Prevent Burglaries and Home invasions

08-20-2020

Millions of homes are broken into every year. If you’ve ever had it happen to you, you understand how it feels like you’ve been personally violated (at least emotionally). Sure, the stuff that got stolen can probably be replaced, but nobody wants to feel like that. If heaven forbid, you or another family member is home when they break in, somebody could get hurt. Nobody wants that to happen.

Here’s what you can do to prevent falling victim to home invasion and burglaries.

Tips for preventing Home invasions/burglaries

The first thing to do is walk around the outside of your home as if you were a burglar looking to break in. 

Look at the doors and windows. Can you see valuable items easily through the windows? Can you see a TV, a fancy stereo, a video game, or a laptop computer? Maybe you should move them, or close the curtains when those items are out. Never give a thief a reason to break in, if you can avoid it.

Are there expensive bicycles, power tools, motorcycles, or an expensive grill in plain sight in your garage or backyard? Maybe they are in your front yard? Put those things away, or at least out of sight. Put them in the garage and close the garage door. Cover that grill on the patio. At least try not to draw attention to the items.

Secure That Garage Door

Speaking of the garage, in many neighborhoods, this is the easiest route of entry for burglars. It’s not unusual for them to drive through a middle-class neighborhood, late at night, looking for open garage doors.  If the thieves find them, they may stop and see if there’s anything they can grab quickly and run away with. Don’t leave valuable stuff laying around in the garage.

Additionally, if they know you’re not home, many burglars know that the door from the garage to the rest of the house is commonly not locked, even when all the other doors are This make sit really easy to get into the whole house because most garage doors equipped with openers can be opened with minimal effort. Then they can just back a truck up to the garage and load it full with all your stuff. Lock that door, too!

Keep Trees and Shrubs Trimmed - Reduce Hiding Spots

Overgrown foliage of any kind may provide cover for bad guys who want to break in. Keep them trimmed back and away from the house wherever possible. The goal here is to not give cover to someone who wants to break in through a window or door. You want the neighbors and passersby to easily see when someone is doing some kind “funny business” at your house. It may help your curb appeal, too.

Keep the Area Well Lit at Night

Along the same lines, keep the areas around your home well lit at night. If everyone can see a burglar trying to break through a locked window or door, someone might call the cops. Thieves aren’t likely to even try. To prevent your bedrooms from being lit up like Christmas, you can equip those lights with cheap motion detectors. It will draw even more attention from neighbors and likely scare off potential burglars when the whole side of your house suddenly lights up with enough candle power to give them a sunburn. This may also help to scare off large dangerous animals like wolves and mountain lions in rural areas.

Use Video Technology to Watch Over Things

Use security cameras, doorbell cams, and video surveillance cameras to keep an eye on your property. equipped with motion detectors. No, you don’t have to sit there and watch all the video feeds all the time in order to catch a bad guy. Set the cameras up with motion or other kids of detectors, so that they only turn on when there’s something moving or when you want to take a look. Doorbell cams will generally only turn on when there’s someone out there approaching the door or ringing your doorbell. Everyone has seen the video from doorbell cams that show thieves swiping packages left on the front porch. These kinds of cameras are commonly internet-enabled so that you can take a look from anywhere you can get connected. You can see who’s ringing your doorbell when you are at work and you can see who’s rummaging around in your kitchen when you are on vacation in Hawaii.

Lock Doors and Windows

This one seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how often this is forgotten about. Always lock all your doors and windows. Make sure that when nobody is home to handle potential intruders that they can’t easily gain access. These days smart locks can be used and these too can be locked or unlocked remotely using a smartphone. A sophisticated home security system will also allow you to be notified when a window or door has opened unexpectedly. Then you can check the video and call the cops if something is amiss.
Again, always lock that garage door and the door from the garage to the house.

Get a Safe or Lockbox

Keep all your most valuable irreplaceable items in a safe or lockbox. Most common burglars don’t know how to open a safe (unless you leave the combination or keys lying around) But, if you use one of those small briefcase style lockboxes they might just take that with them, so they can spend all the time they need breaking it open. Make sure any lockboxes are secured to the floor or wall and can’t be easily carried away. It doesn’t hurt to hide them as well.

A good safe or lockbox will also protect your valuables in the event of a flood or fire. If you must evacuate quickly, leaving your valuables locked up in one of those will allow you to retrieve them at a later, safer date.

Use Motion Detectors and Door Sensors

Motion and door sensors have long been part of a good home security system. Door and window sensors are usually small magnets placed such that when the door or window is opened they cause an electrical signal that tells the system which door or window has been opened. This can be of key importance when determining if someone has broken into your home. It can also be a huge pain when you forget that the alarm is on and you go outside in the middle of the night to gaze at the beautiful lunar eclipse (speaking from personal experience).

Motion sensors can be equally useful when someone snakes in through an open window and walks through your living room to steal your TV (or problematic if you forget to disarm the alarm when you head to the kitchen for a midnight snack).

Befriend Your Neighbors

We all have that one nosy neighbor who is always up in your stuff despite not having been asked. Well here’s your opportunity to turn that into a useful trait. Ask them to watch your house. Of course, they will need to know when you usually are home and when you’re not, but these kinds of neighbors can really help you out when burglars or home invaders show up to cause trouble. These neighbors are the best when you go on a long vacation and need someone to water the plants and feed the cat. Just make sure they are trustworthy before you give them all the keys and access codes to your home.

Get a Home Security System

The easiest solution to all of this is by getting a home security system that includes monitoring. Then you’ve got trained pros who will be alerted when any of your alarms or sensors are triggered and they can make sure everything is fine or call the cops if things are awry. Get started with having a home security system installed by getting a free quote from Affordable Home Security. They can get you a simple system or complex whole-home internet-enabled system with professional monitoring. All you have to do is ask.