Before we start looking at ways you can protect your home from burglars, it’s important to understand one thing — if a thief wants to get into your home, not a whole lot will stop them. There’s a residential burglary happening somewhere in the United States about every 20 seconds. Only about 13% of residential burglars are caught. The deck would seem stacked against you. The idea behind home security tips is to find ways that you can prevent yourself from being one of those homes. Certain steps will greatly reduce the chances of your home being robbed, yet they’re steps many people never take. In fact, people often set up expensive security systems or elaborate ways to prevent people from entering their homes and yet forget to use these systems. For instance, the most common means of entry for burglars is, believe it or not, the front door — in about 32% of all residential robberies, thieves enter this way. Some burglars will just kick the doors in, and others will remove the hinges. In one-third of front door robberies, they entered the home through an unlocked front door. Think about that. Almost one-third of these kinds of break-and-enter situations happen because people don’t lock the front door. One of the best ways you can protect your home from a robbery is by being aware of all the different ways a thief can enter your home and thinking about how you can prevent them from doing so.
Table of Contents
- What Makes a Home an Easy Target for Break-In or Theft?
- Home Safety Tips
- Products That Can Help Homeowners Keep Their Homes Safe
Clear Nee is a researcher at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. She has been studying burglars and burglary for more than 20 years, and she has some interesting observations about what makes a home an easy target and what thieves are looking for when they enter.
1. Burglars Will Return Repeatedly to a Vulnerable Street or Neighborhood
If a burglar thinks there are easy targets in a particular neighborhood, they’ll return to that neighborhood repeatedly. Burglars think differently than a normal person. They’re basically “working” even if they’re doing noncriminal jobs or just walking the dog. Throughout the day, they’re constantly observing comings and goings, making mental notes about homes that look vulnerable, thinking about when those homes will be empty and considering the potential payoff. In fact, most burglars live near the neighborhoods they rob, so it’s easy for them to complete scouting missions without appearing out of place.
2. Thieves Will Pass out Fake Junk Mail to Look for Absent Homeowners
Burglars will place menus on a variety of homes in a neighborhood to see if someone is on vacation, learn the times of the day when they’re not home or see if people pay attention to small inconsistencies.
3. Most Experienced Burglars Are Not Interested in Large TVs or Heavy Items
Most thieves go to the master bedroom first when they enter a home. They’re looking for jewelry and other easy-to-carry items like credit cards, passports or cash. Another popular item is a weapon, particularly if the car out front sports an NRA sticker. One of the first places the individual will look is under the mattress. Then, they’ll head to the bathroom to look for prescription drugs they can sell. When they go downstairs, they’ll go to the living room to look under cushions and in vases for car keys, personal information or keys to a safe if the home has one. Then to the kitchen, where they’ll often check the freezer, a popular hiding place for people to put their valuables when they’re away.
4. Burglars Love a Secluded Backyard
Burglars don’t like to be seen. That’s why a secluded backyard is their dream come true. It’s easy for them to kick in a backdoor or even break a window because they know they won’t be seen and most likely won’t be heard. People often forget to lock their back doors as well, so sometimes thieves don’t even have to try hard.
5. Thieves Know They Can Break Into Most Garages With a Piece of Wire or a Coat Hanger
About 10% of all break-ins occur through people’s garages. In many cases, the garages are left unlocked, which makes it easy to enter them. In other cases, thieves will thread a piece of wire or coat hanger from the top of the garage door to pull the emergency open latch. Once inside, they’ll only need to close the door before having unlimited access to your home.
6. Summer Is the High Season for Break-Ins
Thieves know that summertime is the time when most families go on vacation, so the highest number of burglaries occur during the summer. The rest of the year, they’re aware that most people leave home around 8 a.m. and don’t get home till 5 or 6 p.m., so most break-ins happen between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., when thieves can be relatively certain that homes are empty. These criminals will often watch a neighborhood or a home for weeks to learn people’s regular routines before the attempted break-in.
Home Safety Tips
So now that we’ve looked at a few ways thieves determine which homes to rob, here are some ideas about how you can prevent the situation.
1. Lock All Doors and Windows
As noted above, many thieves enter a home through unlocked doors, garage doors and windows. Before you leave to go to your job during the day or take the family on vacation, make sure every door and window is locked.
2. Make Sure Those Locks Are Secure
If your home doesn’t have them already, install mortise locks so that the bolt slides into the doorjamb. These locks normally require a key to enter, so it doesn’t do a thief any good to break a panel on the door and search for a knob or a handle.
3. Put Away Anything That Could Be Used to Help a Thief Break Into Your Home
Don’t leave ladders, metal bars or garden tools lying around your home — such implements can be used by a thief to help them get into your home.
4. Hide Valuables From View
Never leave money, laptops, smartphones or jewelry lying near a window that can easily be seen into. In addition, never keep large sums of money in your home.
5. Get to Know Your Neighbors
This step is particularly important if your neighborhood has been the subject of a series of break-ins. Take the time to go up and down your street, say hi your neighbors and introduce yourself. Encourage them to keep an eye out for any strange activity taking place around your home when you’re not there. And don’t forget to do the same for them!
6. Landscape to Prevent Burglaries
Hedges planted near a home are amazingly effective at preventing burglaries. It’s also a good idea to look into shrubs or trees, like holly, gorse or Berberis, which all have particularly nasty thorns. Plant them near windows. These kinds of bushes and hedges are difficult to cut down and very painful to try to walk through or climb over. In a word, they’re a great way to deter thieves.
7. Get a Dog
A dog doesn’t need to attack someone — they just need to make a lot of noise when someone comes near the home. True, this behavior may be annoying at other times, like when friends come over — but it can also be highly useful in alerting you. If you’re not into the dog idea, you may want to purchase an electronic simulator that can make dog-like noises activated by motion sensors.
8. Trick the Thieves
Burglars often listen for the sound of voices coming from within a home, so a TV or a radio left on during the day can be a great deterrent. Make sure you leave the radio or the television on a talk channel so that the burglar only hears the sound of voices. Do not, however, leave a radio or TV on nonstop if you go on vacation. Doing so will become a sign for thieves that no one is home. If you put the radio or the television on a timer, make sure the timer allows you to set different times for different days. Most people don’t turn the radio or TV on and then off at the exact same time every day. The same is true of lights: If you have a timer to work with your lights when you’re away, don’t have the lights come on and then turn off at the same time every day. That’s a sure sign to burglars.
9. Avoid Leaving Your Garage Opener in Your Car
Don’t leave your garage door opener in your car attached to the windshield visor or sitting on the front seat if you park your car outside your garage. If you don’t lock your car, a thief can easily snatch the opener and then use it to get into the home when you drive off later. Get used to taking your garage door remote control into your home every time you get out of the car. Since 2017, you can now operate your garage door from your smartphone using LiftMaster myQ (see details below).
10. Disconnect the Garage Door Motor From the Electrical Outlet
If you’re going away for a long period of time, disconnect your door’s motor. That way, it’s impossible to use a remote cord or tamper with any kind of exterior keypad to lift the garage door.
11. Block the Cord
If you want to prevent thieves from using that wire or coat hanger to pull the cord that operates the emergency door opener on your garage, block it. You can do so by using a small steel plate that serves to block the opening through which thieves stick the wire. There are various types of plates that you can buy at your home hardware store. Remember, you may need to remove some models before you open your door.
12. If Your Garage Door Has Windows, Cover Them With Frosted Coatings
You don’t want people peering inside your garage. Buy some frosted plastic coating that you can apply to the windows. This coating will let light in but also keep unwanted eyes from peering in.
13. Avoid Talking About Your Workday or Vacation Plans on Social Media
Thieves are constantly trolling social media sites, especially neighborhood ones, where some homeowners may post their working hours or their upcoming vacation plans. Never talk about your workday hours online, and only post vacation photos when you return. Don’t post pictures from your vacation location — that’s a sure notification to thieves that you’re away from home.
Numerous products on the market — such as security alarm systems or the myQ garage door opener from LiftMaster — offer extra protection to your home.
1. Security Alarms Are a Good Idea, But Will Not Always Deter Thieves
When neighbors hear an alarm, they assume it’s a false alarm because about 95% of all alarms are false ones. The noise might spook an inexperienced burglar, but experienced thieves know most people don’t pay attention to alarms. Think of a car alarm — most people don’t do anything when they hear a car alarm because they believe it’s been triggered by mistake. It only takes a thief about 10 minutes to burgle your house. They know it takes a security company about seven minutes to verify that the alarm is real and then maybe another 10 minutes for the police to come. That’s more than enough time for thieves to go to those few places where they know most people hide their goods, then make their escape. Many thieves will be deterred if they know ahead of time that a home has a security system. Make sure that if you do get a home security system, you put up lots of signs in your yard and stickers on your windows. It’s not that it will always prevent thieves from breaking to your home, but in many cases, they’ll just decide to move on and pick an easier target. You can help make your security system work better by letting your neighbors or the police know when you won’t be home so that if they do hear an alarm go off, they’ll know it’s not a false one. Always be proactive about your home security.
2. The myQ Garage Door Opener From LiftMaster
The myQ garage door opener is a great example of how smart technology can make your home safer. myQ will work with your smartphone so that you’ll always know what’s going on when you’re away. You’ll never need to wonder if your garage door was left open again, and you can get notified when your door opens and closes. That way, you can let loved ones in as well as allowing delivery people to leave packages inside your garage or repair technicians to complete repairs inside. Best of all, you can do all this from anywhere. You could literally be in another country and allow someone to have access to your garage as long as you have internet access. You can also check the status of your garage door from any location to see if it’s open or closed. You can invite three friends, family members or guests to have access to your myQ garage door opener from their own myQ app. For even more security, you can get the LiftMaster 841LM. It’s an automatic garage door lock that features a deadbolt that reinforces the garage door automatically when the door is closed. It works in tandem with an opener, which means it will always lock and unlock when needed.
3. Security Cameras
Security cameras can warn you when someone approaches your home. Many security cameras will work with your smartphone so that you receive a warning anytime this happens. That way, you can determine if the visitor is welcome or not. LiftMaster offers motion detector garage door cameras that work with the myQ app and will let you see who is in your garage from anywhere.
When You Want Security for Your Garage Door, Contact Best Overhead Door
Serving the entire Portland Metro area and Vancouver, WA, area, we provide the very best garage door services. Whether you’re repainting, retrofitting, remodeling or even building a new home, when you want quality value and choice, contact Best Overhead Door for all your garage door needs. We offer estimates via phone, email and video conferencing or we can bring our showroom to you with hand samples and brochures. You can call us at 503-620-1205 or if it’s an emergency, call 503-707-0848. You can also contact us online to schedule service or request an estimate and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.
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