CCTV cameras to high-tech digital IP cameras, all of which can be tailored for your home and personal requirements.

With IDS Security, your home is in safe hands. Our state-of-the-art products, coupled with the expert knowledge of our experienced team of staff, makes for a winning combination that gives you true peace of mind, wherever you are.

If you are interested in finding out more about CCTV cameras for your home or any other method of home security at IDS, why not drop us a line today? Call now on 029 20 753 251 or get in touch online by clicking the button below.

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It’s no secret that most offices will be shut between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, while many businesses will remain shut all the way through until January 2^nd.

While this is great news for workers, it’s also great news for burglars as well, posing the perfect opportunity to strike while the iron is hot…or, more accurately, absent.

Christmas may be a time of giving but, for burglars across the country, it’s most certainly a perfect time for taking too – particularly if business security it lax.

Avoid returning to work for a New Year’s disaster by following this handy guide on how to safeguard the office when shutting down for Christmas.

Christmas Office Safety Tips

Shutdown Before Lockdown

As the office will likely remain uninhabited for several days, it’s important to not only protect your premises for risk of break-in but also risk of fire.

Naturally, the first port of call for fire prevention is to ensure all non-essential electrical items are appropriately turned off; including computers, festive decorations, etc.

You may also wish to turn the water off at the mains as an added precaution, to avoid any leaking pipes causing additional issues.

Conversely, you may want to set your heating systems to come on intermittently via a timer during the holiday to avoid any pipe issues, such as freezing.

Knowledge is Power

If you aren’t going to be the one to lock-up your work premises on the final day before the office holiday, it’s absolutely vital that the person tasked with doing so is clued up.

It goes without saying that the person given this responsibility will need to be reliable and trustworthy. However, that same person will also need to be briefed ahead of time.

Ensure the individual chosen to close up shop on your final working day is given a full run-down of the locking-up procedure in advance of the last day.

This will allow them time to: A. Get their head around the process; B. Ask any questions on anything they are unsure of; and C. Have a trial run if necessary.

Be Wary of Strangers

Christmastime brings with it an increase in deliveries, particularly if you allow your workers to get their personal effects and gifts items delivered to the office.

However, the increase in deliveries can also bring with it additional personnel on-site, many of whom you may not be familiar with. If so, be sure to exercise caution.

Allowing unfamiliar individuals on to your premises or, worse still, into your workspace can inadvertently gift them with valuable site information.

This can range from general layout and insight into entry routes to potentially even provision of security details and passwords.

Team Effort

Due to the nature of seasonal office closures, it’s not unusual for people to work late on the last day to get work wrapped up like the Christmas presents to come.

However, this can often lead to low numbers come closing time and can commonly leave the duties of locking up to a solitary member of the team.

Leaving a single worker to lock up prior to the Christmas holiday break can be a recipe for disaster and one that should be avoided at all costs.

Not only can holiday excitement lead to vital security measures being overlooked but the solitary nature of locking up alone also leaves the solo worker vulnerable to criminals.

Ensure there are at least two members of staff on hand for on the last day to provide your premises with safe and secure closure.

Christmas Lights

Turns out that the Christmas tree isn’t the only thing that benefits from a little bit of illumination during the festive period.

Ensuring the perimeter of your premises is well lit should be a high priority for any office manager or business owner.

Simply equipping your office entrance and site borders with lights can be an effective deterrent for thieves, increasing the chances of them being caught.

What’s more, it can also make it notably more difficult for potential thieves to survey your premises beforehand and considerably harder for them to go by undetected.

Office Safety with IDS Security

At IDS Security Systems, we know a thing or two about safeguarding businesses. In fact, we have been providing security solutions since 1996 and our experiences in that time make for good advice, particularly when it comes to business security.

In our experience, whether you’re a shop owner, an office manager or otherwise, there are certain security systems no business can afford to do without.

Check out this list of options currently available at IDS Security, designed to keep your business safe over Christmastime and running smooth all-year-round.

• CCTV Cameras

• Intruder Alarms

• Access Control Systems

• Security Barriers

• Fire Alarms 

For more advice on office security over Christmas and Christmas office safety tips, why not drop us a line today? Call now on 029 20 753 251 or get in touch online by clicking the button below.

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If Home Alone has taught us nothing else – and I think we can all agree that it’s taught us a lot – it’s that opportunistic criminals love nothing more than cashing in on Christmas, occasionally through hilarious, madcap means.

Sadly, most of us don’t have a Kevin McCallister on hand to fend off such yuletide looters, leaving your home very much alone and wide open to festive thievery.

Luckily, there are a few simple ways you can boost your Christmas home security this December…

Christmas Home Security Tips

Designed to ensure you and your family have a very merry Christmas that goes by without a hitch, here are our top Christmas home security tips for keeping burglars at bay and your home safe this festive season.

1. Don't Give Thieves a Window of Opportunity

A common mistake for many homeowners looking to deck their homely halls with outside Christmas lights is by feeding cables and extension leads through partially opened windows.

Naturally, this provides an effortless entryway for would-be burglars to gain access to the inside of your property. A Christmas home security fail - if you will!

In fact, it’s a literal glowing sign for any thief looking to go rockin’ robbing at Christmastime and a schoolboy error that should be avoided at all costs.

Where possible, opt for battery-powered and decorative illuminations to avoid any need for a plug-in power source altogether.

There are even solar-powered lights on the market if you want to kill two birds with one stone and give back to the environment at the same time.

If mains-powered decorations are all you have and the only option available, consider installing an outside electrical outlet to power your lights without needing to use the inside.

2. Get Rid of Gift Boxes Discreetly

With Christmas refuse collection notoriously disorganised and infrequent during the festive period, it’s not unusual for bags to mount up by the time collections are finally made.

In the case of recycling, this can leave you with a veritable shop window right outside your house, telling the entire street what now lies inside your house post-Xmas.

For passing burglars, this can be like watching The Generation Game, providing a glorified conveyor belt of boxes, packages and containers to whet their appetite.

To keep your contents protected, be sure to rip or fold up any boxes to obscure their previous contents, particularly those that housed something valuable, e.g. a games system or an iPad.

Better still, try to keep your recycling bags off the street and out of view until the night before collection to reduce the chances of a crafty criminal-turned-Columbo detecting what valuables you and your family had for Christmas.

3. Take Precautions If You're Vacating Your Property

Many of us will be looking to spend our Christmases with friends, family and loved ones at various points throughout the festive period. Naturally, this can and often will, involve leaving your property unattended in the process.

If you are going to be vacating your home for an extended period of time over Christmas, taking the appropriate precautions is vital when it comes to protecting your premises.

For extended absences, you may want to ask your neighbour to pick up any deliveries that may build up outside your door to make it less obvious.

Even if you only plan on staying elsewhere overnight, it’s well worth investing in a light switch timer to make it seem as though your house is occupied with periodic lighting.

A typical burglary takes less than ten minutes from start to finish and a good light switch timer can cost less than £30.00. If you can put a price on peace of mind, £30 is definitely a bargain.

4. Don't Leave Gifts In Full View

Gifts nestled safely under a Christmas tree is a given for most houses at Christmastime. However, that doesn’t mean you need to give the street a perfect view of your festive haul.

Leaving your presents in full view of the window – particularly when it comes to houses that back directly on to the street – allows burglars to size up your presents before Christmas has even arrived.

What’s more, once Christmas Day has come and gone, any expensive presents left in full view can leave would-be thieves salivating like a dog in a butcher’s window.

Simply drawing the curtains or placing such items out of obvious view is an easy way to remedy this, so be sure to get into the habit sooner rather than later.

Similarly, broadcasting the newest additions to your contents collection online via social media can also be a risky action. After all, how well do your really know your social media connections?

You could be advertising to the wrong crowd without even knowing it, so think twice before you post that status thanking your partner for the new 65” Smart TV that now sits proudly in your living room.

5. Ensure You Have Fire Safety Precautions In Place

Taking steps to deter thieves and keep your home secure from criminals isn’t the only way to keep your property safe at Christmastime – it’s also important to take fire precautions as well.

Christmas trees are a common offender when it comes to household fires at Christmastime, so keeping your tree away from open flames is a simple yet hugely effective way of reducing the risk of fire during the Christmas period.

Avoid placing your tree anywhere near a heating source, such as a fireplace or potentially flammable electric heater. Meanwhile, always refrain from lighting candles anywhere near your tree.

In addition to that, you may want to think about the tree lights as well. Old Christmas lights can pose a greater risk of catching fire and could see your festive fir light up in an altogether more dangerous way should a bulb blow.

Finally, be sure to switch your tree lights off whenever you leave the house and before you go to bed. Not only will it save you money on your electric bill, it also reduces the likelihood of a fire occurring in your absence.

So, there you have it: five great ways to boost your home security at Christmas. For more advice on how to keep your home secure at Christmas, why not drop us a line? Call now on 029 20 753 251 or get in touch online by clicking the button below.

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Criminal mastery has long been a common theme on the silver screen, from The Italian Job and The Sting to Goodfellas and Snatch.

Even Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves made waves as the presidential pair of surf-loving swindlers in Point Break.

However, despite what Hollywood’s best efforts may have you believe, not all law-breakers boast the glamorised criminal intellect of Keyser Soze in real-life.

In fact, in the cold light of day, many criminals wind up looking far less like The Joker and far more like a bunch of clowns.

Witness the witless in action as we shine a searchlight on the hapless and the hopeless in this shameful rundown of stupid criminals.

Ocean’s 11 these are not…

Stupid Criminals UK

The title of “World’s Dumbest Criminal” has been passed around more times than a herbal remedy in Snoop Dogg’s dressing room.

However, you don’t need to look far to find examples of illegal idiocy. In fact, there are plenty of examples within our very shores.

Phoning It In

Losing your mobile phone can be an annoying and, at times, distressing occurrence… especially if you do so while committing a house robbery.

One careless criminal did just that, leaving his mobile phone at the scene of the crime, complete with selfies as evidence.

Despite claiming his phone had been stolen when questioned, the presence of stolen goods in the suspect’s home proved otherwise.

Unfortunately for the 44-year-old thief, the phone wasn’t the only thing that was charged. He was later sentence to 160 hours of community service.

Every Little Helps

Anyone with an ounce of common sense will be well aware of the importance of a clean social media account.

Unfortunately, common sense isn’t always that common. Case in point: this 32-year-old man from Norfolk.

The sloppy criminal posted a Facebook update on his profile that simply read “Doing. Tesco. Over” with an accompanying picture of himself brandishing a blade.

Apparently possessing an unhealthy dislike for his local Tesco store, the careless criminal planned to raid the supermarket that evening.

However, the post gave the police a welcome heads up, allowing them to intercept the man in a supermarket sweep of their own just 15 minutes later.

The man was sentenced to four years in prison and presumably had his Club Card revoked for life.

Love at First Swipe

A thirsty Scottish shoplifter became a victim of love after opportunistically swiping a bottle of vodka from an off-license.

However, it wasn’t some quick-witted local hero that apprehended the Smirnoff-swiping swindler but something far more simple.

Prior to pocketing the bottle, the shoplifter had incredibly left his name and number with the cashier after asking her out on a date.

Following the monumental oversight, the police quite literally had his number and the careless culprit had earned himself a date with the law.

A Safe Bet

A bank manager with a gambling habit seems like the perfect storm for bad news. Unsurprisingly, that storm soon came to pass and didn’t go by unnoticed.

Having already pilfered £3m from private investors through a bogus investment scheme, the 58-year-old Halifax executive from South Wales went a step too far when he began dipping his fingers in the till or, more specifically, the safe.

Bringing his total swag to an even £10m, the Swansea man stole £7m from the bank’s safe, incredibly leaving behind a signed IOU in its place.

The outlandish stunt was inevitably discovered by stunned auditor’s and the ludicrous loan was repaid in the form of a 12-year jail sentence.

Goldilocked Up

A Lancashire couple were left stunned when they returned home from holiday to find an unexpected guest in their home – a sleeping burglar.

The retired pair from Leeds found the Polish thief asleep in their bed, presumably replenishing his energy after a tiring day on the rob.

Investigators found that the sleepy bandit had made himself quite at home, even washing his underwear and cooking during his stay.

The intruder even attempted to clean up after himself by doing the dishes. Unfortunately for him, those domestic duties weren’t enough to save him from the law.

Home Security with IDS

While the above examples of criminal idiocy may be astonishing in their stupidity, that’s not to say you should let your guard down and leave your home unprotected.

At IDS Security, we offer a wide variety of home security solutions to keep your property and its inhabitants safe.

From CCTV cameras to burglar alarms and everything in between, we can help you make your home as safe as houses.

For more information on home security solutions from IDS Security, why not drop us a line today? Call now on 029 20 753 251 or get in touch online by clicking the button below.

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When it comes to home security, it's always best to be better safe than sorry. Whether it’s setting up a security camera, installing a burglar alarm or simply keeping your valuables out of view from the window, there are many simple steps you can take to secure your home. 

Here at IDS we're passionate about home security, and we’ve got a handful of additional safety measures we'd like to share with you that you can easily implement to make your property as safe as possible.

Home Security Tips

When it comes to securing your home, there are various different actions you can take, including: 

1. Install a home alarm system
2. Add a deadbolt to your door
3. Add a home CCTV camera 
4. Keep spare keys in a lock box
5. Password protect your WiFi 
6. Store valuables in a safe
7. Add motion detection lights
8. Store valuable items out of sight from windows

Here at IDS Security we're experts in home security and have been offering home security solutions for over 20 years. If you'd like to read more about our home security systems, click the link below!

Home Security System

Garden Security Tips

The garden is one of the primary gateways to your home. As such, it’s also a key area when it comes to home safety. Opportunistic burglars can prey on those with poor security in their gardens, making the most of dark and shadowy areas. Consider making these small changes to your outside space in order to keep your property as secure as possible:

1) Lock Your Outbuildings

An unlocked outbuilding is like a cartoon pie cooling on a windowsill – it’s the dream sight for an opportunist and really is asking for trouble. Whether you own a shed, summer house or garden room, any kind of detachable outbuilding will be a prime target for petty thieves.

This can prove to be particularly costly when it comes to outbuildings like workshops, which are likely to house expensive items, machinery and materials. What’s more, these outbuildings could also provide burglars with the tools they need to break into your actual house, whether it’s a ladder, a crowbar or even a shovel.

Keep your outbuildings secured with a padlock and consider accessorising with an alarm. If windows are present, ensure they are all equipped with sturdy locks or seal shut permanently.

2) Secure Your Bike

Bikes are one of the most commonly stolen items from the home. Keeping your bike secure might not seem like the most important home security tip, but it can cause a real inconvenience - especially if you use your bike to get to work.

If you own a bike, you’ll be all too aware that a good one isn’t cheap. Protect your investment by buying a bike store for your garden. Bike boxes make for the perfect hideaway for your two-wheeled transport. Secure with the appropriate padlocks for the ideal concealed area for you and your families bicycles.

3) Immobilise Your Car

It’s not just your two-wheeled transportation you should be concerned with either; your motorised vehicles can be just as tempting to thieves. While you may think your car is safe when it’s stored on your drive or parked in a well-lit street, that’s not always the case. Here are some home security tips to keep your automobile safe and secure.

Installing a security post or bollard on your drive can be a fantastic way to ensure your car stays put where you parked it. At IDS Security, we specialise in a variety of barrier systems, including rising bollards that can be perfect for driveway use at residential properties.

4) Anchor Garden Valuables

It’s amazing what criminals will steal in the hopes of financial gain, from children’s toys and outdoor furniture to plant pots and garden gnomes.

The front garden is particularly at risk from such theft, given its open nature. As such, it’s a good idea to secure your garden valuables by tying them down in place with cable ties.

5) Upgrade Your Gate

A haggard, old gate isn’t worth the rusted hinge it hangs on, while a damaged wooden fence that barely stands may as well be a revolving door. Metal gates are a great solution, providing visibility and durability in equal measure. If you prefer a wooden alternative, aim for a fence with a trellis panel at the top.

The opaque body of the fence will prevent snooping eyes, while the trellis top won’t be strong enough to support a climbing intruder, posing the risk of injury and/or discovery. For heightened home security, adding an additional padlock is a wise move, ensuring your gate remains shut when you want it to be.

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For more home security tips on keep you home safe, check out our blog on “Common Home Security Mistakes”, or "Home Security System Maintenance" Knowledge is power and knowing what NOT to do can go a long way.

If you have any additional safety queries or are interested in implementing IDS Security options in your home, why not get in touch today? Call now on 029 20 753 251 or drop us a line using the link below.

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