Easy ways to make your Home Safe!

The following tips should give you some helpful advice on how to make your home more secure. Some of these suggestions cost nothing and are quick and easy to implement.

The most common threat to your home is burglary. Many homes have been and will be burglarized this year. For a small amount of time and money you can make your home more secure and reduce your chances of being a victim. For your information, here are about 70 home security facts and tips to help you keep your home and family secure.

How does a burglar get into your home?
    1 - through the front door.
    2 - through the first floor windows.
    3 - through the back door.
    4 - through unlocked entrances and storage areas.
    5 - through the basement.
    6 - through the second floor windows.

Other burglary facts...

• Many burglars will spend no longer than 60 seconds trying to break into a home.

• The more a burglar has to work, the less chance you have of becoming a victim.

• A burglar will bypass your home if it requires too much effort or requires more skill and tools than they have.

• A burglar will also bypass your home if it protected by a professionally installed and monitored burglar alarm system.

• Homes without security systems are about 3 times more likely to be broken into than homes with security systems. (Actual statistic ranges from 2.2 times to 3.1 times, depending on the value of the home.) Businesses without alarm systems are 4.5 times more likely to be burglarized than commercial locations with electronic security in place.

• In the US, losses due to burglary averaged $400 less in residences with security systems than for a residence without security systems.

• 90 percent of police believe alarms deter burglary attempts. In 1994, the International Association of Chiefs of Police passed a Board Resolution stating that professionally installed and monitored alarm systems are useful instruments to deter crime and provide peace of mind for residential and business owners.

• People Feel Safe with Security Systems. 94 percent of alarm owners are satisfied with their alarm systems.

• Burglars choose unoccupied homes with the easiest access, the greatest amount of cover, and with the best escape routes.

• A burglar is less likely to attempt to enter a well-lit residence.

• Most burglars enter homes through an open or unlocked window or door.

• One out of every four burglaries involves forced entry.

• The most common way used to force entry through a door with a wooden frame is to kick it open.

• The majority of home burglaries occur during the daytime when people are away at work or at school.

• Most home burglars are looking for things that are small, expensive, and can be converted to cash (jewelry, guns, watches, small antiques, laptop computers).

Secure your front door or entrance.

• All doors should be hung with hinges on the inside.
• Replace hollow core outer doors with solid wood or metal doors.
• Install deadbolt locks that have at least a one inch throw bolt.
• Insure that there is at least forty inches between adjoining windows and door. If you have windows on or near your doors, install a double cylinder deadbolt that requires a key to open from the outside and the inside.
• Install a wide-angle security peephole in your door or better still a CCTV Camera and use it to screen visitors before opening the door.
• Maintain good lighting, especially at front entrances.
• Remove bushes or other items that obstruct view of windows or doors.
• Never put an identification tag on your key ring.
• As keys can be easily duplicated use a Burglar Alarm System to protect your main door and your home.  

Secure your windows.

• Ensure that all windows have solid grills grouted / welded to the main structure.
• Cut back tree trunks and branches that could be used to climb to an upper-level window
• Store ladders or other objects that would allow a burglar to reach your roof or upper story windows.
• Secure basement windows with solid grilles.
• Secure roof openings, air conditioners and exhaust systems.
• Window air conditioning units should be bolted to the wall to prevent them from being easily removed from the outside.
• Consider installing some window grilles that can be easily detached to allow quick escape during a fire or other emergency.

Secure your back entrances and yard.

• Consider removing or replacing a fence hedge that may provide cover for a burglar.

• A barking dog is a proven deterrent to burglars.

• Add sufficient lighting to the back and sides of your home.

• Install a hedge around the perimeter of your yard.  Hedges should be wide, rather than high, and of a prickly, thorny      variety.

Provide adequate lighting.

• Use outdoor lighting to diminish places to hide.
• Keep any entryways well lit.
• Use motion detecting flood lights aimed into the yard and other approach paths.
• Place lights out of reach so that the bulbs can't be removed broken.
• Use timers on indoor lights near the front and back windows with the curtains drawn.

• Exterior lights left, ‘ON’, all day is a giveaway that you are out of town. Use timers or photo- cells on external lights to turn on at dusk and turn off at dawn.

Use good quality locks.

• Use high quality locks that resist twisting, prying, and lock-picking attempts.
• A quality door knob lock set will have a dead-latch mechanism to prevent slipping the lock with a shim (Chheni) or other similar  tools.                      .
• Use a quality, heavy-duty, deadbolt lock with a one-inch throw bolt.

• Use a heavy-duty, four-screw, strike plate with 3-inch screws to penetrate into a wooden door frame and stud.

When your house is unoccupied.

• Ask a neighbor or friend to watch your home when you're away.
• Ask a neighbor or friend to pickup your paper, handbills, mail, maintain your garden lawn and clear debris while you're away.
• If possible put a hold on your mail and deliveries while on vacation or ask your neighbour to keep them for you. Do not let them pile up in your mailbox / driveway.
• Leave shades, blinds, and curtains in normal positions.

• Never leave an "I'm away!" message on your answering machine or front door.

General home security tips.

• Get antecedents of your servant / driver / other domestic help verified by your local police.

• Keep the barest minimum valuables at home
• Never discuss / display cash and jewelry in publicly
• Do not show off an extravagant lifestyle
• Make a list of your valuables - VCRs, stereos, computers, jewelry. Take photos of the items, list their serial numbers and description. Engrave / Mark your valuables.
• Don't dispose of new appliance boxes in public.
• Place highly visible decals / stickers on the glass door near the latch mechanism that indicates that an alarm system, a dog or block watch/operation identification is in place.
• Get to know all your adjacent neighbors and agree to watch out for each other's home.
• Use light timers to turn on radios or television sets to enhance the illusion of occupancy.
• Consider a home safe to protect the jewelry, small collections, handguns, important documents, medications, and irreplaceable family heirlooms and pictures.
• Make sure that your address is clearly visible from the street during the day and night.

• Security Tips

Security is no more a state monopoly

Security is an Investment