Burgled three times in a week, tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket and told by police there was little more they could do, a Christchurch plumbing couple thought they were on their own.

Then a security company read about them stepped in.

The family run firm, which asked not to be identified because it feared being targeted again, has been given a full high-tech monitored security system, installed free of charge, after ADT saw the story on chrislynchmedia.com.

“After our multiple break-ins, ADT Security reached out and kindly installed a full, high-tech security system free of charge,” the business owner said. “We can’t thank Andy, Meghan and the ADT Christchurch team enough for their generosity and support. They’ve been incredible to deal with during a really rough time and we’re so grateful.”

The burglars struck on Saturday 4 July, again in the early hours of Tuesday 7 July, and a third time overnight before the owner arrived at the yard about 5am on Thursday 9 July to find the office and premises broken into. The raids cost the couple tens of thousands of dollars in stolen tools, vehicle damage and a company credit card that was used by the offenders.

When the story was published on 9 July, the owners said the police response had been “next to nothing”, and that they had tracked the stolen card and gathered CCTV footage of it being used themselves.

ADT New Zealand general manager Andy Brown said the company had fitted the business with ADT Guard, a monitored video system that uses cameras and cloud based software to detect when someone is in an area they should not be.

“In short, we use the smarts in the video cameras to identify if a human is in an area they shouldn’t be, that footage is then reviewed by very clever software in the cloud,” Brown said.

If the software flags a genuine problem, monitoring centre staff can trigger sirens or strobe lights, call police, or speak directly to the intruder through the system.

“Hey you in the red hoodie, the police have been called, leave immediately, we are watching,” Brown said, describing how the live audio works. “Basically, it’s a human guard, watching someone’s business when they can’t be there to do so themselves.”

He said the technology had been operating longer in Australia, where it had prevented numerous incidents and led to arrests.

“In Australia, where ADT Guard has been launched for a longer time, it has not only stopped numerous criminal events from happening, but we have seen nearly 70 perpetrators arrested onsite by police this year alone.”

Brown said the system was aimed at businesses that could not absorb the cost or disruption of repeat crime.

“The technology will help people sleep a bit better at night, at a time when lots of businesses cannot afford the disruption or costs incurred through criminal activity.”

Nearly a month on, none of the stolen tools or equipment have been recovered.

The owner said a police forensics team finally attended after the story was published on 9 July, but the prints lifted were not a strong enough match to identify anyone. There had been some progress on the credit card fraud, using the CCTV footage the couple sourced themselves.

She said a senior Canterbury police officer contacted her husband last week to say there was little more police could do.

“It is what it is and we’re grateful that no one in our team was injured. Belongings can be replaced, but people can’t.”

The owner said the experience had shown her first-hand how under-resourced Canterbury police were.

“We get that violent crimes and assaults take precedence over property, but at the same time, they shouldn’t have to be mutually exclusive. Where’s the deterrent on break-ins, ram raids and the like, if the people committing these crimes know the police will barely give it a look? We’re the second largest city in New Zealand. Something has to change.”

The couple have also criticised their bank over the handling of the credit card fraud.

“We’ve been disappointed in ANZ Bank who have shown little support regarding the credit card fraud,” she said. “We don’t know where they’re at in their investigation process, they’ve given no updates and it’s been nearly a month, despite them saying they’d escalate it.”

Police previously said their enquiries into the burglaries were ongoing, including a review of CCTV footage and evidence examined at the scene.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police via 105 using reference number 260704/5882.