Crime on the Rise: Home Security Strategies for Concerned Homeowners

You can sometimes read the latest crime statistics and feel like they don’t really affect you but the figures can soon become very real when your home is targeted by burglars and crime casts a shadow and creates feelings of insecurity.

Even quiet and respectable neighborhoods are witnessing a rise in crime, so you need to adopt some sensible strategies to protect your family and your home if you are concerned that you might be vulnerable.

Here are some tips to help keep your home secure, including an insight into how to identify weak spots that thieves could target, how to strengthen windows and doors, plus a suggestion to be social media savvy.

Pinpoint vulnerabilities

About two million homes are burgled throughout the country every year which equates to someone’s property being violated every sixteen seconds or so, so there is no room for complacency or misplaced belief that your property is safe from this threat.

A good way of giving yourself some extra peace of mind is to choose the right security system for your home in order to give you good options in terms of monitoring activity 24/7.

In addition, you can take some simple steps to deter burglars by identifying potential vulnerabilities, such as an entry point in a blind spot, and then taking action to improve security in these areas.

Burglars don’t like to be seen, so installing outside security lighting is a no-brainer for dissuading thieves who prefer to work under the cover of dark.

Take a walk around your home and try to adopt the mindset of a burglar to see how you might break in with the minimum of fuss. If you find some vulnerability you can be sure that an intruder will do so too.

Review the strength of your doors and windows

Burglars will often target properties where they can make a quick and easy entry and be in and out in a matter of minutes.

One of the ways they do this is to look for doors and windows that have minimal security resistance. A poor quality back door won’t offer much defense against a sharp blow to force it open and the same applies to a window that doesn’t have any lock on it.

Any exterior doors should ideally have deadbolt locks of at least one-inch thickness or more. A cheaper spring latch lock doesn’t provide the same level of security protection and it is always worth spending a bit extra on a better quality deadbolt system.

Even a deadbolt mechanism is not guaranteed to prevent a determined intruder from forcing their way into your home, as some heavy well-aimed blows cold shatter doorjambs and even split the door itself.

As an extra precaution, you might want to use some strategically placed metal bars to prevent a forced entry.

Keep a low profile

Many of us have a social media profile and we often share news of an upcoming event like a vacation, but be wary of your privacy settings as burglars trawl these sites for clues on who might be away from their home.

If you leave too much information around in a public place there is every chance that this could be used to target your home.

Be careful about who you tell your holiday plans to and try not to leave any obvious signs at home, by canceling any deliveries that might sit on the porch while you are away.