What to Do After Burglary at Home or Work

The moment you realise someone has broken in, your first instinct is often to start checking what is missing. Stop there. What to do after burglary starts with safety, not a stocktake. If there is any chance the offender is still nearby, get out, move to a safe spot, and call police straight away.

That first hour matters. It affects your safety, the chances of preserving evidence, and how quickly you can secure the property again. Whether it is your home, shop, office or shed, the priority is to make the place safe, document what happened properly, and close off the weak points that made the break-in possible.

What to do after burglary in the first hour

If you arrive and see a forced door, smashed window, or signs someone has been inside, do not walk through the property as if nothing has happened. Try not to touch handles, broken glass, drawers, light switches or anything that may have fingerprints or other evidence on it.

Call police first. If anyone is injured, call emergency services. If you believe the intruder may still be inside, stay out and wait somewhere safe. A neighbour’s house, your car parked away from the property, or a nearby business can be a better place to make calls and think clearly.

Once police have been contacted, take a quick look only if it is safe to do so. You are not trying to investigate the scene yourself. You are simply checking for immediate risks such as a door that will not lock, shattered glazing, exposed wiring, or a vehicle that has also been tampered with.

For business owners, there is another pressure in that first hour – trading decisions. If the premises cannot be secured, reopening too quickly can lead to a second loss. It is often better to pause, assess properly, and secure access points before staff return.

Preserve evidence before you clean up

After a burglary, people naturally want to tidy the mess. Hold off until police have given you the all clear. Fingerprints, tool marks, shoe prints, and damaged hardware can all help show how entry was gained.

Take clear photos and short videos of every affected area. Start outside and work in. Photograph damaged gates, fences, windows, doors, frames, locks, safes, cupboards and any disturbed rooms. If property has been moved or dumped outside, record that too.

It also helps to write down what you noticed first. Was the front door forced? Was a rear ranch slider left ajar? Did the alarm fail to trigger, or was there no alarm at all? Small details are easy to forget once the day turns into phone calls and paperwork.

If CCTV is installed, save the footage as soon as possible. Many systems overwrite recordings after a set period. Keep a copy separate from the recorder if you can. If you are unsure how to export footage, get help quickly rather than risk losing it.

Check what has been stolen or compromised

Once police have finished their initial work, start building a clear list of missing or damaged items. This is not just for insurance. It also helps you understand the offender’s path through the property and what else may now be at risk.

For homeowners, that may include jewellery, cash, tools, laptops, keys, mail, identity documents and spare car keys. For businesses, the list often extends to tills, stock, tablets, work vehicles, access cards, site keys, customer records and staff belongings.

Keys are especially important. If house keys, office keys, master keys, or vehicle keys are missing, treat that as an active security risk rather than a simple theft. A burglar who has taken keys may return later without needing to force entry again.

The same goes for remote controls, garage door openers, alarm codes, swipe cards and any notebook or document that contains passwords or access details. Burglary is not always just about the item taken. Sometimes the bigger problem is what that item allows someone to access next.

Secure the property properly, not temporarily

Boarding up a broken window and pushing a chair under a damaged door might get you through one night, but it is not a proper recovery plan. The right repair depends on how entry was gained and whether your current hardware was ever adequate in the first place.

Start with the entry point. If the lock has been snapped, drilled, bypassed or pulled from the door, replacing like for like may not be enough. You may need a stronger lock, a better strike, a reinforced frame, upgraded hinges, security screen improvements, or a different style of cylinder altogether.

This is where honest advice matters. Sometimes a standard rekey is enough, especially if keys were stolen but the door and lock are otherwise sound. In other cases, the burglary has exposed a broader weakness in the property, such as ageing timber frames, poor sliding door security, inadequate lighting, or blind spots around the building.

For commercial sites, one vulnerable back door can mean reviewing the whole access setup. That could include restricted key systems, electronic locking, monitored alarms, and CCTV coverage at entry and exit points. The best fix is the one that reduces the chance of repeat entry, not just the one that gets the door shut fastest.

Should you change locks after a burglary?

In many cases, yes. If any keys are missing, locks should be rekeyed or replaced as soon as possible. If the lock itself was attacked, replacement is usually the better option.

That said, it depends on the condition of the existing hardware and how the property is used. A family home with one compromised deadlock needs a different solution from a workshop with multiple external doors and staff key access. Property managers also need to think about who has copies of keys, whether previous tenants returned them, and how many users rely on the current system.

A good locksmith will look at the whole picture. They will check the lock, the frame, the door alignment, the strike, and whether the hardware installed actually suits the risk level. There is no point fitting a quality lock to a weak door jamb.

What to do after burglary if you have alarms or CCTV

If an alarm was installed but did not help, do not assume alarms do not work. The issue may be with coverage, arming habits, communication settings, maintenance, or the way the offender entered. A side window outside the sensor’s field, for example, is a design problem, not proof that monitored security has no value.

Check whether the system was armed. Review event logs if available. Confirm whether notifications went through, whether detectors were obstructed, and whether cameras captured useful footage or only poor angles and dark shadows.

If you had no alarm or CCTV, this is usually the point where people decide they want more than stronger locks. That makes sense. Mechanical security slows entry. Electronic security adds visibility, alerts and evidence. Used together, they give you a much better layer of protection than either on its own.

For many homes and businesses, the practical answer is not the biggest system available. It is a well-planned setup that covers likely entry points, gives clear footage, and is easy enough to use every day. Security that is too fiddly often ends up switched off.

Insurance, records and the emotional side

Once the urgent security work is underway, contact your insurer and provide the police event number, photos, and your loss list. Be accurate, but do not guess. If you are unsure about model numbers, serial numbers, or purchase dates, note that clearly and gather records properly.

It is also worth telling your bank if cards, identity documents or sensitive paperwork were taken. Change relevant passwords and PINs, especially if a laptop, mobile, office device or password book was stolen.

What often gets overlooked is the emotional impact. After a burglary, people can feel rattled in their own home or distracted at work for weeks. Staff may feel unsafe opening up alone. Children may stop sleeping well. That reaction is normal. Good security repairs help practically, but they also help restore a sense of control.

Use the break-in as a security test

A burglary is a hard way to learn where your property was exposed, but it does give you useful information. Look at how the offender got in, where they moved, what they ignored, and how long they seemed to have.

Did they choose the darkest side of the house? Was the rear door hidden from the street? Did they target a basic lock, a weak window latch, or an area with no camera coverage? Did they know exactly where tools, cash or keys were kept? These answers shape the upgrade plan.

For some properties, the fix is modest – better deadlocks, rekeying, window security and sensor lighting. For others, especially businesses or larger homes, it makes sense to review the whole setup with someone who understands both locks and electronic security. That joined-up approach is often the difference between patching damage and genuinely improving protection.

If you are in Motueka or nearby and need urgent help after a break-in, working with a local specialist such as Pro Lock & Alarm can make the process faster and simpler, especially when locks, alarms and camera coverage all need attention.

The main thing is not to rush back to normal and hope for the best. Secure the weak points properly, ask questions, and make the next entry much harder than the last.