Burglaries or break-ins are a serious crime that can lead to both financial and emotional damage to you and your family. If you’ve experienced a home burglary, you might want to know why your home was targeted, and whether there were any useful security measures you could have taken to prevent it. Most homeowners in the U.S. have burglar alarms or lights to deter potential burglars from breaking in. However, there’s more you can do to secure your home and other properties against burglary. This article offers some of the best ways to protect your home against burglary.
Get CCTV Installed in your Home
CCTV cameras are the biggest deterrent for thieves and can keep your home from being targeted. Many homeowners agree on the importance of CCTV in protecting their most prized possessions. However, only 14% of people say that they have CCTV cameras installed in their home. CCTV should be at the top of the list of things to consider when trying to keep your home protected. In addition, these cameras could well provide you with valuable evidence if you are targeted.
Keep the Lights on
Lighting is another effective tool in home security and is a helpful means of keeping criminals at bay. Street lights and motion-activated lights both act as deterrents. Evaluate the current lighting in your home and figure out whether you need to install motion-activation lights or simply leave your TV on whilst you go out. Exterior lights and motion detectors, mounted far from easy reach, will force potential burglars out of the shadows and prevent them from taking advantage of the darkness to do damage to your property.
Close the Curtains
Usually, burglars will ‘case’ a home to get an idea of the items in your home before actually attempting to break-in. Making your home burglar-unfriendly can be as simple as installing curtains or blinds and using them effectively. Remember to go cordless if you have young children. When you make it difficult for potential burglars to see into your home, chances are, they will move on to the next potential home.
You can also prevent thieves from ‘window-shopping’ by applying a translucent film to the glass so that their vision is obscured. This type of plastic film can be found in several patterns from full-service hardware stores, window covering retailers and the window covering departments of home centres. You can also find privacy window film online and install it yourself by following the instructions included in the package.
Draw Attention
Naturally, criminals hate to attract unwanted attention. Therefore, if you can expose your entry and entryways and call attention to them, there’s a higher chance of keeping your home safe. For instance, a dog’s bark will make criminals reconsider their decision to break in. This is because they’ll think that the dog will attract unwanted attention to their activities, or that someone else is in the house they want to burgle.
When it comes to protecting your home and property, your dog can offer more than just companionship. Even if you don’t own a dog, a recording of a dog’s bark can also have the same effect and protect your home from people with criminal intent.
Secure Your Garage
Securing the garage is one commonly-overlooked security step simply because of how easy it is to forget. Leaving your garage door open when you’re loading your trunk or washing your car is practically an invitation to burglars. In addition, it provides an attractive display of your possessions to potential burglars. There are a number of ways of securing your garage, such as installing a garage timer or hiring expert services offered by A1 Garage door repair Boise, ID.
This affordable device automatically closes the door after a pre-set period of time with a signal to your garage door opener. You can control how long you keep the door open and also manually override the control in case you want to keep it open. Also, unplug your garage door opener before you leave on holiday and patiently wait until the door closes before driving away to ensure it doesn’t reopen. In addition, even if you don’t have an opener, you can still secure your garage from break-ins by padlocking the latch or putting a bolt through one of the holes in the track.
Finally
When it comes to securing your home against burglary, it pays to go smart. Smart homes offer more than just convenience, they can also provide protection from burglary. Studies show that criminals are deterred from targeting a smart home as most burglars are opportunists and prefer a simple break-in. Most home burglaries can be prevented by taking the steps above to secure your doors, windows, garage and other entry points of your home.
