“Have you put the alarm on?” asks Bibha every
night just before going to bed. She is not talking about the alarm clock. No,
it is about the house security alarm.
It has infrared motion sensors in every
room and corridor and contact sensors in every window and door. It is a fairly
average alarm, nothing fancy. Before
putting the alarm on, one checks that all the windows and doors are properly
locked, not just shut. This chore is repeated not just at the bedtime
but every time we leave the house, even in the daytime. If we are to go away for a few days to visit
family or on a holiday, we put the lights in some rooms on a timer. They
automatically come on at certain times in the night to give an illusion that
the house is not empty. We tell the neighbours to keep an eye on the house while we are
away. It is not just us, every house
in this neighbourhood has the same or similar arrangements.
You will be forgiven to think that this must
be a very high crime area with burglars on rampage, and no effectual policing.
But you will be wrong. The crime rate here is low, the law and order
situation is good in comparison to many of the developed countries.
Then why do we still
feel so insecure and turn our houses into high security prisons?
I think there
are two main industries who have created and are fuelling this mass paranoia.
The foremost is the
insurance industry. In order to get out of paying the claims, the insurance
companies are gradually putting more and more hurdles in our way. We have to
have proper metal locks on the windows and five mortises BSI approved locks on
the doors, at least three locks on sliding patio doors, a working house alarm preferably
with 24 hrs monitoring. If one does not have these, the cost to insure one’s
house will be more than what the house is worth! If any of these locks and
alarms were not applied correctly, they will not pay a penny! These things used
to be only for mega rich people, now it is for everybody. The coffers of the
insurance companies are overflowing.
The media including the press is the next
culprit. They report every tiny crime in big detail and paint it as a major law
and order failure. 24/7 news on TV makes great visual impact. Each incidence is
reported and discussed in grand detail and repeated ad nauseum. They hardly report the good outcomes of thousands
of police investigations undertaken every month but highlight even their minor
shortcomings. The journalists compete with each other as to who can feign
greatest disgust at the law and order situation. The reason for this bias: bad
news sales far better. To increase their market share each media group tries to
outdo the other in this race. Result is obvious, increased sense of insecurity
in the populace.
Of course, ultimately it
rests with us. We have allowed them to exploit us. We have got habituated to buy
and collect more and more (most of which we do not need). On top of this, we
have developed an almost pathological attachment to our possessions. This is
what has made us so insecure and vulnerable.
