As crime figures soar and there seems to be a never ending stream of people who would rather take our hard earned items rather than work for them themselves homeowners worry about protecting their homes. So what steps can we take to ensure that our items remain ours?
Burglars are usually opportunists. They will pick a street and look for the easy targets. They want to be in and out quickly without attracting attention. While you probably like your neighbours it is a very good idea to make sure that their home is an easier target than yours!
Most burglaries take place at night. There are good but obvious reasons for this.
It’s dark!
Take the cover of darkness away from them by fitting security lights on the outside of your home. they need to be movement detecting so that when a potential robber comes near the building they are bathed in light. This brings attention to their presence which is the last thing they want. This is often enough to get them away from your home and looking for a house without lights.
The householders are asleep.
If you and your family are asleep upstairs they have the downstairs to themselves. Once they are inside it is quite easy to quietly work their way through your TV, music system, wallet and car keys to name just a few items of interest.
How often do you go to bed and leave a window open? You don’t? Excellent! You already have a good chance of not being the street’s easiest target. Breaking open a window or breaking the glass itself is not easy to do quietly for the casual burglar. Obviously good window and door locks will slow them down and it is worth the cost of getting quality locks.
What other steps can we take?
A common sense approach will serve us well. Potential burglars are more likely to break in if they can see something inside that is worth the effort of breaking in.
Do not leave purses or wallets on the kitchen table in full view from the window. Take them upstairs. Close internal doors so that someone looking through a window has a limited view of what’s inside.
Have a “bedtime routine”. Get into the habit of scanning the downstairs rooms and remove or put out of site anything that might encourage someone to break in. Ideally, close curtains or blinds to obstruct the view from outside.
Get a dog! For a home I don’t really recommend getting a dog purely as a security measure but if you have them sleep downstairs even if they’re not going to tackle an intruder you can bet they will make a lot of noise if a stranger starts looking through the windows with a torch!
Outside you can keep bushes, trees and shrubs trimmed so they don’t offer too much cover to someone who is making their way around the perimeter of your home. If the burglar is in full view of the street they will be more nervous than if the house is surrounded by 10ft hedges.
One of the best companies around for home security systems in Nashville is Flex Alarms. You can be sure you are getting a great deal on Nashville alarm systems from www.flexalarms.com