Durham police are searching for suspects following two home invasions in Ajax and Pickering, per DurhamRegion.com.

• Two home invasions reported in Ajax and Pickering
• Durham Regional Police investigating and searching for suspects

Police in Durham Region are investigating two home invasions across Ajax and Pickering. Home invasions—forced entry while occupants are present or during occupied hours—represent a distinct threat profile from typical break-ins, though the physical vulnerabilities remain the same. Residential entry points in the Ajax area, particularly in Pickering Village and Central West neighbourhoods, are subject to the same forced-entry techniques: door kick-ins exploiting weak strike plates and frame anchoring, and glass breakage at windows, sidelights, and patio doors that allow hand-through reach. Securing both vectors with layered defence is essential. Security window film bonds shattered glass together, eliminating the hand-through reach that makes forced entry quick. Door fortification—heavy-gauge strike-plate reinforcement, structural-screw frame anchoring, and hinge reinforcement—resists kick-in and pry attacks on entry doors. Together, these systems add critical delay. Every second of resistance gives occupants time to lock themselves in a safe room, trigger an alarm, or alert neighbours and police.

How Ajax typically gets hit.

Ajax is a predominantly 1990s-to-2010s subdivision city, and that era of Ontario residential construction shares a consistent built form: attached double garages, wide rear windows, and deep lots with mature tree screening along rear property lines. The Pickering Village area near the Ajax and Pickering municipal border carries older stock from the 1970s and 1980s, where original door frame hardware and lighter door hardware are more common. Central West, Westney Heights, and Nottingham represent the post-1995 subdivision expansion — homes here typically feature large rear patio doors, walkout basement sliders, and garage man-doors specified to interior-door standards. The most common entry concern in Ajax is the attached garage man-door. On 905-era subdivision builds, this door connects the garage to the home's interior and is almost universally built to interior-door specification — hollow-core construction, lighter door hardware, and frame tolerances designed for interior use rather than as a primary security barrier. Once someone enters the garage — whether by forcing the garage man-door from outside or by manipulating a garage opener — the interior door is the last obstacle. Homes backing onto the Duffins Creek trail corridor face a compounded risk: the trail system creates low-ambient rear yards with limited sightline exposure from neighbours, similar to the rear-sightline reduction seen on ravine-backing lots in York Region. Rear patio sliders on those creek-corridor lots are the secondary concern.

Full Ajax service overview →

1. 01Install deadbolts with reinforced strike plates on all exterior doors; ensure frame screws penetrate the structural framing, not just the door jamb.
2. 02Apply security film to ground-floor windows, sidelights, and any glass within arm's reach of a door lock to prevent smash-and-grab entry.
3. 03Keep exterior lighting on at night and trim bushes near windows and doors to eliminate hiding spots and improve sightlines from the street.

• Security Film
  Lawrence Park and Forest Hill: The Heritage Film Case
  Security film is optically clear, reversible, and leaves original glass untouched — the right fit for heritage and character homes in Lawrence Park and Forest H…
• Security Film
  What to Expect After Security Film Installation
  Bubbles, haze, and curing time are all normal after security film is installed. Here's what to expect—and how to care for your film during the 60–90 day cure.

Local Watch is editorial commentary by Clear Guard on publicly reported incidents. We do not assert any facts beyond what the cited source reports.

← More from Ajax