Home Security Tips

Locks and Keys

• Locks are your first form of home security defense. Always invest in high-quality doors in windows with high-grade locks. Lock you doors and windows whenever they are unattended, while you are sleeping and anytime you leave your home.



• Use high-quality deadbolts instead of spring-latch locks. Many criminals know how to open spring-latch locks, using credit cards to get in between and depress the latch tongue, allowing them to open the door. A deadbolt provides a higher level of security.



• Make sure that there is not too much space between the door and door frame when installing a deadbolt yourself. Space leaves room for intruders to pry doors open using crowbars and tools.



• Always change the all the locks when moving into a new house or apartment. It is also important to change your locks if you lose your keys.



• Never store spare keys in obvious places around your home. Burglars know to look for spare keys in and under mailboxes, under doormats and near sheds and garages.

Habits and Maintenance

• Keep up on the maintenance of your home’s doors and windows. Note that the weakest door in your home, and ones that burglars often try to enter through, include back doors and garage doors. Make sure these doors are strong and not easily pried open.



• Try to look at your home as a burglar would. Trying to think like a burglar helps you asses your home for ways that a potential burglar would break-in, and also lets you test various entry-points for weaknesses.



• Never leave doors unlocked with notes on them, inviting friends, family or maintenance workers in. Burglars look for these kinds of things because it makes the home and easy target. Leaving a note also puts you in immediate danger if you are home when an unwanted person enters.



• Implement lights, radios and televisions with automatic timers. Use these timers whenever you are away from your home or on vacation. When lights and appliances are on, it makes your home appear occupied, making them less likely to be broken into.

Added Security Measures

• Get a dog; it doesn’t matter the breed. Dogs typically bark, notifying you if someone approaches your home, providing additional home security. A barking dog, even a small dog, draws unwanted attention and complications for intruders.



• Install motion-activated surveillance cameras around your property and entrances. If you home is located in a dark or covered areas, install additional lighting around your driveway, walkway, entrances and garage. Talk to your local landscaper to about implementing a landscaping plan that does not conceal someone trying to pry open doors or windows.



• A blocking device adds to your home security by prevents sliding glass doors and window from being opened. Use blocking devices such as wooden dowel rods in the track of your sliding glass door. Blocking devices on windows still allow you the benefit of ventilation, but prevents the window from being opened enough for a person to crawl through. Always make sure that these devices are easily removable in the event of an emergency or fire.

Security System Tips

• Install a home security system. Homes with security systems are 3 times less likely to be burglarized. Choose a system with a loud siren, also known as a local alarm, to scare off intruders, but also make sure that your system offers and alarm monitoring services. These services monitor your home for alerts and dispatch the proper authorities in the event of an emergency.



• Some homeowners think that the signs and decals that come with their home security system are tacky. However, these signs act as a warning to burglars, letting them know that your home is protected. Burglars are less likely to break into a home that is protected.



• Place home security signs and decals in easily visible places in your yard and in your windows. Make sure that signs and decals are placed on or near all entry-ways and windows, including in the back of your house.



• Keep up on the maintenance of your home security system with annual testing. Your home security company will send a technician out to your house once a year to test your system.



• Always have faulty or broken alarms serviced and fixed immediately. If you move into a home where a home security system was installed by the previous owner, have the system tested before trusting that it works.



• Never write your home security system passcode on or near your alarm control panel. If you must write the passcode down, make sure it is in a place where intruders won’t find it.