Security concerns
Hello, I’m posting about an incident I saw early evening Saturday which has made me concerned about the security of Eastside (and the personal safety of residents).
I was walking through the courtyard from front to back, and passed a teenage boy walking the other way who looked a bit suspicious. When I got inside my flat, from where I can see the back gate out of the window, I saw the boy come back (obviously having failed to get through the courtyard door) and try to get back out the gate. Not knowing how to do it from the inside, he put his hand through the gate and typed in the security code.
I’m pretty sure he had no connection to anyone in the flats, so I’m concerned that the security code is somehow circulating more widely than we think. On top of this, I came back one evening a couple of weeks ago and found two teenage boys by the back door, one of whom had climbed up the wall and was moving the CCTV camera.
I’ve called Crabtree and asked about either a) changing the code to the back gate, or b) installing a security system that requires a keyfob or something more physical than a code, both of which they said was a possibility. But obviously one request may not be enough to get this done, so in the meantime I wanted to make people aware of these incidences, and if anyone does see anything like this happening again if they could perhaps log it with Crabtree.
Thanks,
Lianne



I witnessed exactly the same thing a while ago: 2 teenage boys inside the compound on the Institute Place side and trying to steal a bike. I was on my way out and i thought they looked really suspicious. I looked back through the vehicule gate and saw one of them climbing the facade of the building and moving the security camera away from the facade. They then left through the Institute Place gate, by which time i had called the police who failed to turn up in time to confront them. I agree that the code to the gate should be at least changed on a regular basis or that the residents should get a swipe card or something similar to get inside the block. I will also contact crabtree to report that and ask them to do something about it. Having said that I have also seen people climbing over the wall and fence in the past so there is only so much one can do to stop strangers getting in…