Memorial Day marks the beginning of the summer season. After a long winter confined indoors, the cravings for fresh air and summer breezes result in cracked windows and open patio doors. Summer time fun calls for deck furniture, grills and pools left unattended in the yard and all the average Joe wants is peace and the serenity of knowing their home and families are safe and secure. The most common threat to this feeling of security is home burglaries.
UNOCCUPIED AND EASILY ACCESSIBLE HOMES
FBI studies show that burglaries occur every 15.4 seconds in the United States. Even when you are not physically present during a home invasion, it can still leave a family feeling violated. Neighboring homes lose their sense of security and overall, multiple people are emotionally affected by this single incident. This non-confrontational property crime generally occurs when there is no one home. Burglars are usually looking for easy to obtain materialistic items that can easily be sold for money. Burglars typically choose homes through a strategic selection process. Homes that are unoccupied, easy to access and private with multiple escape routes are preferential.
Burglars prefer homes that are unoccupied and easy to access. It is crucial to ensure that your home is secure when you are not present. It is also very important to avoid triggers that alert outsiders to your presence or lack thereof at any given time. In order to prepare for summer in the safest and most practical manner it is advantageous to follow security’s best practices.
- The first step to home security is purchasing an effective, reliable and professionally installed security alarm and monitoring system. This is the number one deterrent of burglars everywhere. Delco Alarm can assist with any size home – large or small.
- If you go away on vacation, have a family member or friend pick up your newspapers every day. If this is inconvenient it is equally effective to call the newspaper company and ask them to hold any deliveries until you return.
- The use of timers on electrical devices is also beneficial. A home with pitch-black windows during the average household’s dinnertime is a clear giveaway that no one is home. When you are away have a timer set to specific lights within the home that convey there is activity within the home.
- Make your home harder to access and less attractive to burglars. Secure entryways (front, back and side) with high quality locks on exterior doors, quality deadbolt locks with beveled casing and quality door knob-in-lock sets with dead latch mechanisms. These measures make it harder to enter a random home and less worth the effort.
- Ensure that sliding glass door and patio entrances have secondary blocking devices. Make sure all sliding door rollers are in good condition and properly adjusted. Utilize anti-lift devices such as through-the-door pins or upper track screws to secure all patio entryways.
- Use visual deterrents such as alarm, beware of dog or block watch decals. Remember, burglars are looking for in-and-out scenarios and choose to avoid any situation that may alert others to their activity.
- Keep windows closed and locked when you are not home. Security locks allow windows to be left slightly open for ventilation but prevent them from being opened past a specific point.
- Many burglaries are planned crimes. Burglars typically “case” homes before they commit crimes to determine if the home is easily accessible, the inhabitant’s whereabouts at any given point and possibly what monetary benefits the home holds. Make these facts as difficult as possible to pinpoint.
- Make sure your property has ample lighting. There is nothing more attractive to a burglar than privacy in completing his task.
- Increase neighborhood participation in Crime Watch and prevention activities. The word of unsuccessful burglaries in a specific area will spread like wildfire making your neighborhood a less likely target.
- Having a Security System correctly installed can eliminate the need for a lot of the above recommendations!
If you have any questions about residential or commercial alarm systems, don’t hesitate to call Delco Alarm at 610-459-0800. Delco Alarm is based out of Aston, PA and provides service to the tri-state area including West Chester, Aston, Media, Chadds Ford, Chester, Kennett Square, Newtown Square, Glen Mills, Malvern, Exton, Downingtown, Philadelphia, Wilmington, DE and New Jersey.