"The culprits cut the burglar alarm wire and must’ve been gymnasts to climb in the way they did. The police found a child’s foot print at the point of entry and as I found food scraps on the table, I assume they’d the cheek to settle down for a meal," complains Gibson. They have since been burgled three more times and say neighbours are habitually ransacked also, in spite of the visible signs of alarms and presence of Neighborhood Watch posters.

Burglars stay ahead of society with an impressive versatility and adaptability, and protection methods against them fail to mutate as swiftly as their practices. Burglary is by far New Zealand’s most frequently reported crime. According to NZ Police there were 81,027 burglaries recorded nationally in 1997, 78,832 in 1998 and 74,490 in 1999 and barely 11.3 percent were solved. Galvanized by receivers and crooked secondhand dealers, and indirectly helping feed security and insurance industries, police, judiciary, lawyers and prison personnel, burglary has a tight hold over society.

What can we do to overpower this grip burglars have?

According to Inspector Mike Hill, Area Controller of North Shore City Police, whose region saw incidences of burglary topple by 33% in the 12 months to April 2000, the $14 million package proposed by government in June will help significantly, increasing intelligence gathered about offenders and offences. Hill believes intelligence, in conjunction with an intelligent use of resources, is the key.

"We define ‘burglary’ as a very serious offense and have as many staff as we can patrolling problem areas. We’ve found burglars tend to steal cars, have no license, be dealing in drugs and operate tinny houses and we often arrest them for these and other offenses before they commit burglary. Plus, we support curfew hours being imposed by judiciary, as a breach gives us another reason to constrain them."

How much further does Hill think North Shore’s police can cut the burglary rate by?

"An additional 10%, with the use of the new government package."

"I could reduce the national rate by 50% if I had ultimate control," says Dan Dudson, New Zealand’s best-known ex-burglar, who pitches his entire existence fighting crime, after having submerged 38 of his 54 years of life living the bad life of a burglar. He reputedly stole millions of dollars worth of property and, when released from prison a decade ago, said he wished to repay his debt to society by teaching people the "truth about crime."

"What does it tell you about society if I can make a living out of burglary for so long? Disincentives for burglars are far too low. Crime prevention needs to transform faster than burglars’ practices, rather than honest people simply following in damage control, as they’ve done for the last 20 years." Dudson began speaking publicly after a 60 Minutes presentation in the early-90’s. He spoke to the Insurance Institute then, in 1995, New Zealand Insurance (NZI) offered him a contract to talk on crime prevention throughout New Zealand. He essentially gives talks to any group that’s curious - schools, Rotary, Lions - the full spectrum. And as he’s speaking to 3000 people per month on average, Ross Hunter, Rural and Consumer Products Manager for NZI, believes the significant fall nationwide in domestic burglary claims since early-1999 is partially attributable to Dudson’s work.

"Burglars get paranoid when someone knows more about their game than they do. They threaten me by mail, by phone or on the street about once every 3 months and say if I don’t shut up, they’ll bash me and so on."

He, as yet, has not been assaulted.

Tireless Dudson perceives deficiencies in our crime prevention tactics being capitalized on by burglars.

"A big failing is that when people buy an alarm, they think they’re safe. They’re not. If a burglar sees an alarm going off and nobody checking the scene - the alarm acts as an incentive for robbery. I advise people who’ve got an alarm to join Neighborhood Support. Another major problem is that people presume their new alarm will last 100 years. Not so. Upgrade every few years to keep ahead of crooks. You can acquire alarms now which go off when the wire is cut for example.

"I encourage people to get Dog Bark and Personal Body alarms, as they bring witnesses and these are the strongest weapon in a court room. Burglars don’t get off on witnesses, they get off on technicalities and too often the law works in their favour. And particularly so with kids. Kids think crime’s a game. Society’s so toxic now, Government must move to make a criminal apprenticeship far less user-friendly, otherwise we’ll be facing a winter of crime."

As for homeowners hoping their local police will leap into action on reports of suspicious behavior, Dudson says don’t bank on it – the cops are often too busy. "If you report a burglary, you’re taking your chances by phone. I believe police administration provide disincentives for people reporting offenses. And if police resort to doing so to meet political ends, they’re catering to criminals."

Carol Dickson, Secretary of the Steering Committee for Neighborhood Support NZ perceives the situation quite differently:

"Statistics on burglary are misleading as people no longer report burglary, as they think police are too busy and aren’t going to do anything. This is wrong. They will do something. I encourage people to report burglary, as well as suspicious behavior."

Dickson also regards joining Neighborhood Support, getting alarms, dead locks, keeping a dog inside, never purchasing stolen property and engraving one’s identity on items of value imperative in the contest against crime.

Dudson complains: "There’d be a lot of burglars cleaned off streets if we always took note of serial numbers on property. Serial numbers are the DNA of property items and can easily be taken at the point of sale, then faxed to insurance companies. We’ve got the ability. Property rooms in police stations are chock-full and cases aren’t being resolved as we don’t know who the property belongs to. Maybe we haven’t got enough crime. If we had more, perhaps we’d be doing more constructive things to reduce it."

"Electronics shops are interesting," Dudson says, "In one part they sell scanners, which serve as the crims early-warning system and in another, they retail items for the victims of crime." Scanners sell for around $200, and some look like bulky cellular phones, which is very handy for a burglar in a business suit who wanders the roads. While many scanners are sold to hobbyists, it seems a significant number are acquired by burglars. A scanner’s value to a housebreaker is such that, once he/she has become accustomed to using one to listen for the police approaching, he/she would go home if the batteries went flat, claims Dudson.

Lists of scanner frequencies adopted by emergency services are available in a booklet from Dick Smith’s.

"In the old days you needed to know a crook to get the police codes, (to allow you to tune in on their conversations). Last year they were on the Internet on ‘Kiwi Scanner Homepage,’" grumbles Dudson.

Owing to a security clamp down prior to APEC, Auckland’s police frequencies were removed from the net and Dick Smith’s book, but as many people have copies of this information already, Dudson claims their removal is in the name of being ‘politically correct’ and effectively redundant. In addition, although NZ Police had hoped to replace the analogue-based communication system with an expensive digital one prior to APEC in the name of security, this upgrade was postponed until late-2000 and is planned only for Auckland.

Are many scanners being sold? Tony Paulsen, Merchandise Manager of Dick Smith’s replies: "In the last year, our company sold about 1000; significantly fewer than in recent years. The drop in demand is probably due to popularity of Vodafone’s GSM network, which being GSM digital can’t be picked up by a scanner; that digitally-encoded cordless phones are increasingly prevalent and also people are aware Auckland police intend to convert to digital soon."

Owning a scanner is a punishable offense in Michigan, USA. The Michigan penal code allows for those who equip a vehicle with a scanner to be "punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 1 year, or by a fine of not more than $500.00,or by both fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court." Quite different to New Zealand, where we make it far too easy for thieves, according to Dudson.

"Scanners can tune into many cordless and cellular phones and burglars tape info they’re interested in like: ‘We went to Hawaii and I bought a diamond ring, a camera and…’ Don’t use cordless phones when making travel arrangements, such as ordering a taxi to the airport, nor for infomercial purchases, when you’re stating credit card details. Anything that travels through airwaves can be detected by scanner. Digital can be converted to analogue now and the public needs to know this. And in my opinion, manufacturers must warn of risks associated with using their products."

"Far too many people join Neighborhood Support for what they can get out of it," says Dudson. "Every block in this country should have an enthusiastic coordinator - someone retired and anyone who sees suspicious activity should report to the coordinator. At present we’ve got a completely fragmented system; a person on one corner may be burgled on Monday and another on Tuesday and we don’t share information and step up security for a short time. If you get crims working in an area and one is picked up by police, they’ll all know within 24 hours. This is another way the crooks are ahead - they’ve got better communications at ground level."

Like a magician, he opens two padlocks with a piece of steel sharpened to a point asserting: "Governments neglected to introduce restrictions on items sold as security devices, such as these padlocks, which fail to meet reasonable standards. I’d like all security-related products classified according to a security standards rating from 1 to 5. We get a lot of imported junk, such as $14 dollar sensors, sold installed for $150, and they only last 6 months as they corrode. Then give so many false alarms, people turn them off and wrongly conclude alarms are a waste of time."

Dudson believes that a number of companies that install and supply security-related products are bigger robbers than the burglars. "The industry’s so fragmented, we’re catering to crims. Plus, there are installers and suppliers charging such exorbitant prices, using rubbishy gear, they give the whole industry a bad name and are putting people off getting protection."

Unlike many in his neighborhood, businessman Bruce Andrews is streets ahead of housebreakers. He’s lived more than a decade in a hot-spot for burglary in Auckland’s Titirangi, and whereas all neighbours are ransacked regularly, he’s not once succumbed.

His security equipment cost less than $1000, (excluding a time-lapse video recorder). Detailed instructions were provided by the equipment retailers Photo-Scan, Mitre 10 and Newsec Security Group and as a consequence he alleges it only took him a few hours to install and doing so was a piece of cake.

"I believe the principal deterrent is the visible camera in the carport. It’s real. Imitation cameras are available for less than $50. Also, there’re two passive infrared detectors outside, which detect movement of heat and beep and turn lights on as people approach the house."

Andrews has a dazzling array of deterrents inside his home: Monty, the dog. A can of paint stripper to spray in an intruder’s face; which seems to be in line with what our law prescribes to defend one’s property - reasonable force - but a jury may take a different view, given that it may induce blindness. There are two 120 decibel speakers which when activated produce such a racket, they inhibit burglars from picking up gear, as they’ve got to put fingers in their ears. There is also an air activated alarm. These are available for about $150, and serve as a warning if a window or door opens. Finally, Andrews may view who’s at the front door via a $250 color pinhole camera concealed in an ornament. This transmits images to his TV and automatically records trespassers when he and his family are away.

Has he caught anyone on film?

"In mid-June 1998, about 20 armed offenders squad members saturated my property looking for escaped prisoners as I’d visited one a week prior to their breakout. The squad turned the mains power off, presumably thinking they’d stop my cameras operating, but the system runs on 12V batteries. And although my neighbour had offered them keys to turn the alarm off and open the front door, the video tape showed them kicking my door open and causing significant damage. After I showed police I had this evidence, I was offered $700."

Dudson offers: "People who’ve got a good security system like Andrews are simply driving burglars on to someone else’s property. We must aim to stop crime being committed.