Home security is more than just a matter of making sure you lock the door when you go out, and that all the windows are closed. Here are a few tips for making your family more secure.
Never presume it won’t happen to you. Even people with alarm systems have been broken into. Before you decide on alarms and other methods to protect your home and goods, make sure you know just what you are protecting. Mark your valuables, and keep duplicate copies of the list. Methods for marking include invisible inks that show under “black light", as well as engraving pens. If you have items of particular value, such as jewelry, consider a safety deposit box at your bank, or at the very least, having a certified appraisal of its value, and a photograph filed with your insurance company. Keep a copy yourself, but be aware that if you store your valuable papers in one location, such as a safe, a robber may destroy them or take them with the valuables and dispose of them later. Goods including heirlooms, and electronic equipment, should be marked with either a personal number such as your driver’s license, or a combination of letters/numbers that has particular meaning only to you.
When you “slip out" to the store, or a short trip to the mall, make sure that doors are locked, and windows are closed, even in the heat of summer. Burglars will watch for patterns in your household’s behavior, noting who is home at what hours, and when the house is likely to be empty. A quick “smash and grab", may be all they look for, and your valuables will be long gone before you get home.
For short trips or an evening out, make sure you leave the radio and/or television on. If you’re away for a weekend or longer, purchase light timers that will turn lights in various parts of the house, on and off and preset hours. For extended vacations, arrange to have your mail picked up, or have it temporarily held by the post office. Cancel milk or other regular deliveries, and do not leave notes posted on your door or mailbox, that you are away. House-sitters allow you to leave on vacation with the security of knowing someone is looking after your home, and it’s a service you can swap with a neighbor or relative. If you can’t get someone who will stay right in the house, then regular checks of the exterior of the home, the security of the doors, and the windows, is also good. Watering plants is a chance for someone to check the more obvious areas of your home for missing items or damaged doors and windows.
Ask your neighbors to keep an eye out for strange vehicles in your yard, or people who make repeat visits to your door. When you are home, and receive an unexpected visit from a serviceman, ask for identification, and verify it with the company. If there is no such person, or they leave before you return from phoning, report the incident to police. Knowing that someone is suspicious, can mean a potential robbery is avoided when you are away at a later time.
Take basic security precautions, such as adequate window locks that can’t be jimmied from the outside, and door locks that can’t be “picked", or opened with elementary tools. Installing a home security system that rings at a designated place, like a security service or the police station is another alternative. But shop carefully for these systems, and get recommendations for the brand, and/or the installation company. Some alarms systems are overly sensitive, and many police departments are reporting false alarms due to faulty placement or manufacturing. Some people haven taken the less costly approach and put up fake security cameras they look realistic and move slowly to make them a deterrent to any possible burglar who may be coming by.
If you have installed one of the infrared driveway alarms, it may even be possible to have your neighbor monitor this from their own home. Depending on the model, some systems installed across the front of a garage, will send signals to a receiver that is up to 400’away. Have your neighbor take the receiver to their house for your vacation. These systems are much more dependable than the first models, which could be triggered by pets and wild animals. A proper driveway alarm operating on infrared input, is searching out motion that causes a change in the temperature of the air in front of it, as it relates to the skin temperature of humans.
Home security is mind over matter…and it’s your peace of mind, that matters.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
