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Station 1 and 5 of 7 · Guide 1 of 6

Someone may be in the house: what do the police say to do?

Two halves, one wall: what the police in three states say to do from outside the door, and what they say to do from inside the house, with each force named beside its own words.

The plan, full width: the wall edge to edge, stations 1 and 5 lit, the other stations dimmed and numbered OUTSIDE INSIDE Station 1, this guide: Someone may be in the house: what do the police say to do? 1 Someone may be inside Station 2: Locked out, or the keys are gone: who might hold a spare, and what about the old ones? 2 Station 3: Is a broken lock in a rental an urgent repair? 3 Station 4: Can I change the locks when I rent? 4 Station 5, this guide: Someone may be in the house: what do the police say to do? 5 Someone may be inside Station 6: Deadlocks at night: how do you get out if there is a fire? 6 Station 7: After a break-in: what happens tonight, tomorrow and in the weeks after? 7 The plan as a strip: the wall across the phone, stations 1 and 5 lit OUTSIDE INSIDE Station 1, this guide: Someone may be in the house: what do the police say to do? 1 Someone may be inside Station 2: Locked out, or the keys are gone: who might hold a spare, and what about the old ones? 2 Station 3: Is a broken lock in a rental an urgent repair? 3 Station 4: Can I change the locks when I rent? 4 Station 5, this guide: Someone may be in the house: what do the police say to do? 5 Someone may be inside Station 6: Deadlocks at night: how do you get out if there is a fire? 6 Station 7: After a break-in: what happens tonight, tomorrow and in the weeks after? 7

Outside the door

Of the three police pages below, only Tasmania's spells out the case of somebody still outside the door. Victoria and Western Australia answer the person who is there while it is happening. Between them they cover both sides of the same wall.

  • Tasmania

    Tasmania Police describe that case exactly. Someone who is outside and spots the signs of an intruder within should not enter, the page says, and should make for a neighbour or another safe place nearby and call police from there.

  • Victoria

    Victoria Police answer the case where the break-in is happening while you are there: call Triple Zero (000) if the incident is under way, if the person is still on the scene, or if somebody is hurt or in danger. The same page's instruction for a break-in under way is not to confront the thief: get clear of the house and reach somewhere safe.

  • Western Australia

    The Western Australian flyer covers the same ground for a crime in progress: call Triple Zero (000) in an emergency, to report a crime that is happening, or when police are needed immediately. Under its heading for what to do after a burglary, it repeats the instruction: do not confront the thief; get out, or reach somewhere safe.

Every block above is one force's page: Tasmania Police, Home/residential safety tips, Victoria Police, Preventing home burglaries, and the Western Australia Police Force home safety flyer.

Inside the house

From inside, the three forces agree on one thing before anything else: nobody is to walk towards the intruder. Each of them puts distance, a phone and the police between you and whoever is in the house.

  • Tasmania

    Tasmania Police put it first: hearing or seeing an intruder calls for no confrontation, with your own safety ahead of everything. Where nothing suggests an immediate confrontation, the page says to leave the house as quickly as you can, and it lists 000 for anything life-threatening: danger, injury, or a crime in progress.

  • Victoria

    Victoria Police send the same message in one line: do not go towards the thief, and put distance between yourself and the house. It sits under the page's own heading for a break-in or theft in progress.

  • Western Australia

    The Western Australian flyer gives the same instruction under its after-a-burglary heading: do not confront the thief, and get out or reach a safe place.

Read from Tasmania Police, Home/residential safety tips, Victoria Police, Preventing home burglaries, and the Western Australia Police Force home safety flyer.

The same advice from both sides

Put the two halves of this guide side by side and the forces have said one thing twice. From outside: do not go in. From inside: do not go near.

On the numbers, the Tasmanian page is the one that spells out the difference: in an emergency it says to call 000 (Triple Zero), and for police help that is not an emergency it names the Police Assistance Line, given as 131 444 and available 24 hours a day.

The Northern Territory police page carries the same two numbers in one line: 131 444 for police assistance, and 000 in an emergency.

If there is time, and if it is safe to look, the Tasmanian page asks for what you can note down: descriptions of the intruder, of any vehicles including number plates, and as much of the situation as you can take in.

Numbers and wording from Tasmania Police and NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services.

Where the three forces differ

Tasmania is the only force here that answers the person who has not yet opened the door. Its page gives one instruction for that moment, and it is the opposite of the instinct to go in and check.

Victoria's page answers the case where the break-in is in front of you: when to call 000, and the one thing not to do. Western Australia's flyer covers emergencies, a list for after a burglary, and a page of home security tips, with the same do-not-confront instruction under the after-burglary heading.

So the difference is not in the instruction but in who each page is written for. If you are outside and something looks wrong, the Tasmanian page is the one written for you.

The pages to read in full

In their own words

Each force's own page holds its steps in full, beside the number to call: Tasmania Police, Home/residential safety tips, Victoria Police, Preventing home burglaries, the Western Australia Police Force home safety flyer, and NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services, Community safety.

This is general information from the official pages linked on this page, which stay the final word on what to do where you live.

Related guides

If the problem is the lock rather than the person, the two guides at station 3 and station 4 cover it: a lock that will not hold, and changing a lock when you rent.