Property crimes, such as burglary, remain a concern for many in the U.S., but there are ways that you can improve the security of your home and protect your family and possessions.
Home Security Tip One: Arrange a Neighborhood Watch Committee
It is a good idea to know your neighbors in order to have additional protection inside your home. If your next-door neighbor is able to recognize your vehicle, then they will notice when a different automobile is parked in the driveway or on the street. In addition to talking to the people who live nearby, arrange a meeting with an entire neighborhood to make plans that will help to keep you more secure in your own home.
When you have a lot of criminal activity in your area, arrange to have volunteers walk or drive around at various times of the day or night. They needn’t be armed with a weapon as much as a pen and pad. Taking notes and sharing them with others may reveal anomalies that could be worth reporting to local law enforcement. For instance, if there has been a recent spate of thefts, from homes or vehicles, the license plate numbers gathered by volunteer watchmen could be crucial in establishing a pattern of activity that would aid a police investigation. It may also help to place a particular suspect at the scene of multiple crimes, thereby putting an end to an adverse chain of events.
The police can’t stop every vehicle or approach every driver without reasonable suspicion. Such proactive reporting gives them what they need to investigate the possibility that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed.
Home Security Tip Two: Install Exterior Lighting at Your Home
If you only have a light on your front porch and backyard deck, then it is time to install additional exterior lighting. Today, solar lights are an affordable option for a home, and you can place spike solar lights along a pathway or driveway. In addition, have solar and regular lights installed on the siding of a home underneath the eaves with the beams of light focused on the windows and doorways. Thieves will avoid a home with a lot of exterior lighting because law enforcement officers and neighbors can see them lurking near the doors and windows.
Home Security Tip Three: Trim the Shrubs and Trees on Your Property
When you have overgrown trees or shrubs on your home’s grounds, it is easier for a burglar or vandal to hide. By trimming the foliage away from the windows and doorways of your home, anyone passing by might notice if someone is breaking a window or forcing open a door. Complacency with regard to the seemingly inconsequential details can lead to someone taking advantage of that which you have failed to forestall.
Home Security Tip Four: Install an Alarm System in Your Home
You need to install an alarm system in your home that alerts law enforcement when an unauthorized person opens a door or window. Some of these systems work with a smartphone, making it easy for you to turn the alarm off before your enter a home after work or school. With the more advanced systems, you may be able to use your smartphone to remotely keep an eye on your property. Many alarm devices make enough noise that your neighbors are also alerted, helping to deter a burglar who is breaking into your home. If you want to avoid the possibility that burglars can cut the communications lines, in order to disrupt the alarm system, you might want to have it run on a satellite (wireless) server.
Criminals come in three types: opportunists, amateurs and professionals. The first sort will probably see an open car window and snag the GPS. The second will actively look for unlocked doors and cracked house windows. The third is equipped to override some countermeasures. You must protect against all types, but remember that it is your responsibility, and that of your neighbors, to protect what you have worked hard to achieve. Property, after all, is a tangible expression of your own labor’s fruit. It should be defended and protected from those in society who produce nothing, yet seek to steal the fruits of others’ labor.
“David Firester is the CEO of TRAC Intelligence.”