Reporting an intruder to Gendarme

[bryher]

Dave

Thank you for the courtesy of yr reply. Had this been at my house in UK then of course it would be the appropriate action. You will unfortunately discover that the local gendarme are not quite the same.  A phone call might produce a response the following day. It appeared to me that they might be working round my group of villas. Hence the careful dash to the gendarme to suggest someone come back to see. The result you already know.

Tom

[coppers1]

Tom,

I bow to your greater local knowledge in this area.
The main point which I was trying to make, after 30yrs police experence, was that your personal safety is paramount when dealing with these situations and that, unless you are very sure of a positive outcome, do not get physically involved.
The issue of the local Police interest/disinterest in response to your predicament, is something I can''t comment upon, as I have had no direct contact with them, as yet.
This type of oportunistic crime is endemic world wide; the only consolation is that Kalkan seems to be at the bottom end of that particular league!!


Dave
 

[Cosetta]

We also have wrought iron over our ground floor windows and door and a wireless alarm system in much of the rest of our house. This is linked by telephone to a surveillance company in Istanbul who call our nearest Turkish neighbors, then us if we are in the country, then the Kalkan Jandarm if they get no answer from us or our neighbors.  To this alarm system we recently added some magnetic windows alarms in areas where there are no motion sensors.

Like John, we also do not leave the windows open while sleeping as in almost all cases this is where thieves enter.  I will add that this problem is definitely not unique to Kalkan or to Turkey.  The problem is much worse in southern Spain and on the French coast.  I hear that those buying in Bulgaria and Croatia are experiencing similar problems.

Somewhere in the archives should be a concise list of suggestions for securing your property.  Please note that I''''ve not heard of any personal injuries occuring during a break-in.  The best, we believe, if you are sleeping and hear noise, is to keep sleeping and not confront the thieves.  This can provoke more harm than good we think.

We were burgled in 2006 while away in Spain.  The housekeeper staying in our villa had not put on the alarm and had gone into town, leaving the windows open.  An irresistable invitation to thieves.  The judge in the Kas court at first refused to give us a copy of the Gendarme Report implying that we were lying just to get insurance money.  It took quite a bit of proof to finally get the report and get the insurance money due us.

I will add that the one time I called the Gendarme recently (about noise, not a break-in), they also didn''''t come during the night (came the next day).  You need to seek help from Turkish friends and neighbors.

John, sure wish we''''d met you before we installed our very expensive alarm system!  Cost us something like GBP 1000+ in 2002 for 4 sensors, an outside siren, 2 control panels and 2 remotes !

Carole

[Enişte]

Is there any info around on whether intruders prefer villas or apartments?  I would guess the former, whether because there is less likelihood of being spotted/heard or because larger property indicates better pickings.

[Pete]

I have been told by friends who own a villa in Portugal that one of the easiest ways a Burglar knows whether you are in or out, is if the car is there. I appreciate that in Kalkan a lot of people do not hire a car for their holidays, but a lot do. In particular, in the evenings most people go into town for a meal, car gone, people gone, empty villa. Don''t leave anything behind that you cannot afford to lose.
Pauline, you really are having a bad run of luck, try and not let it get to you too much.

Pete

[Pauline]

Thanks Pete-I''m back in the UK at the moment so enjoying!!!  Back in Kalkan next  Monday so will see how things are then  - hopefully will be able to enjoy Kalkan as one should.  pauline 

[Hoca]

Lets be honest you willnot stop some one getting in you property if they really want to. I think common sense should prevail. If you walk the street wearing lots of gold and jewelery in the evening then you could be followed back as a lot of robberies take place while you Ar there as they know you have to take them off will be tired and the window or balcony will be open so don''t flaunt it to much. Leave a light on leave the tv or cd playing on repeat on the roof, we used to go down the Zinbad hotel and rent a box to put the passports and stuff in. But above all remember that crime is very rare here despite what people say and the chances of being robbed are quite slim compared to other places. I have never known a car get stolen or some one mugged or seriously assaulted for money or jewels it''s not the U.K yet

[Mctee]

No, but house break-ins are common.

[Hoca]

Again i think it''s location and yes it is the most common crime but aggrovated burgulary is not common and the ransacking of houses is unheard of. I understand the distress that is caused by this crime, i just don''t want people thinking that Kalkan is a haven for house robbers and petty crime.

[Charlie]

Mctee any more common than any other areas/resports in Turkey?

[Roger]

Having experienced the delights of a Kalkan buglary at my friends apartment in Kalkan, just a note on CCTV. Maplins, the electronics company in the UK sell a small camera which has its own static IP address. Once installed you can access it from any pc in the world by typing in the IP address. It is made by a company called Swann and costs about £100. You can add movement sensors at a small additional cost.