Safety at home: What do respondents say?

There are several reasons why a surveillance camera is used: The most frequently cited reason is "to secure evidence in the event of theft" (good 80%), according to Homegate.

People who visit friends or acquaintances may not necessarily want to be monitored via camera. The survey also showed that more than 50% of those surveyed consider the surveillance of people in their private homes without their knowledge to be immoral. A good quarter is of the opinion that in principle too much surveillance is bad, as Homegate writes further. In Ticino, however, a third of participants would consider video surveillance of babies or pets to be a security benefit.

Light as burglary protection

About one-third of respondents said that they or their neighbors had already been burgled. 16% of respondents from Western Switzerland had already experienced this once. At only 7%, this proportion is significantly lower in Ticino. Burglars often like to visit 55+ year-olds (23%) and multi-person households without children (16%), as the survey shows.

How do residents protect themselves from burglars? "As far as possible, don't leave any traces of your own absence," is one measure frequently mentioned (38%). In second place, "leaving lights on" or a timer is mentioned (32%). Closing shutters is mentioned in third place (24%), followed by an alarm system (13%) and a guard called a dog (10%).

It would be interesting to know whether the survey participants, especially those in first place, spread messages such as "Hooray, we're on vacation" via Facebook and Co. each time they are absent ...

Study Design: According to the information, the study comprises a systematic analysis of the housing situation of people living in Switzerland. For this purpose, 1,294 people aged 18 to 74 in German-, French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland were surveyed. (rs)

Source: Swiss Topic Study Tamedia/homegate.ch