With the financial crisis in the doorway, holdups and thefts of jewelry from people’s flats are on a sharp rise across Russia – from Magadan to Kaliningrad. Not to mention the rank and file, only in recent time robbers paid their visits to Moscow showman Alexander Tsykalo, famous animal tamer Yuri Kuklachev and gag-man Yuri Stoyanov.
It is proved by practice that the least exposed to burglary are those who take care to protect their property in advance. The simplest way to do it is to get your flat wired by the police dwelling security service, but this works only in about 50 percent of cases. One unfailing solution would be not to install a hardball door with smart locks, but on the contrary, to have a rather primitive and simple looking metal door similar to those used by millions of other Russians. It’s no secret that the outer appearance of windows and doors has very often the same effect on thieves as a red rag on a bull.
Of late, many people resort to electronics to protect their apartments. In this respect, supersensitive motion sensors happen to be a novelty. If your flat is left unattended for a long time, these devices will help you to produce the impression of your being at home. Thus, when a would-be thief approaches the entrance door to your flat he may hear a barking dog or some domestic appliance working.
There are cases when robbers are not waiting for an opportunity to get into an empty flat and attack openly. Very often they press the doorbell and simultaneously close the peephole with a finger or chewing gum not to let you have a look at unbidden guests. To be on the safe side your doors should never be opened to strangers.
If you lose your keys it would be better to change your door locks immediately, and you should never write your personal data – name or address - on the keychain.
If there is a large sum of money kept in the flat, its owner should better have a list of banknote numbers, since this information may turn out to be the only proof whose money it is if it is stolen and the thief is caught.
As for jewelry, there are special protection measures which can be taken to keep it safe. One of the oldest methods to individualize precious jewelry is to apply special hallmarks (similar to ex-libris). Besides, the owner of a jewelry piece may pay attention and keep in mind some scratches or other individual defects which will be known only to her or to him.
Microchips are a novelty of the 21st century. For instance, the Hitachi researchers have developed the world’s most compact and thin microchip, an RFID tag, the size of which is 0.05 х 0.05 mm, or less than a particle of powdered pepper or sand grain. This kind of radical miniaturization gives an opportunity to integrate an electronic device – bearing a unique identification number of 38 digits – into designed rings, necklaces and other jewelry pieces, which will make it significantly easier to track them. Having received an inquiry message from an RFID reader the tag transmits back coded radio signals which are virtually impossible to imitate. Soon such chips will be available to protect paper money too – due to the program pursued by the European Central Bank to introduce wireless RFID tags into euro banknotes to avoid possible counterfeiting.
Not waiting for the microchips there is already a possibility to use radio trackers developed for domestic animals to protect your jewelry. You may call an expert to install some on expensive jewelry.
Special security measures and covert surveillance are recommended for containers with jewelry and rooms where they are kept. The advantage of video surveillance systems specially dedicated for this purpose is that they have such additional functions as video recording triggered by an alarm or timing unit; they can also operate along with a PC, back up their data, transmit their information via the Internet, and enable infrared lighting, remote control and stop-frame modes.
Analogue or digital video surveillance systems permit to control everything going on in the rooms of a building and in adjacent areas. A security video surveillance system includes a TV camera, monitor and recording gear. The camera may be connected straightly to the monitor or TV set as well as to the recording gear which is a special video recorder or a hard-disk recording device (in digital format). The cost of video surveillance depends on a variety of factors including the level of gear sophistication, video transmission quality, number of elements in the system, availability or absence of additional components.
The Syba Company, for example, has issued a modern version of jewelry casket under the name of BioMirage Coffer which opens only after identifying its owner by her or his fingerprints or with the help of an USB key. While the fingerprints reading device is more convenient, the USB key is indispensable if the owner’s fingerprints become unreadable.
Still, to tell the truth, there is one insuperable contradiction about it all: jewelry is bought to be worn and shown, not to be kept in a locker. This is why the most important element of any security systems is the jewelry owner’s good judgment and caution.
Vladimir Teslenko and Oksana Teslenko
