Protecting your Home from the Criminal Element

Protecting your valuables from the unsavoury arms of bandits starts from the outside in. Here are a few suggestions that may assist you in making your home less appealing to the darker side of society.

Since most break-ins are crimes of opportunity, following are some helpful tips on how to decrease the perception of opportunity:

o Ensure your yard is well lit and keep Shrubberies around windows and other potential entry points trimmed. Crooks are less likely to attempt to break in if there is a high risk of being seen.

o When on vacation, have a neighbour or friend pick up your mail, leave a few lights in your home on timers, and if possible have someone come in occasionally to make your home look “alive”. If possible, have someone park a vehicle in your driveway for the time you are away. To reduce the risk of being caught, most Burglars do stake out their targets. Make everything as unpredictable as possible to potential intruders.

o Do not advertise the purchase of “high ticket” items by putting the boxes outside in open view. Break the boxes down and bring them to the nearest neighbourhood recycle bin.

o Keep ladders and garbage bins hidden as they provide burglars with easy access to higher windows.

You should also look around your home, from the outside and closely examine the possible ways an intruder could infiltrate your home and consider ways to make forced entry as difficult as possible.

o Check to see whether your windows or sliding doors can be removed from the outside. Some older style aluminum frame windows can be lifted out of their frames while the window is still closed. Later models included a security feature that prevented the window from being lifted out unless it was open. Screws placed in the window frame, above the window are an inexpensive way of accomplishing this.

o Ensure that your windows and sliding doors cannot be forced open. Many factory standard latches fall short of effectively preventing forced entry.

o Install dead bolts in all your external doors.

o Consider small windows inside or beside entry doors as an easy way to break in and unlock dead bolts. Ensure dead bolts are out of reach from these windows.

o Strengthen doors and doorframes around dead bolts.

o Install longer screws in door hinges.

o If the hinges are on the outside of the door, ensure they cannot be removed easily.

o Protect rarely used basement and back doors from forced Entry by installing an anti-ramming bar across the inside of the door.

o Consider security window film or window bars on high-risk windows.

Look through the interior of your home and consider possible entry points in relation to the location of your valuables. Keep in mind, crooks

o Keep Computers stereo's and all other “high ticket” items away from windows that can be easily accessed or viewed from outside the home.

o Keep all jewelry and money hidden, wall and floor safes are ideal for this, mattresses and dresser drawers are not.

o You may also wish to secure computers, fax machines and printers to the floors or desks on which they are placed.

- As you may have noticed with the above steps, each home, regardless of size, has its own unique set of characteristics, which need addressing, when protecting it from intruders. The same holds true when installing a security system. For a free no-obligation security evaluation of your home, please contact KeepSafe Systems at (604) 874-8772. We service the entire Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley.