How do they know?

This question came to my mind as my neighbours had a break in this week.

When something happens to your home, how do 'they' (whoever it is that contacts you), know how to reach you, at work, or on your mobile or whatever?

Should I give an emergency contact number to my neighbour?

I worry as Villy is shut in the house on her own all morning, so how would I know if something happened and she needed rescuing?

I think it is always wise to get to know your neighbors.

Several neighbours know my mobile number, and one of them has a spare key.

Hopefully i'll never be in that situation because i have a house alarm as well.

We have always left our phone # with neighbours and a spare key with one we could trust, just in case we get stuck somewhere and the kitties need feeding etc more than anything.
We also have an 'emergency' phonelist on the fridge (again more for the neighbour than the police) which has our cell # and other people who can be contacted in case of emergency

When somebody has a break-in or say a fire,the police can check records that are held on that address,eg:electoral records,pnc, dvla, mobile phone companies and so on.This info is usually not available to you or I but the police can access this info in the event of an emergency to track down the owners.
But it is a lot quicker if your trusty neighbours have a contact number.

Thanks everyone, maybe I'll try to get to know my neighbour a bit better and maybe give her my mobile and work number, just in case she needs to get in touch. Is it safe though? I'm not sure. We've only lived here 6 months. She is an older lady, in her 60's, and seems trustworthy, but you never know!

Two of my neighbors have my key and we have an alarm fire and police!