Is There A Problem?
In our article entitled ‘The Basics Of Home Security 101’ we saw that one third of all burglaries require no forcible entry. Translation: homeowners don’t lock their doors and windows enabling burglars to walk in instead of having to break-in. In other words, homeowners make it easy for the bad guys to commit the crime of burglary.
According to FBI statistics a home burglary happens every 13 seconds in the United States and is the most common threat to your home. 17% of all homes will be burglarized in any given year. Burglars will steal $2,119 and cause another $2,000 in damage to the home on average for every burglary.
There’s an old expression that sticks in my mind when we talk about a home security strategy. The saying is “If you don’t know where you’re going, you will never get there.”
Our home security strategy is nothing more than a plan to make your home as immune from attack by burglars as possible.
Where do you start?
Many experts, including the very well-known Design Out Crime Research Centre, say to start at the outside by using what they call Target Hardening.
What is ‘target hardening’?
According to them “Target hardening is the use of strategies to make it harder for a crime to be committed and reduces the gains of crime.
Target hardening increases the efforts that offenders must expend in the commission of a crime and is the most long-established and traditional approach to crime prevention. It is directed at denying or limiting access to a crime target through the use of physical barriers such as fences, gates, locks, electronic alarms and security patrols.”
- What we suggest is to do the things that are free or easy as the basis for your strategy. Start by eliminating hiding places for burglars around lower-level windows and doors. Since 70% of all burglaries are done in daytime, burglars look for places to hide from neighbors or passersby.
- If your neighborhood doesn’t already have a watch group, you can start a Neighborhood Watch by contacting your local police department and asking for their help in getting one going. They are free. Neighborhood watches traditionally are the most effective crime-fighting tool citizens have in combating the crime of burglary.
- Then lock all your doors and windows even when you’re at home.
- Put up some signage in your front yard that warns of a vicious guard dog or a security system in place. Burglars are afraid of dogs and will not enter a home where there is one and they certainly don’t want to get caught on video by a surveillance camera. You don’t even have to have a dog or a surveillance system. Frequently the signs are sufficient to scare the burglars away.
- Then the least expensive alarms that you can use to harden your home as a target, are cheap window/door alarms such as this popular Magnetic Contact Alarm w/Keypad which uses an air piercing 110 dB alarm siren or 85 dB dingdong greeting when activated. There is a fully adjustable mounting bracket for the keypad which can be used for arming and disarming the alarm or using the panic button for instant alarm activation. It is completely wireless and easy to install.
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