Crime Proofing Your Home
Keep Your home safe, especially when you’re away.
When it comes to making your home crime proof you really don’t want to learn by experience. Here are some suggestions from law enforcement experts who deal with breaking and entering every day.
Outside:
Trim trees and shrubs so that your windows are visible. Police and neighbors should be able to see any access to your home.
Be sure trellises do not provide a burglar easy entry to second story windows.
Put in lights at porches and entryways. Motion-sensitive floodlights are the best.
Doors:
Entry doors should be solid wood, at least 1¾ inches thick, or metal.
Doors and frames should fit snugly, with no more than 1/8 inch gap. Special strips may be purchased to cover bigger spaces.
Glass panels on doors should be covered with a metal grille or a break-resistant plastic panel.
Avoid construction that places hinges on the outside where they can be unscrewed.
Fit sliding doors with special locks, or place a broom handle in the track to prevent opening.
Marking your possessions:
Most police departments have an electric engraving pen available to mark your valuable belongings with a special code. Ask them about it. Engraving may actually stop a theft because a burglar knows marked goods will be harder to fence. In any case, it will certainly expedite recovery.
Vacation tips:
Turn telephone sound down or off so a ringing phone can not be heard from outside.
Pack your car in the garage or behind the house if you can. A car with doors and a trunk open, while family members haul bags and camping gear out of it, is an advertisement that you will be gone for a while.
Double check locks on doors and windows. Leave shades and curtains in normal positions. Use timers to turn lights off and on, preferably in a random pattern.
Ask neighbors to walk up your steps, or shovel your walk, to give the house a lived-in appearance.
Notify the local police department that you will be away.
Special cautions:
If your home contains a lot of valuables or is in an isolated area, consider installing an alarm system.
Don’t let strangers use your telephone. Offer to call for them if you want to be helpful and remain safe.
Be suspicious of telephone surveys and repeated wrong numbers. Is a burglar “casing” our home?
Have a friend “baby-sit” your home while you attend the funeral of a family number. Your name, after all, appeared in the paper along with the date and time the funeral would take you away from home.
If you return home and it appears someone has entered illegally, do not go inside. Call the police from another location.
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Published in: Home Improvement
Comments: 39 | Post a CommentPost a Comment
Dreamy777 | May 4, 2011 | Reply
great information
Roe2115 | May 4, 2011 | Reply
I had bushes in front of my house that obstructed view of the front windows, had them cut down. Great tips.
N. Sun | May 4, 2011 | Reply
Very nice! Thankfully, our suburb’s crime rates are slightly lower this year, but the big city is seeing more and more crime…That’s why I like the ‘burbs, they are more safe
Ima Vee | May 4, 2011 | Reply
excellent share… the world now has a lot of criminals roaming around… it’s better to make sure our safety.:)
Jason | May 4, 2011 | Reply
Sweet post! Safety first! I will definitely bookmark your site for future reference!
mtrguanlao | May 5, 2011 | Reply
Very useful tips here! An alarm is a must for our safety.
CCTV | May 5, 2011 | Reply
wow i think installing CCTV would be one of best to to feel secure
and stay your home safe from the burglars
Anuradha Ramkumar | May 5, 2011 | Reply
Gr8 security tips for the house.
Bob @ Bay Area Real Estate | May 5, 2011 | Reply
This is a great article. Some of the stuff – like not leaving the car doors and trunk open – are a little hard to get around, but the phone ringing is something I never heard before!
Keep newspaper deliveries away while you are gone, too, and have neighbors monitor for any suspicious activity.
The sad truth is, most burglaries are done by people you know and actually let into your home, not by break-ins.
Still – good tips!
Fremont Plumber | May 11, 2011 | Reply
Nice idea that how you keep save your home if you away from your home, great job you done and providing us such a nice information. Keep it up.
virul | May 11, 2011 | Reply
good idea guys… i like your article
Sydney Plubmer | May 13, 2011 | Reply
CCTV is always a good idea if you are concerned about your safety in your home. However, there needs to be a balance between paranoid and being prepared, so you don’t want to over do because it will cost money and you may look like a loon.
golden brown | May 16, 2011 | Reply
In my opinion you can never be too secure. I would rather look paranoid than be dead!
September Gurls | May 16, 2011 | Reply
Yea…good work. This information could actually help save lives so thank you.
salt chlorinator | May 20, 2011 | Reply
Awesome. Yes, I agree these tips will not only safeguard our properties but also our lives. Thank you.
Audacious | May 20, 2011 | Reply
Great article for keeping home safe. It is better to take precautions than risking important assets in our homes.
calgary carpet cleaning | May 21, 2011 | Reply
Nice article it’s very informative and useful. Hope you could post more useful article. Keep it up.
Andy Rocherster | May 25, 2011 | Reply
I think installing CCTV for one is best to to feel secure, but good doors completly understanding keep
Driveway Gates | May 25, 2011 | Reply
I can’t say enough about CCTV. It’s solved two different break-ins at my company and I’m in debt to it.
Printing Newtown | May 29, 2011 | Reply
Great article. There is such a great advantage in utlizing CCTV. Everyone should try to employ some sort of it.
Logo Design Sydney | May 29, 2011 | Reply
CCTV is always a great idea if you are concerned about your safety in your home. However, there needs to be a balance between paranoid and being prepared, so you don’t want to over do because it will cost money and you may look like a loon.
i'm on fire | May 29, 2011 | Reply
In my opinion you can never be too safe. I would rather look paranoid than be dead!
Mastering | May 29, 2011 | Reply
Yea…great work. This information could actually help save lives so thank you.
Power Washing NJ | Jun 8, 2011 | Reply
This is really great information! Very eye-opening.
Whole House Fans | Jun 9, 2011 | Reply
It is always a great concern for us how to keep our home safe and secure especially when we are out of time. I think after reading this post at least we get some amount of relief. Thanks for the information.
juana@boxelderbugs | Jun 15, 2011 | Reply
I was looking for information on how to keep burglars away from my home, when I would be on a vacation..and I just came across your blog..makes an interesting read and is very useful.
Storage | Jun 27, 2011 | Reply
Excellent ideas about making our homes more secure. Thanks
Storage | Jun 27, 2011 | Reply
Excellent ideas about making our homes more secure.Thanks
Pond Leak | Jul 1, 2011 | Reply
Nice post i can say that its really good and useful, Keep posting that kind of stuff more in future.
Wheeling AC Repair | Jul 5, 2011 | Reply
The vacation tips are good – never thought about that. We took a full month vacation last year and did not follow any of the tips… I guess we were lucky…
April @ Park City Real Estate | Jul 6, 2011 | Reply
Very interesting, useful post. For families who always travel, they have to read your post.
R. Ruth | Jul 24, 2011 | Reply
Living in a very rural location, I do have the thick doors and windows. An alarm system with loud alert sounds only. Police response time 42 minutes. The loud alarm scares the bears away also. Also very heavy duty locks for storage areas.
Thats pretty much all I can do with my place, besides bear traps.
Thank you.
Phoenix Plumbing | Aug 17, 2011 | Reply
Great and interesting article. After reading this I found myself doing a check around my house.
Shopfront Spraying | Aug 31, 2011 | Reply
Awesome tips, I’m very conscious of my home as I have two expensive motorcycles parked in our backyard that are easily accessible to someone limber enough to climb over the back wall. I’ll definitely be investing in some motion sensor floodlights for the back!
faqueiro wolff | Oct 5, 2011 | Reply
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albert from bubble stickers | Nov 6, 2011 | Reply
Good tips. I agree that you should not let a stranger come in to use your phone.
Loft Insulation Grants | Nov 25, 2011 | Reply
Keeping your home safe when you are away on holiday is always a big concern. I tend to send my parents over to the house a couple of times durring the holiday to make sure that everything is still ok.
Bodybuilding Supplements UK | Dec 8, 2011 | Reply
Glass panels on doors should be covered with a metal grille or a break-resistant plastic panel.
Home Building Questions | Feb 14, 2012 | Reply
As a home designer I have to tell you that you’ve hit the nail right on the head. There are so many home security tips that we need to make people aware of.
Your tips on vacation planning are often overlooked in the rush to leave.
Thanks for the post!