Home Security Tips
The first step is taking the time to pre-evaluate your property. It’s fairly simple to just walk around your house and see the more accessible and inviting entries a burglar can use. All you have to do is think like a thief!
- Are there good hiding places?
- Do trees border your property?
- Do you have outside lighting?
- Do you have a balcony, deck, or porch that allows access to any windows?
- Do you have a door or window that is hidden by your house angles or shadows?
- Can someone stand on your heating or air conditioning unit and reach a window?
- Do you have electric garage door openers? Don’t think you have the only remote in the world that will open your automatic roll up doors.
- Are any of your windows “special”? By special windows we mean a child’s bedroom window, your own bedroom window, or maybe a window or two all the way across the house from your bedroom, such as in the garage. (unheard entry could be possible here)
- Do you have a lot of trees and/or shrubbery growing around possible entries that can hide an intruder while he works to get in?
Things You Can Do To Help Yourself
- Make your property less attractive to a burglar. Besides taking all the steps you can to alleviate any security problems listed above, there is more to do, and it has nothing to do with a security system.
- If you can, have outside motion lighting installed. As a rule, most thieves have a problem with light, especially the kind that comes on when they walk by.
- Install timers on a few interior lights, and maybe on a porch light. Most burglars prefer an empty house, and if you can cast some doubt as to whether your house is empty or not, it could discourage an entry.
- Leave a radio on when you leave.
- Make sure you have strong deadbolts on your doors, but make sure you can unlock them quickly from the inside in case of fire. Deadbolts won’t really keep an intruder out unless you have a reinforced frame and a massive door, but it makes it harder to get in. Thieves are a sorry lot, and just prefer easy to difficult.
- Keep ladders and tools locked away. Don’t make it easy. When you leave your ladder outside and accessible, you open up a whole new can of security issues.
- A wireless motion detecting driveway/grounds monitor works well and doesn’t cost all that much. Just make sure you buy quality if you buy one. This doesn’t need to be incorporated into your alarm system. (Outdoor security protection can cause way too many false alarms). These are just to notify you that someone or something is moving about.
- If you have a detached garage or storage building, you need some type of security on it. A thief doesn’t care if you’re home if he’s going to break in an outbuilding. If distance is not a factor, you can buy a high quality baby monitor and put the transmitter in the building and the receiver in your home and hear anyone inside – if you are there to hear it.
- Finally, be aware. A lot of victims of crime could have defended themselves in some way if they could have seen it coming. You can’t see anything with your head down. Anytime you are exiting or entering your house or car, look around for anything that looks different or threatening. Be aware of the people around you. Buy some pepper spray, or a stun gun, and keep your hand on it, just in case. Look, it’s not paranoia. It’s just good prevention. Someone has to be next – they just don’t know it yet. Is it you?
This, by no means whatsoever, is everything you can do to prevent a personal crime. This is not, actually, our line of business. We recommend you speak to your local police, self defense instructor, or whoever to find out all the things you can do to not be a victim.
