Wilcox of the Bermuda Police Crime Prevention Unit.

Considering how rarely Police Crime Prevention Officers are asked questions about safes, it is amazing how many good `safe stories' there are.

Several spring to mind, but my favourite story concerns a small business in Hamilton, which has a large stand alone safe, slap-bang in the centre of its accounts office.

A former colleague took the telephone call. The man on the other end said that somebody had broken into his office the night before and attacked the safe.

"Could we go around and offer him some security advice,'' he asked? Then be began to laugh! The reason for his laughter only became obvious once we attended the scene of the crime.

There was his large safe, in the middle of the room, with all sorts of marks and scratches on the back panel - presumably made with a hammer and chisel.

"He must have been here for quite some time,'' said the manager, looking at the number of marks on the safe. "But he didn't get anything!'' Then he started to laugh again. My colleague and I looked at each other, wondering why the manger found the situation so funny.

"Just try the handle of the safe'' said the manager. My colleague obliged.

The safe was unlocked and the door opened easily.

"I'll bet he never thought about trying the door handle'' said the manager, with a smirk on his face. It was then that we realised why he found the incident so funny. The only items inside the safe were jars of coffee, tea bags and sugar.

"We've lost the safe combination'' said the manager, "so we can't lock it.

We just use it to store tea and sugar!'' And to think that some petty criminal had spent hours trying unsuccessfully to break into a safe that only contained sugar and coffee! Another story, which I have recalled on several occasions, involved a large supermarket and two thieves who had obviously been watching a lot of television. Admittedly this crime happened some time ago.

They decided to break into the supermarket after the close of business on a Saturday night, on the assumption that this was the busiest night of the week and therefore they would find the most money in the safe! Realising that they did not know how to `crack'' the safe combination, they first broke into another business, where they stole oxy-acetylene equipment -with the intention of using it to burn their way into the safe! Though long drawn out, everything proceeded to plan. The supermarket did not have an alarm system and breaking-in proved easier than they had anticipated.

Imagine their shock (and joy) after going to the trouble of stealing the oxy-acetylene equipment, only to discover that somebody had conveniently written down the combination and actually taped it onto the safe! The lessons to be learnt from these two stories, which I have recounted, should be obvious.

If a safe is unlocked - even if the door is closed - it ceases to be a safe.

Instead it just becomes an expensive filing cabinet! Should you forget your combination, then contact a locksmith and have him/her attend your home or business and create a new combination for you. In fact it is a good idea to have your safe combination changed on a regular basis - say at least once every other year.

You should never write down the combination to your safe where other people might see it.

Ask yourself what you would store in a safe if you owned one? Jewellry perhaps, or cash, passports, important documents, artifacts, and or items of sentimental or intrinsic value? Safes come in all shapes and sizes. They include wall safes, floor safes, stand alone or free-standing safes, and vaults.

For home use, consider a wall safe or floor safe (preferably one with a drop chute).

Just remember that floor safes need to be installed in a solid floor and that small stand alone safes should be physically anchored to the floor.

For further information about all aspects of safes, please contact those Locksmiths listed in the Yellow Pages of the Bermuda Telephone Directory. You can also find out more information through local security companies and hardware stores.

This concludes my brief series of crime prevention articles. If you need advice on any crime prevention related matter, please telephone the Police Crime Prevention Unit. All services are available free of charge, including home and business security surveys.