Hi!!

I have had my appartment broken in last Thursday, they went in at around 8.00 PM and they ransacked my place but didn't take nothing. I live in Plainpalais, the day after, around the same time, it happened the same thing to a friend of mine. She lives close to Pont d'Arve, they got in but didn't take anything!!!

It is so weird, it might be the same gang!!

Claire

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I live in an apartment same as most but I am on the 3rd floor.

I'm keen to know from those of you who have been burgled, if you live on the ground floor or maybe 1st floor? Also were the break ins via the window or front door?

My firendly burglars broke the lock the first time and kicked the door in second time (it is on a wooden door frame). I am not on the second floor of an apartment that has a locked entry door. My neighbours with 2 locks had a crowbar put into the door to break the hinges off the doorframe. We all thought we were safe as the locks on the doors were substantial security locks.

I meant I am on the 2nd floor

Wow, thanks for update. So they break in from inside the building! That is seriously bad.

In England nobody gives out door codes ... I was amazed last year, when apartment hunting everyone just gave me the front door code.

That is why a video intercom systems with remote door opening are so much better especially in a place like Geneva where people stay here and there only a few days at a time.

But even without knowing the door code someone will always hold the door open for you if you arrive at the same time that they are coming or going....... so really these door code systems do not add anything to the security of the building.

yes, very true Jennifer ...

... though without door codes, there could be a marginal benefit in that someone sees some strangers (possibly a gang as they are being called in this thread) come in. But if one of the gang has the door code, they could wait for the right moment and nobody would see them come in.

This is a real shame, happening here. Britain has become the most "watched" society with the most scurity cameras per head of population. I'd not like to see such a peaceful and "relatively" safe city as Geneva go that way.

I had someone broken into my former apartment in Basel :-( It is annoying, but be glad that nobody got hurt.....

I lived in a safe neighborhood on the 4th floor.

breaking news: My neighbours was also been broken in his flat last week!! We live at the second floor with a code. But I noticed in several buildings tin Geneva hat during the day you don't need the code to get in the building.....

> We all thought we were safe as the locks on the doors were substantial security locks.

That's a very common misconception.  High-security locks are useless if the door frame is not robust.  The intruder will go for the path of least resistance and just smash the door open.

Other ways of intrusion are windows.  Make sure these are secured as well.

it's not only that.  I got locked out and the locksmith oened the security lock in a matter of seconds.

Yes, that's the unfortunate reality.

Locks that are difficult to lock-pick are expensive. 

I'm surprised, though, the burglars even break into the higher floors of buildings.

But OTOH, most buildings will be empty by 10:30, with all the people at their various jobs. Did other apartments in the same house also get uncalled "visits"?

Can you you have your landlord install higher quality locks (and door-frames...)?

Before a break-in?

After?

Here in Zurich, we don't hear about so many break-ins. But Zurich isn't that close to a border. 

Did the door just slammed behind you?  If yes, and if the lock features a spring-bolt, it's trivial to open the door by sliding a radiograph sheet between the frame and the lock, pushing the spring-bolt back into place.

If the key has been turned, instead, opening the door is much more difficult, but still at the hands of a professional locksmith... or thief.

Combining the posts of rainer_d and TheOmegaMan, the most likely culprits seem to be a gang of radiographers living in nearby France. Surely it can't be too hard to find these people?

I think the only door that would have had a hope of stopping "my friends" coming in uninvited would have been one with a steel doorframe and a lock that has bolts that go into the doorframe at the top, bottom and sides...

I have colleagues who have been burgled (apartments centrally in Geneva). These burglaries tend to be during day time.

I also have friends that have had their house broken into. This is in France (just outside Geneva) and here they go in during the night. They don't care if you're home or not (as bedrooms tend to be upstairs). My friends were home and didn’t wake up; they just noticed it in the morning, very scary.

Luckily I live in a building with camera surveillance and a guardian who lives on the ground floor and sees everything that's going on.

Hehe .  The first rule to defend yourself is to know what your enemy knows.  I'm the good guy, I swear it!

Elka: in this case, a solution might be a perimetric alarm to protect doors and windows, and a volumetric alarm set up to protect the ground floor.

Hi, in the appartments of two colleagues has been broken into. One in Puly (ground floor) last week and one in Rolle (top floor, also double locks!!) last year. Seems to be a big problem around here... :(

OmegaMan: What is perimetric alarm vs volumetric alarm? I can google it if you don't feel like answering ;)

A perimetric alarm detects the opening of doors and windows, so that it alerts whenever a thief manages to open one.  Unless he does it without opening the frame (e.g. by breaking a glass leaving the window closed), in which case a volumetric alarms does a great help by detecting any movement (the thief) inside the house.

Thanks! I didn't know the names of the different alarms, always good to learn something new :)

i was burgled a few years ago (ground floor, forced the balcony door, crappy lock, my fault...). we had this big chest-of-drawers in the bedroom, with five (i think) drawers. all of them messed up and the bottom drawer was left wide open.

now, any idiot knows that when you are ransacking a chest-of-drawers, you start from the bottom and work your way up. it's like day one lesson one in bedroom burglary (don't!). if you start from the bottom drawer, you don't have to close one drawer before you move on to the next one. it's so much faster: open-look-open-look, without any close. these buffoons had clearly not done that. 

what made the whole affair hard to swallow wasn't that i had lost valuable stuff or that my privacy had been invaded or that all the porn on those hard drive would have to be downloaded again. but the fact that it had all been done by cretins.

I have had my appartment bronken about a month ago.

My appartment is 2nd floor but stupid burgler climed up water pipe...

I submitted documents for insurance. Can anybody tell me how long it will take until you receive something from insurance company and how did you receive.(% of what you claimed)

Thanks

"And the nickname... and those shades... quite suspicious..."

@Marina ... you thread hijacker, leave OmegaMan alone. He really is one of the good guys ... now me? that's another whole new planet!

For all of you who were burgled, what was your experience with the police and their reaction?

For what it is worth, it appears it doesn't matter if you are on an upper floor.  I was burgled on the top floor of my bldg, along with my neighbor on same floor.  I was told it is not unusual for them to go to the top - sometimes on the assumption of more expensive apartments e.g. more to steal (not necessarily my case) - but also b/c it is less likely someone will cross their path while they are breaking in.  

The apt had the kind of lock w/ the cylinder exposed (so easy to get a grip w/ the right tool and just rip out) - in hindsight with what I know now that was ridiculous - but I was totally unaware of how common the apartment burglaries were - front door system seemed secure, small active apartment bldg, safe neighborhood, etc.  I was totally shocked - I've felt so safe in Switzerland & was naive.  Until it happens you may not hear much about it from locals in the neighborhood, where in my case apparently there had been other burglaries...  So it is good to keep awareness up in discussions like this.  (Yes, more locks on the door now, mailboxes moved outside, etc.)

BTW, I am just above Montreux - another area where burglaries apparently common.  Happened during day while I was at work, big mess, cash, jewelry, small electronics taken.  Clearly things they could stick in pockets & sell quickly.

My husband colleage got robbed last year. He went home for 2 weeks in his home country when he got back in Geneva his place is empty! not even a piece of his clothes. A neighbor said He saw some people moving his things  and have moving papers/documents to moved all his things. but he did not order any moving service.

I used to know Geneva as a very safe place but now after the Schengen thing.... I dont think its is safe anymore!

Yes I think that was the key for me. I was very naieve about the level of robbery in Geneva but after being hit twice in 2 weeks that has certainly changed.

Stats:

http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/infothek/publ.Document.129574.pdf

Doesn't show the distribution, just a consolidated number per canton.

For Zurich, there is this:

PKS - Entwicklung der Kriminalität im Kanton Zürich 2009 (1284 KB)

(theft up almost 7% in 2009,  41'051 total cases).

After some digging, I found la version Romand:

http://www.geneve.ch/police/doc/statistiques/rapports-activite-2009/rapport-d-activite-2009.pdf

So, Geneva has over 50000 larceny-related crimes - at what amounts to maybe half the population (if my math is correct).

That's pretty worrisome.

I think one of the solution would be to get to know our neighbours and help each other rather than anything else.

Do not hesitate to ask people you do not know what they are looking for if you do not know them.

In other words, be suspicious. We are still too naive unfortunately. See, burglars and other criminals do not even have to hide their activities...

Hi all, 

Another thing that potential thieves look for is an over-flowing mail box - it is a pretty clear indication that there is no one home when the post is sticking out! 

You can get Swiss post to hold on to your post whilst you are away by going into your local post office, paying 10 CHF and letting them know when you want it delivered (or when you will come and pick it up). Definitely worth the money in my books!

Wow, that is a lot of people getting burgled!  WE had three in our building on the outer part of town in the space of 2 weeks!  Bottom and 1st floor.  I've had someone come round the house to talk to me about security solutions...they basically say that no mater what lock it is,  you can buy the "equipment" online to undo any lock, just as the locksmiths would in emergency situations.  

One of the other things that one of the gangs does is phone the home before they come round.  They tell you some random story about working at the SPA (animal refuge) and say they have your cat or dog...This is a ruse to find out if you have animals before they brake in.

They will generally not smash windows, the reason behind this is, as the police informed us, is because of the vaccum or gas that in in the double glazing implodes and makes a really loud exploding noise.

Basically, there isn't that much you can do to stop them, they will get in if they want!!! Just make sure that you have a backup of your computer and that you keep it somewhere like your "cave" and make sure that your contents insurance is correct, do an inventory of your stuff !  

Hope some or any of this is useful to somebody, anybody!!!

Kelly 

We were burgled at Christmas, after I was led to believe Switzerland was so safe and vitually crime-free!

We live on the ground floor with a garden on the end of a block of apartments. So I guess we were an easy target. The thieves just jumped over the 1 metre crappy metal fence in the back garden and smashed in the patio door with a large boulder.

We`ve since installed an alarm which does make me feel much safer but it has a pricey monthly maintenance fee. The landlord says we are not allowed to put up a fence in the garden higher than 1 metre 20 but I wonder what my rights are as its a security issue? We are not in the heart of the city but a new residential area a few minutes out.

The police were uninterested really and considering the amount of burgleries they don`t seem to be doing an awful lot. It took them 2 hours so visit the night we came home and we had to sit in our sons room for the entire time.

If Geneva has a high crime rate for burgleries they should really be clamping down on it, cctv, police monitoring the area etc...?

Come visit South Africa and you will not be complaining about petty crimes.

It should be a general thing for everyone to be cautious and vigilant regardless of where you live.Lock doors and keep laptops, etc, out of sight from the windows. Keep an eye out on suspicious looking loiters.

These seem to be harmless criminals, so do your thing to keep them from being interested in your apartment exclusively by making a point of not exhibiting valuables.

I can tell you allot worse things that have happened to me...

Be aware and be safe :)

if you don't mind the electricity bill, leave some music on. the only thing that might keep these people outside is that you make'em believe you are home. they hear 'you' in there during a regular workday it means u might not follow a standard routine. that's a liability and risk for them

if you have a window overlooking the street you can hook up a timer on one of your lamps to turn on and off during the evening when you are away for a longer time. same stuff we use in the lizard's terrarium (you can connect the hifi as well). costs 20CHF each - tops...

these burglaries are clearly not the ones where the criminals are searching for valuable items they can pawn later and buy food. these groups are organized and skilled. and opening up a lock? it's not rocket science. i have a lockpick set which set me back 5 CHF. it's for shooting - i have no idea how to use it, a screenplay required it - but it's real. and with the so called bump-key (special key that you can have made in any shop that copies keys) all regular locks can be opened in 5 sec without leaving a mark. if you have something substantial they might go for the frame.

what we did back in hungary, we closed down all the doors with steel doors. even the worst case they have to circ-saw it and that makes an awful lot of noise.

or call Macaulay Culkin to do his Home Alone stint

Well the point is, there is a wrong perception is out there re crime in Geneva. It is assumed to be a low crime city and hence you become less vigilant... Having lived in South Africa/Zimbabwe I was far more aware of the level of crime around and hence took much more precautions. I let my guard down in Geneva. 'Petty' they may be but when you are a victim it makes it no less of a violation....

During the festival you should be more careful because last year my purse was stolen 3 times in one week from my back bag, more over our storage was broken last month too, and one of my friend was attacked at 10 6 month ago and injured a lot.

So be more careful