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 In this lesson, you will learn:
The most important home security rule is to make your property look occupied and well maintained. The second most important rule is to have good neighbors who look after one another's homes. Call the police if you see a stranger behaving suspiciously: loitering, looking at different houses without any apparent reason, removing items from a neighbor's house or garage.Burglary alarms are a good investment and they work if you use them. Hire an established alarm company and ask for references. Alarms do deter burglaries. With a home security system, your home is two to three times less likely to be burglarized than a home without one. In homes without alarm systems, intruders gained entry more than half the time - 52 percent. For homes with security systems that percentage dropped to 30 percent. Noisy dogs also make excellent burglar alarms. Big dogs are theft deterrents. Most experts advise that if children are present that dogs be guard trained but not attack trained. The average criminal is looking for the easy score and not a confrontation. In general, you always want your house to look occupied. Leaving lights or a TV or radio on are good things.
Mark all of your belongings with an engraving pen. Deterrent value is inherent in marking, and can be increased by posting warnings that property on your premises is marked. Inventory and photograph the contents of your house. Keep the lists and photos in a secure place outside your house, for example, at your office. Have your homeowners insurance policy re-evaluated annually. Be sure that any expensive items purchased during the previous year are covered. Some luxury items may not be covered unless specifically listed and a possible additional premium paid.
Fire and smoke alarms are an absolute must. Get in the good habit of changing the batteries twice a year when you turn the clocks forward and back. Make sure that all rooms have a second means of egress. Rope and chain ladders are cheap and can be lifesavers.
Double-hung windows should have key locks installed or with a pin angled between the inner and outer frames. Keep window shades closed from Peeping Toms. If your circumstances warrant, you might consider designating one of the second floor rooms in your house as a "safe" room. In the event of a break-in, everyone heads for the safe room. As a minimum, the safe room should have a solid core door, dead bolt lock, and door jammer bar. In the safe room, you'll need a cellphone to call police. You should also leave in the room an extra set of keys to throw to police. Put the keys in a colored bag to make them easy to retrieve. Obviously, if the walls to the safe room are sheetrock, you are only buying a very limited amount of time. You'd have to consider putting 3/4" or one inch plywood to the hallway walls to slow intruders interested in getting to you or your family. Fact: A fire department responds to a fire every 15 seconds. Someone is killed by a fire somewhere in the U.S. every 2 hours. 80% of all fire deaths occur in the home. Start casing your home the way a burglar would. Obviously, a burglar has lots of potential target homes from which to choose. Why would he target your house?
Burglars hate light and love places to hide. Install good outside lighting, make sure the lighting works and make sure that the lights come on by means of a timer at appropriate times each night. Consider putting some exterior lights on motion detectors. Rechargeable flashlights that are plugged into an electrical socket are a good investment. They'll always be fully charged, and will flash automatically when the power goes out so you can find them easily. Keep up with your landscaping. Trim back trees and shrubs that may hide windows and doors, especially the front door. Look for trees that can be climbed to gain entry to upper floor windows. Consider planting thorny bushes under windows. Statistics show that 80% of all break-ins are through a door. Doors and windows that can't be seen from the street are particularly vulnerable. All exterior doors should be solid hardwood or steel clad and equipped with deadbolt locks. Key-in-the-knob locks aren't enough. To identify visitors, install a wide-angle peephole or intercom system for the front door. You might want to install a second peephole at a child's height. Door chains break easily. When you move into a new house or apartment, re-key the locks. Color-code your keys so that you can find your door entry key quickly. Rather than hiding a spare key in an obvious hiding place, give the key to a trusted neighbor. In case of a police, fire or health emergency, make sure that your house number is plainly visible either on the house or on the curb. Don't put your name on your mailbox and invest in a locking mailbox if you have any suspicions of anyone stealing your mail. Sliding glass doors have weak locks and present a challenge. Consider installing commercially available secondary locks. Use a broomstick on the inside track to jam the door. To prevent the door from being lifted off the track, drill a hole through the slide doorframe and the fixed frame. Then insert a pin in the hole. Your garage door may be a vulnerable security point. Make sure that the garage door locks and that the door between the house and garage is locked. You want to give the burglar the clear and real impression that he is going to have to spend time gaining access to your property. He may choose to go elsewhere and rob the family down the street.
If you travel, don't let your mail pile up! Call the post office to stop delivery or have a neighbor pick it up. Also, cancel newspaper delivery.
Consider setting up a Neighborhood Crime Watch organization with your local LEOs. Insist that there is adequate street lighting. Work with local schools and recreation departments to make sure teens have positive after school activities; such as sports, educational opportunities or part-time work. Work as a neighborhood to clean up litter and wash off graffiti. Support local organizations that can provide job training, mental health services, senior services and other services that neighbors might request. Rally together to support efforts to board up vacant houses, clear empty lots, and generally enforce existing housing and health laws. Fact: 38% of all assaults occur during a home invasion. 60% of all reported rapes occur during a home invasion. When renting an apartment, it is important to investigate the crime statistics for a particular area. It could be cool. It could be trendy. But, is it safe? Do your Internet research and contact the local law enforcement area or City Hall for more information. Start reading the local newspaper. Of course, driving around the neighborhood is going to give you a pretty good idea if you'd feel comfortable walking around this area at night. Graffiti, abandoned cars, loitering youth, uncollected garbage, empty lots, vacant stores and bars on windows are all warning signs of potential trouble. You may value your independence but if the only apartment that your budget allows is in a marginal neighborhood then get a roommate and live in a better neighborhood. The peace of mind will be worth the tradeoff. All of the suggestions for home security apply equally to apartment security. You still want solid core doors and deadbolts and fire alarms and plenty of lighting. You want to feel safe in common areas such as the garage and laundry room. You want to live with neighbors who have a high standard of cleanliness and demand this of a landlord.
Ask your rental agent who might already have keys to the unit? If she says that she doesn't know, ask that the locks be re-keyed. Ask who from the management company may have access to the unit and why. Fact: Homes on a corner lot are more likely to be burglarized. Realize that you should obtain written permission from the owner/manager before making any permanent change to the apartment. What makes a particular house stand out as a tempting target for burglars? According to researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia, homeowners should ask themselves the following questions to determine if their house is inviting to an unwelcome visitor: Is the house within three blocks of a major thoroughfare?If you answered "Yes" to three or more of these questions, your house may be a prime target for burglary, according to the Temple research findings.
Fact: There were an estimated 2.3 million burglaries in 1998; two of every three were home burglaries. 65 percent of all burglaries involved forcible entry, and more than half - 53 percent - occurred during daylight hours. The average loss for residential burglaries was $1,299. Require identification from service providers. Call the company if there is any doubt but do not take the number from a bag or form. Instead, look up the telephone number yourself. Don't let anyone you don't know well inside your residence to use the phone; make the call for them. Don't leave ladders outside. Keep any tools that could be used to break into your home safely locked away in a garage or shed. Never indicate to anyone that you are alone. If you live alone, do not let strangers know. Invent a roommate or big dog. Refrain from doing laundry in a deserted or poorly lighted facility. In a public place, don't leave drinks or food unattended. Avoid being in isolated areas such as laundries or parking garages by yourself, especially at night. Don't leave valuables where they can be seen through a window, especially items that can be easily carried.
Have your key ready for quick entry into your residence. Keep your cell phone near your bed for quick use at night. Never give personal information to telephone solicitors. Hang up immediately on unwanted calls. Do not reply to unwanted emails. When you get home, if you find a door or window open or signs of forced entry, don't enter. Use your cell phone to call the police. Whenever you go outside, lock the door and take the key with you, even if you are just stepping next door or out mowing the back yard. When confronted by a threatening dog, the natural instinct is to turn and run. However, this is not the correct reaction, since this may trigger the chase impulse in the dog. If a dog does attack, try to "feed" it your jacket, backpack or purse to distract the dog while you back slowly away towards safety. If you are knocked down or fall, curl into a ball and cover your head. Stand very still and try to be calm. To get copies of American Red Cross Community Disaster Education materials, contact your local Red Cross chapter. There are six basics you should stock for your home: water, food, first aid supplies, clothing and bedding, tools and emergency supplies, and special items. Keep the items that you would most likely need during an evacuation in an easy-to carry container--suggested items are marked with an asterisk(*). Possible containers include a large, covered trash container, a camping backpack, or a duffle bag. Store water in plastic containers such as soft drink bottles. Avoid using containers that will decompose or break, such as milk cartons or glass bottles. A normally active person needs to drink at least two quarts of water each day. Hot environments and intense physical activity can double that amount. Children, nursing mothers, and ill people will need more. Store one gallon of water per person per day. Keep at least a three-day supply of water per person (two quarts for drinking, two quarts for each person in your household for food preparation/sanitation).* Store at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food. Select foods that require no refrigeration, preparation or cooking, and little or no water. If you must heat food, pack a can of sterno. Select food items that are compact and lightweight. Include a selection of the following foods in your Disaster Supplies Kit: Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits, and vegetables Assemble a first aid kit for your home and one for each car. It should contain: Sterile adhesive bandages in assorted sizes Aspirin or nonaspirin pain reliever Mess kits, or paper cups, plates, and plastic utensils* Toilet paper, towelettes* *Include at least one complete change of clothing and footwear per person. Sturdy shoes or work boots* Remember family members with special requirements, such as infants and elderly or disabled persons Formula Heart and high blood pressure medication Keep these records in a waterproof, portable container: Will, insurance policies, contracts, deeds, stocks and bondsStore your kit in a convenient place known to all family members. Keep a smaller version of the supplies kit in the trunk of your car. On your answering machines, don't leave your name and always make it sound as if several people live with you, "We can't come to the phone right now..." Don't list your name in directories. Offenders know that women use initials. If available, sign up for both call screening and call blocking. Don't answer phone surveys. Have information mailed to you. Document all harassing calls. Notify police and the phone company. Teach children never to give out information. Protect your identity. Don't give any personal information indiscriminately. Keep emergency phone numbers handy or pre-programmed. Recognize that even with an unlisted number you may still receive random solicitation and malicious calls. Don't download files from sources you don't know. Don't respond to a cyberstalker - report him. Purchase and use anti-virus software. To feel safe and secure in your home or apartment, be aware and take the time to prepare. Go to Lesson 51 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
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Master's Tip:
If you have a self-defense firearm in your house, you should store your firearm and ammunition in separate locked places. Pay particular attention that no child has access to the gun.
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