Surprising Truths About Home Security

With unemployment as high as it’s been in decades, it’s no surprise that burglary rates are rising fast.  What is surprising are some of the facts about home security.  As people make efforts to make their homes and families safe, they often overlook these critical points.

1) Over 30% of illegal entries are unforced.  That’s right, almost a third.  An “unforced” entry means that the thief needed to do little or nothing to walk in the house.  Unforced entries occur mainly because people simply don’t lock their doors or windows.
This is not only a sure fire way to feel stupid when you discover a lot of valuable property missing, but it endangers you and your family as well.  Another way thieves make an unforced entry is by discovering those cleverly “hidden” keys over the door, under the doormat, in plastic rocks or other places that thieves know to look.  Extra keys are best kept with a trusted neighbor or friend.

2) Laziness is often a factor in break-ins.  Some studies show that over 40% of homes that have alarm systems almost never bother to set them.  An alarm may not stop a thief from breaking in, but it is likely to cut a theft short as thieves aren’t eager to get caught.  An alarm that isn’t turned on is no help at all.  There is no point in spending hard earned money on a decent alarm system (and spending even more to have it monitored) if it’s not even going to be turned on at night or when you’re out of the house.  Fortunately, this problem is easy to correct.  Use your security system!

3) Many folks have a false sense of security.  The truth is that most people don’t think much about home security until they become a victim of crime.  The longer “nothing happens” in the area where they live, the more likely they are to let their guards down, or to put off installing those window locks or anti-theft devices for a sliding glass door.  Once they are victims, in hindsight, they often realize that simple steps might have saved them from crime.  This is bad when valuable property is lost, but it’s absolutely heartbreaking if someone is hurt because folks believed “nothing like that ever happens around here.”

For more help on home security, Click Here!

A solid strategy for home security uses three tactics:

The first tactic is what most people think of when talking about home security, simply make it harder for a thief to break in. Thieves don’t want to work any harder than they have to for a payoff, and they will often look for the easiest targets in a given neighborhood. You make it harder to break into your home by having strong exterior doors (metal or solid hardwood, not hollow), good deadbolt locks on every door. In addition, every window in the house should have a keyed lock. These steps alone go a long way towards preventing burglary.

The second tactic is to make it riskier to break in. Just as thieves will avoid a target that’s too much work, they’ll avoid a target that they think might land them (back) in jail. Alarm systems are one of the best methods to keep the average thief away. The problem with alarms is that most people forget or simply stop setting them after awhile. One of the best things you can do for the security of your home is to 1) have a monitored alarm system and 2) set it every time you leave the house and at night.

Finally, the third way to improve your odds against crime is to make it less rewarding for thieves to break in. The trick here is that you don’t need to throw out everything of value in your home – you only have to make thieves think it’s not a very rewarding place to break in. If you have an expensive car, keep it hidden in the garage. Laptops, flat-screen tv’s and other highly target items for theft shouldn’t be left around where they can be seen through a window when you’re not home. If you have valuables in your home, be careful about who sees them. Most contract help, service workers and such probably aren’t tied in with criminal elements, but it only takes one to wipe you out.

Again, the three most important tactics you can take to secure your home are to make it harder, riskier and less rewarding to break in.

For more help on home security, Click Here!

In my last article, I discussed the differences between a burglary and the home invasion. Differences aside, both are pretty devastating for the victims. Although these crimes are perpetrated by individuals who at the moment care nothing about anything or anyone outside their circle of acquaintances (they probably don’t even care about them either), there are measures you can take to protect yourself from them. No system is completely fool proof. However, since most burglars and home invaders look for the victim whom they feel will provide the least amount of resistance, you can apply these techniques to make yourself and your home less appealing.

Prevention

1. Whether you have an alarm system or not, place an alarm company sign in your yard. Most burglars will go to the next house.
2. Ensure you have lights around the house with motion sensors. Home invasions tend to happen at night. Keep your house well lit.
3. Reinforce the front and back door frames, the strike plate and the locks with heavy-duty materials. This will make it less likely for an individual to kick the door in.
4. Install a wide-angle peephole in the front door. None of the other measures will be worth it if you just let the intruder in through the front door.
5. Place video cameras in strategic locations outside the home to alert you to the presence of anyone approaching your home (this is surprisingly inexpensive to do).
6. Place a lock on the locking mechanism of the garage door to prevent anyone from placing a bar underneath and prying the garage door open.
7. Be a good neighbor and look out for any suspicious characters attempting to gain entrance to their home. This good deed will always be reciprocated.
8. Replace existing locks with “bump” resistant locks (lock bumping is another article altogether).
9. If you get a bad feeling about the individual who has just rang the doorbell, DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR!
10. If you have a screen door, make sure the lock on it works and keep it locked while you’re home. It may slow the intruder enough for you to call for help or move to a safe (panic) room.
11. Oh, and let us not forget about the dog. Even if you don’t have a dog, you can place a “Beware of Dog” sign out. It really doesn’t matter what size the dog is (if you have one), as long as he/she can be an early warning “device” by barking!

We’ll discuss measures to take if the intruder gains entrance, in Part II.

As we go through life enjoying the things that we are blessed with, we must also plan and prepare for circumstances that may be uncomfortable to talk about. There is a seedy element that wants to deprive us of that which we have worked so hard for. This criminal element will stop at nothing to come into our homes and take that for which they have not worked. They conduct their “business” in a number of ways. The most common way is to burglarize your home. There is however, a technique that is becoming increasingly prevalent as the time goes by. The home invasion.

Now, you may ask how is a home invasion different from a burglary? Well. I’m glad you asked. Before answering, let me say that many municipalities group these two “techniques” together so that there is very little statistical data on home invasions as compared to that of burglaries alone. That being said, as time progresses, authorities are now starting to pay more attention to this trend in criminal behavior. Burglars tend to work in the daytime when no one is home. They tend to be mostly non-violent (unless they are surprised by a homeowner who is actually at home). If given the opportunity, the burglar will run if confronted by the homeowner (most of the time). Burglars will gain entrance in any number of ways if given the opportunity. The most common way, believe it or not is through the front or rear door. They’ll only climb through a window about 20 percent of the time. The most common reason for a person to be relegated to burglarizing homes is to support a drug habit. They could be male or female (mostly male).

The home invader is a different beast altogether. He tends to be more violent. Think about it. He is attempting to enter a house he knows is occupied in order to overpower the occupants! He tends to work at night and will target the victim least likely (in his mind) to give him any resistance upon entry. The victim will tend to be the elderly, single women or even drug dealers. And as you can see by my use of the pronoun, he tends to be a male. He may target an individual who by virtue of the expensive vehicle they’re driving looks to have money. The would-be intruder may follow his target home in the day and wait until nightfall to commence his nocturnal escapades. Another thing. Obviously, money is not the only reason for home invasions. The attacker may have found a “mark” he feels he can dominate and control (I know I don’t have to go any further with this scenario. You get the picture).

They can gain entrance by kicking in the door, climbing through a window or faking a delivery to gain trust. Upon entry, the first few minutes tend to be the most violent, while the assailant establishes control of his victims. The intruder will more than likely tie up his victims and incapacitate the phone lines (not necessarily in that order). Once in control and assured the threat of discovery (by any means) is minimized, they can now take their time to carry out their purpose for entering the home in the first place (to burglarize or molest). Of course, there are measures you can take to greatly minimize your chances of being a victim. Most of these measures are simple and inexpensive. They only involve making minor adjustments to your everyday habits. We’ll discuss these in a subsequent article.