Electric gate motor thieves on the prowl

One of Zimbabwe's leading security companies has warned that there has been a spate of electric gate motor thefts in parts of Harare and urged householders with electric gates to ensure that their gate motors are well secured and even alarmed.

Safeguard Engineering manager Tinarwo Chiremba said there are several things that can be done to guard against gate motor theft.
 
"Replacing a gate motor is costly. Moreover, your premises are less secure when the gate has to be opened and closed manually as a result of your gate motor having been stolen.

"We are urging anyone who has an electric gate, therefore, to make sure it is secure, since there has been a spate of electric gate motor thefts recently," he said.

Mr Chiremba warned those who were considering installing an electric gate to ensure they engaged a reputable company to provide and install it.

"When choosing your installer, make sure that the company has a good track record. The cheapest contractor is not always the best.

"Once installation is done, you need to ensure that the base of the gate motor cage has been secured deep into the ground with concrete so that thieves cannot easily pull it out. We have heard of gate motors being stolen together with the protective cage because it was not installed properly," he said.

He said the electric gate itself should have an anti-lift bracket to prevent the gate being opened by lifting it off its rail.

The quality of the lock with which the cage is secured is important too, he pointed out.

"At Safeguard we provide steel cages which are secured by insurance-locks or queen-locks, which are regarded internationally as some of the world's best locks. We would recommend that locks such as these be used to secure all gate motor cages," he said.

"After you have ensured that the physical security is up to standard you can go on further to install a sound-bomb, which is a loud localised alarm that is triggered whenever the cage has been opened. We usually recommend that the sound bomb be placed next to the intercom in the house.

"We also recommend that a second sound-bomb be installed in the cage that will sound when the cage is tampered with. This may work as a deterrent to thieves, who may abandon their attempt to steal the motor when they hear the alarm go off.," Mr Chiremba added.

He said those with alarm systems installed in their homes can have a sensor installed in the cage linked to the alarm so that the alarm is triggered whenever the cage is opened.

"If the alarm system is radio linked to our rapid response service, this will also trigger the despatch of a response team," he said.

Mr Chiremba said some of the new gate motors that Safeguard supplies, such as the Centurion D5 motor, come equipped with a vibrating alarm that is triggered by motion and goes off before the cage has been opened.

He said perimeter and outdoor security were important for both residential and business premises and a major deterrent to thieves.

"Electric fences can play an important role in securing your property. In addition, your electric fence energiser can be linked to your gate so that an alarm goes off whenever the gate is forced open," he said.

 "There are also a range of wireless alarms that can be installed to watch over your gate motor, swimming pool pump or any other area within your yard such as the Roboguard, which you can install yourself or ask Safeguard to install," he added.

He explained that Roboguard is a stand-alone battery operated wireless automatic outdoor motion detection system that uses passive infrared sensor beams that can pick up any movement up to 20 metres away.

When motion is detected, he said, an alert is instantly triggered at the HQ control panel inside the house.