BE WELL AWARE!

[Michael Crane]

....We will also consider not coming to the Algarve in future years if things get much worse.

So, where will you go?

[bruce]

We did notice the extra security on the villa last year, they had added a roller shutter door to the patio doors and there were notes on windows and doors warning us to keep them locked if we were at the back of the villa or vice versa. It was a little unnerving as we realised these extra security precautions had been taken for a reason (we were happy they had).
I dont think this is happening just in Portugal but everywhere - not nice though.

[Bristle Si]

....We will also consider not coming to the Algarve in future years if things get much worse.

So, where will you go?

San Stefanos, Corfu. Visited there in June this year - fab! Peaceful, chilled, with enough to do on evening for 'entertainment'. Will defo be going back next year.

[EMM]

We have been coming to the Algarve for 8 years and now spend around 20 weeks spread throught the seasons here.

We have never been subject to anyform of crime or violence or seen any of the latter.
So I guess we must be very fortunate.

Have ordered the barb wire, close circuit TV, guard dogs, personal protection as we never realised what a dangerous place it is.

[patti]

I can assure you EMM you have been lucky, many of our neighbours on VDM have also been burgled, in my previous post I did not mention that before the thieves actually gained access by smashing through the metal shutters, they had attempted to force open shutters on all the bedrooms,a bathroom and had scaled an outer wall to gain access to the roof and tried to force the metal grills from the turret windows before eventually breaking in through the dining room. These are not sneak thieves,judging from the violence used to break in they are carrying heavy duty tools, crow bars ,sledghammers etc.

Since you have not been the victim of this type of crime you will not have experienced the upsetting and frightening experience of returning to your home (we consider our house in Carvoeiro as much our home as our house in England, we do not rent somewhere for a holiday) to find all your belongings thrown around,drawers and wardrobes emptied,mattresses dragged from beds and even the contents of your kitchen cupboards and fridge emptied.

Not to mention the damage done to the fabric of the house or the sleepless nights which follow a break in.

Believe me they way we feel at the moment if we could we would have a guard dog, barbed wire and probably an electric fence to keep these violaters out of our home

[EMM]

We have been the victims of various crimes. break ins, car theft etc BUT this was in the UK and we live in rural Somerset.

One of the reasons we downsized and now in the UK live in a secure development was that we knew that an empty house even for a couple of weeks would be an open invitation to the the thieves it was a risk we would not take.

But here in Portugal we do not feel as vunerable maybe its because we don,t live in a holiday area where most properties are empty for at least half the year.

As many others have said this is an issue that should be addressed by the management /condo organisations and for which owners should be prepared to pay.

[patti]

VDM is not a managed development area and many people live there full time, we pay for a security patrol and are certainly prepared to pay to protect our own property.My point is that in this
area we seem to be being targeted by one if not more gangs who are prepared to use a tremendous amount of force to gain access and whom the GDR (who claim to have increased their patrols in this area) seem to be powerless to stop. I believe residents of ADM which is a similar area have been having problems as well.

I am merely attempting to warn other home owners what is going on at present in this area, if any one has constructive advice to offer on what more we can do to safeguard ourselves and our family we would be pleased to hear from them

[blue]

It was reported in the paper this week that crime rate in the Algarve is up & police numbers are down. It is worrying, the only time we have ever been burgled was on ADM but we would be worried in the UK too though we were never burgled several of our neighbours were. We just try to make our property as secure as possible & having four dogs & a ferocious kitten (newly rescued) doesn't hurt either.

[patti]

It is the frequency of the burglaries which we find worrying. Personally I would go with large dogs as being the solution to our problem, unfortunately since we are not resident for the whole of the year it is not an option.

[bruce]

Patti, I would go with the dogs every time, they are a better deterent than any alarm but unless less you live there permanently it is not an option.
Incidentally it is on VDM that we noticed the extra security.

[patti]

Hi Bruce
Completely off topic, Just noticed you are from Wigan, which is where I was born

[yakxx]

There are hundreds of Break-ins every day in the Algarve...beware ...and many are very professional....

We had one , only took an hour as we were out for dinner and with two very large dogs inside the Villa they managed to put them outside , steal over a hunndred grand of Antiques and personal items....left behind cam corders etc.....they new exactly what they wanted and the Police didnt even walk around the grounds to check.....now we own nothing worth having and are a lot happier.....unless next time they come with weapons...

The police were totally useless and when I called in the station just two weeks later to ask them if there had been any developments, they had already LOST the file.......Beware.

( Yes we also have alarms connected to the local security firm but they take about 20 minutes to get there...too slow and the thieves know it)........

[patti]

This has been our experience with the police as well, they just take a statement and give you the documentation you need for the insurance company

However in their favour I have heard this morning that they have arrested two men and a woman they caught breaking into a villa on VDM. The two men where inside the villa and the woman keeping look out in a car parked outside. So may be they are beginning to take the situation seriously.

[EMM]

Has anyone had experience with the UK police, not that different to the GNR, for minor crime when you ask for a crime no for your insurance company you get the distict feeling that you are wasting their time.

Why because you are " inflating " their crime numbers.

[Bristle Si]

Actually i was burgled in my 'old' house a few years ago and the UK police were v.good; forensics and all that. Caught the serial burglar a few weeks late and he wa charged and sentenced. Forensics is not exactly something the Portuguese police excel at, is it?!