Tips that can save your property or your life.
Practical Measures for Protecting Your Home & Business
If you already have a security systemIf you don't already have a system
Make your home less attractive to burglars
Lights make a difference
Daytime burglaries
If you already have a security system
Your security system is a proven deterrent to intruders. Studies have shown that homes without alarm systems are 2.2 times more likely to be burglarized than homes with alarm systems.
Source: The Greenwich Case: Securing Suburban Homes, Simon Hakim. Your alarm system will detect and report attempts to break into secured areas.
Your system warns of fire before you can see or smell it--giving you time to escape to safety.
Use your system to report medical emergencies--summon expert medical help at the press of a button.
If you don't already have a system
Pin windows and sliding doors so they are hard to open from the outside.
If something isn't exactly right when you return home, don't go inside. Go to a neighbor's home for assistance. Risk embarrassment rather than endangering your life.
Meet your neighbors. Inform each other when workers are scheduled to be at your home so imposters can't steal valuables. If your neighbor hasn't informed you of the work to be done, call the police. Some victims of burglary have had their homes completely emptied by what appeared to be a moving company. The neighbors saw the truck arrive and watched the men empty the house. They didn't call the police because they assumed the neighbor, whom they hardly knew, was moving.
In another case burglars gained entry into a home by cutting a three foot wide by seven foot high hole in the side of a house. When the neighbors were questioned by the police to determine what they may have heard or seen, they all acknowledged hearing the chain saw running, and assumed the neighbor was having work done on their home.
Make your home a less attractive target for burglars.
Avoid landscaping that provides hiding places.
Keep doors locked--an obvious step that most victims have ignored.
Put away ladders or other objects that would assist a burglar in reaching an upper window.
Do you have a privacy fence? If someone got into your yard, would the fence provide the cover for the burglar while he breaks in?
Lights make a difference
When you're away, put lights on a timer so they come on automatically at dusk, to create the impression that you're home.
Light the exterior sides and back of your home to make hiding or entering undetected more difficult.
Daytime burglaries
Burglaries are more likely to occur between the hours of 9 AM and 3 PM in the afternoon when many neighborhoods are empty. The children are in school, adults are at work, shopping or involved in civic work. This is a perfect time for a burglar to go to work without being noticed. Don't leave doors or windows unlocked, even when you leave the house to go next door, down the block or to the store for just a short time.
Consider changing fencing so one could be seen in the side yard. Shadow box fencing with larger spaces do a good job of keeping pets in while still providing some view of who is in the yard. Iron picket or wood picket fencing is better yet.