Home Security
Your home is where you go for peace and quiet and safety. You expect it to be safe and secure against uninvited guests. But to a criminal, your home may be an invitation to steal.
Criminals select their target homes carefully. Sometimes they prey on people in times of trouble. One man, who was separating from his wife, moved into his new home. That night, while he was out at dinner, thieves struck and stole everything of value. Their actions added greatly to the man’s stress.
Thieves try to break in your home only if they believe there is a good chance of succeeding. Crooks look for homes and apartments they can enter and leave quickly without being caught. They don’t want to spend time trying to force their way through good-quality doors, windows and locks. They also don’t want to be caught so they will avoid homes where they think someone is inside as well as those that are protected by alarm systems.
The key to safety? Make your home as uninviting as possible.
Where to Start
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Start by learning all you can about home
protection
Ask your police or sheriff’s department for literature about home security. This is usually available through crime prevention units. Study the material. Ask the crime prevention officer from your police department to do a security survey of your home. Using information from them, make your own survey of your home and its safety. -
Look outside where neatness counts
Most criminals feel uncomfortable in pleasant and well-maintained neighborhoods. Trim your trees and bushes, rake your leaves, add lights to dark areas and keep things in the places they belong. Don’t leave bicycles or lawn equipment outside. They are easy targets for crooks passing by. -
Look at the home itself
Crooks often enter through doors and windows. Your law enforcement agency can tell you how to make sure these are strong and well-enforced. Don’t forget to check the garage doors and the security of any window air conditioners.
When You Are Away
When you are at work or on vacation, it is easy to hide the fact you are not at home. For example, don’t allow trash or newspapers to pile up. Make sure the lawn is mowed regularly. Install timers that will turn a few of the inside and outside lights on and off at different times. Some people also set their television sets to go on and off so it sounds like someone is home.
If you plan to be away for home for a long period, such as a week or more, you might ask a neighbor to park a car in your driveway some of the time. Another option is to hire a house sitter.
Make sure to cancel your mail and newspaper deliveries. Arrange to have your lawn cut or the snow removed, depending on the season you are away.
Neighborhood Watch Programs
Join or start a Neighborhood Watch organization. This is a proven way to reduce crimes of all types because there is strength in numbers. Your crime prevention officer can help you get one started in your neighborhood.
Alarm Systems
If you live alone or are older and your health is declining, it may pay you to hire a security service to protect your home. At the suggestion of his adult children, a 90-year-old man did this after neighborhood teens tried to break into his home three times during the day while he was at the grocery store.
Electronic security systems usually work by setting off a loud noise when someone enters without knowing how to turn off the code. At the same time, they electronically inform the security business operator on call who then informs the police or fire department. The operator also calls your family member or friend listed as back-up to check into the problem.
Of course, security systems can backfire. One woman vividly remembers the Christmas Eve she drove her grandchildren to their home while their parents took a sick relative to the hospital. When she unlocked the door, a horrendous buzzer sounded. She couldn’t remember the code to turn off the system so waited with her ears ringing as the police arrived with guns drawn.
Most of the time, though, alarm systems work fine. Just make sure to set your code every time you leave the house. Also make sure your back-up people know the code and how to use it.
You can make your home safe and secure without making it look like a fortress. Learn about the issues, evaluate your home, and change what you can. Any step you take in making your home safe is one step away from having it look like an invitation to steal.
AARP Resources
Door to Door Sales
Don’t let a knock on the door open your house to a crime.
Home
Design
While you’re making your home safe, read about home design
elements that make your home “user friendly” for
people of all ages.
Additional Resources
Home
Security: Invest in it Now.
Adobe Acrobat needed.
The National Crime Prevention Council tells how to improve your
home’s safety.
Burglary
Prevention Checklist for Homes.
Here’s a checklist written by law enforcement officers that
you can use to evaluate your house.
A Simple
Safety Check
Drawings that show features of the best doors, windows and locks,
exterior lighting and alarm systems.
Neighborhood Watch
Program
Search this database to see if a Neighborhood Watch Program is in
your area or find out how to start one.
Books
Find these books online at Barnes & Noble.com.
Smart Homes for Dummies
Danny Briere, Pat Hurley, Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated,
January 2003
How to wire your home for safety and for the 21st century.
The Complete Book of Locks and Locksmithing
Bill Phillips, McGraw-Hill Companies, The, June 2001
Tells you all you’ll ever want to know about locks,
including how to install them.
