You may have a home security system for your Tulsa or Oklahoma City home, but how can you use it more effectively to protect yourself and your family? In 2010 a burglary happened every 14.6 seconds in the U.S., and residential burglaries accounted for 73.9 percent of these offenses, according to FBI statistics. This indicates that homes are still a burglar’s main target. So how can you keep your house safe and preserve a feeling security in your home? Here are a view home security tips that can help deter burglars from breaking in to your home.
Advertise and Activate your Alarm System
A home security and alarm system will notify you of someone trying to break into your home, but advertising that you have a home security and surveillance system can deter burglars from thinking your house is an easy target. Yet some homeowners may not want to place a sign in front of their home warning that there’s a security system in place because they feel it will detract from the appearance of their home. “But if you want an alarm to really protect, the criminals have to know it's there before they target you,” Julia Layton from howstuffworks.com noted.
A former master thief, Walter T. Shaw, told MSN Money that decals and signs warning of a security system should also be placed in the backyard, where thieves are most likely to case out your home. He also stated in the article that homeowners should keep their alarm systems activated at all times, even when they are home because many burglars will break-in even when the resident is there. Many thieves actually break-in during the day when most people are not at home, so keep your security system on and visible to thieves. The MSN Money article also noted that most thieves can’t or don’t have time in a robbery to disable the surveillance systems, so these cameras can help to greatly deter criminals. But again, they must know you have these cameras to be afraid of them, so the article recommended including surveillance cameras on your signs and decals.
Be Careful about what you say Online or Offline
Everyone loves to keep track of family and friends on social media platforms like Facebook. Now, we can “check-in” to our favorite restaurant or movie theater. But thieves are also checking in on us online, so a post or status update letting people know you’re on vacation or away from home can easily be seen by criminals. Thus, be careful about what sensitive information you share online because you can’t always know with whom you’re sharing this information. Shaw also noted that people often talk about their personal information or vacation plans with strangers or people they may not know well like the person standing next to them in the grocery line, someone changing their oil, or someone bagging their groceries. Shaw said that criminals often have informants or people that tip them off to a homeowner’s upcoming business trip, so be careful about telling strangers your plans or any sensitive information.
Another aspect of what you say is what you show – especially from the outside. Walk around your house outside and see what valuables are visible from the windows. A big screen TV or computer in plain sight of a window can invite thieves. What you throw out in the trash can also be an indication of what you have inside. Thus, experts recommend not leaving boxes and packaging from TVs or other expensive purchases next to the trash outside your home.
Keep your Doorbell in good repair
Some criminals will visit your house under the guise of being a solicitor to see who is home during the day and when they can come back to break-in. Thus, Shaw noted that having a working doorbell so that you can hear- even in the basement- when someone is at your front door can help prevent your home from looking empty, and thus being an easy target, for criminals posing as salesmen.
Invest in Good Locks for Doors and Windows
Your home must be secure at its points of entry, where a thief will first try to break-in. As crucial aspects of your home security, you can’t afford to buy cheap doors and locks. This equipment needs to be solid and secure to prevent thieves from either kicking in the door or disabling the lock. According to crimedoctor.com, doors should be solid metal or wood so that they hold securely. You should use a heavy-duty strike plate and a knob-in-lock set or a deadbolt lock with a dead-latch mechanism. Also, if you buy a new home, change the locks because you don’t know how many people have a copy of your house key. Changing the locks or passcode is also good to do when you have any big change in circumstances like ending a relationship, technewsdaily.com noted.
Keep things Well-Lit
Keeping your home well-lit both inside and outside will help prevent your home from looking empty and vulnerable to hiding places. Motion sensor lights outside as well as other lighting that keeps pathways and areas near shrubbery and windows well-lit can help deter burglars looking to remain hidden. Inside your home, lighting is also important. Setting your inside lights on a timer every day will make it more difficult for burglars to know when you’re home or when you’re working late, Layton said.
Don’t hide your spare key under the Doormat
It may seem simple, but because of convenience or other reasons many homeowners may place a spare key in a fairly obvious location such as under a doormat or statue next to the door. The safest place to keep a spare key, according to Layton, is with a trustworthy neighbor. Another good way to keep the convenience of a spare key without the risks is to install a keypad or fingerprint lock.
Along with an up-to-date home security system and surveillance system, these are some of the simple, everyday things we can do to deter thieves and sure up weak points in a home’s security
A home security and alarm system will notify you of someone trying to break into your home, but advertising that you have a home security and surveillance system can deter burglars from thinking your house is an easy target. Yet some homeowners may not want to place a sign in front of their home warning that there’s a security system in place because they feel it will detract from the appearance of their home. “But if you want an alarm to really protect, the criminals have to know it's there before they target you,” Julia Layton from howstuffworks.com noted.
A former master thief, Walter T. Shaw, told MSN Money that decals and signs warning of a security system should also be placed in the backyard, where thieves are most likely to case out your home. He also stated in the article that homeowners should keep their alarm systems activated at all times, even when they are home because many burglars will break-in even when the resident is there. Many thieves actually break-in during the day when most people are not at home, so keep your security system on and visible to thieves. The MSN Money article also noted that most thieves can’t or don’t have time in a robbery to disable the surveillance systems, so these cameras can help to greatly deter criminals. But again, they must know you have these cameras to be afraid of them, so the article recommended including surveillance cameras on your signs and decals.
Be Careful about what you say Online or Offline
Everyone loves to keep track of family and friends on social media platforms like Facebook. Now, we can “check-in” to our favorite restaurant or movie theater. But thieves are also checking in on us online, so a post or status update letting people know you’re on vacation or away from home can easily be seen by criminals. Thus, be careful about what sensitive information you share online because you can’t always know with whom you’re sharing this information. Shaw also noted that people often talk about their personal information or vacation plans with strangers or people they may not know well like the person standing next to them in the grocery line, someone changing their oil, or someone bagging their groceries. Shaw said that criminals often have informants or people that tip them off to a homeowner’s upcoming business trip, so be careful about telling strangers your plans or any sensitive information.
Another aspect of what you say is what you show – especially from the outside. Walk around your house outside and see what valuables are visible from the windows. A big screen TV or computer in plain sight of a window can invite thieves. What you throw out in the trash can also be an indication of what you have inside. Thus, experts recommend not leaving boxes and packaging from TVs or other expensive purchases next to the trash outside your home.
Keep your Doorbell in good repair
Some criminals will visit your house under the guise of being a solicitor to see who is home during the day and when they can come back to break-in. Thus, Shaw noted that having a working doorbell so that you can hear- even in the basement- when someone is at your front door can help prevent your home from looking empty, and thus being an easy target, for criminals posing as salesmen.
Invest in Good Locks for Doors and Windows
Your home must be secure at its points of entry, where a thief will first try to break-in. As crucial aspects of your home security, you can’t afford to buy cheap doors and locks. This equipment needs to be solid and secure to prevent thieves from either kicking in the door or disabling the lock. According to crimedoctor.com, doors should be solid metal or wood so that they hold securely. You should use a heavy-duty strike plate and a knob-in-lock set or a deadbolt lock with a dead-latch mechanism. Also, if you buy a new home, change the locks because you don’t know how many people have a copy of your house key. Changing the locks or passcode is also good to do when you have any big change in circumstances like ending a relationship, technewsdaily.com noted.
Keep things Well-Lit
Keeping your home well-lit both inside and outside will help prevent your home from looking empty and vulnerable to hiding places. Motion sensor lights outside as well as other lighting that keeps pathways and areas near shrubbery and windows well-lit can help deter burglars looking to remain hidden. Inside your home, lighting is also important. Setting your inside lights on a timer every day will make it more difficult for burglars to know when you’re home or when you’re working late, Layton said.
Don’t hide your spare key under the Doormat
It may seem simple, but because of convenience or other reasons many homeowners may place a spare key in a fairly obvious location such as under a doormat or statue next to the door. The safest place to keep a spare key, according to Layton, is with a trustworthy neighbor. Another good way to keep the convenience of a spare key without the risks is to install a keypad or fingerprint lock.
Along with an up-to-date home security system and surveillance system, these are some of the simple, everyday things we can do to deter thieves and sure up weak points in a home’s security
No comments:
Post a Comment