How to Deter Burglars from Invading Your House
Many people are correct in saying their homes are most susceptible when they are away on vacation. However there are other times when burglars are very active especially at times when we least expect them to be. Did you know for instance that the majority of burglaries take place during the day? That’s correct, during broad daylight when you are in your own house or when you are in another room!
Having your home burglarized in broad daylight with members of your family carrying on as usual is much scarier that when the burglary takes place at night. If you are a home owner with bad security practices, the results for you may prove heart breaking and you need to adopt and nurture security habits that will ensure the security of your home, family and valuables. You just can afford to be complacent when burglars are up and about so here are a few hints on how to foil their efforts:
- The doors and windows are always the preferred entry points so make sure they are always locked no matter whether you are in or out of your house. Some entrance points such as the garage door, top windows and basement windows are for some unknown reason carelessly left open. Why? Perhaps you may think burglars won’t try getting in that way. Make no mistakes because burglars will get in any way they can! So make sure you lock all possible entry points.
- Burglars usually have a field day when the alarm system installed in the house hasn’t been turned on. This is a very careless omission and one that can cost you plenty. Activate the alarm system you’ve installed so that the presence of an intruder is made known and appropriate action taken.
- If you can use your surrounding landscape to provide extra security for your house, then do so! If your house can be seen clearly by potential intruders from the street and the surrounding foliage provides excellent cover, it’s a perfect place to invade by the burglar. The intruder can first study your movements and then sneak in closer using the foliage as further cover for his ulterior motives.
- The use of outdoor lights that automatically go on when it becomes dark and turn off when the sun breaks the dawn can be the ideal deterrent for burglars. If there’s anything burglars hate more during their clandestine operations it’s being discovered during the act of committing a crime and the presence of lights help foil their efforts.
- Never leave spare house keys under the doormat or the flower vase near the main door. This is a terrible mistake and one that you shouldn’t attempt at all. However, if for some reason you have to hide a spare key, then find a hideaway place that burglars won’t find.
Panic Rooms in Homes
Ever heard of a panic room before? Most likely not but one day this new addition to the security environment will form part of the security needs that house owners will need to have. At Complete Alarms, we have been monitoring development in this quarter and while it is now been given serious application in the US, it will be just a matter of time before it gains a foothold in Australia and we are looking forward to that day.
What is it?
Basically, it’s a secure room built inside a home wherein the occupants of the house can shelter or hide themselves when danger strikes and remain there until help arrives to set them free. In the security industry, they are more commonly called “safe rooms”. They can be used to store valuables and protect family members for different types of threats such as burglaries, kidnappers, escape natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes and even terrorist attacks. The idea is new but will soon find a niche in the security environment and become a permanent part of security in this country.
How the idea caught on
The idea of a panic room first appeared as a result of a film in which a woman and her daughter were saved from a band of ruffians who attacked their home and forced them to retreat into a special room where they held out against the burglars. The film, starring Jodi Foster was called “Panic Room” and although no one can afford the room that saved the mother and daughter, the idea has caught on and the building of such a room is bound to appear very soon. It may now look highly improbable for the idea to materialize but more often than not, we’ve seen that anything that was in comic form in the past has now bloomed into fully blown films with characters to boot. It may also happen to your “Panic Room”.
What’s in it for the regular Joe?
It is more than likely that ordinary people would never afford a sophisticated safety room. For instance, the panic room mentioned above in the film cost about $40 to $60 thousand to build with the latest tech gadgetry to render support to the fugitives. It had elaborate high-tech instruments and equipment, ventilation systems and other sophisticated equipment. The idea however is feasible ad scaled down models is within the reach of existing technology.
Contact us
We don’t build panic rooms, but can assist with panic buttons that notify monitoring centres. Let us know if you’re keen on this sort of facility.
More Tips for Bamboozling Burglars
We sometimes overlook the most simple but very effective means of frustrating the efforts of burglars. It is an important task for us at Complete Alarms to identify these common sense habits and tricks and share them with house owners so they can effectively protect their homes. Some are new and some have been proven to be effective weapons against unwanted intrusions like the ones discussed below.
Some of us often showcase our situation without knowing its detrimental effects to our security. Leaving things outside the house that seem harmless enough to you may prove to be a magnetic lure to a thief making his inspection of potential sites during the day. Things like bicycles, scooter, wheelbarrow, picks and shovels or garden tools are attractive items to thieves. You shouldn’t leave items that can be easily moved from your grounds.
When you buy something new such as a brand new deck player with the latest screen or any other expensive household entertainment appliance, refrain from placing the container box out in the backyard as a recyclable collection. The box container will provide a revealing beacon to tell burglars that valuable equipment has been unpacked and now sitting on a table in the living room. They can be sold at attractive prices anywhere on the streets or second hand shops. Incinerate carton boxes or get rid of them quickly to avoid detection.
Conjuring up your own tricks to foil attempts at entering your house have proven to be very effective. You are now aware that burglaries occur mainly during the day when the occupants are away working in their workplaces. You should take advantage of this knowledge to create you own illusions to fake a home still occupied after the occupants have left for work. Purchase fluorescent bulbs to conserve electricity consumption and leave a light on or a pre-taped series of soft songs or radio programs. To be more convincing, leave your television on. There are loads of other tricks you can use.
The presence of bushes around your ground area can provide hiding places or camouflage the presence an intruder. They provide excellent cover for someone to survey your grounds and house at leisure and even allow burglars to even note down activities that occur around or in your home. Thin out the foliage with a suitable cutter or pruning instrument. A clear ground area with good visibility leverage through the trees, are effective methods for easily spotting movements.
Never underestimate the lengths to which burglars will resort to, so they can break into your house. Be always alert and vigilant and don’t forget that one of the best means of combating burglary is for you to be ahead of a burglar’s plans and intentions.
Contact us
In addition to our ability in providing our CCTV surveillance system, we can also provide you with some of the best personal strategies you can use to ensure the security of your grounds and house. Ring us now on 02 8011 3882.
Neighbours and Home Security Combine Well.
Many safety analysts believe, like we do, that a safe neighbourhood is one where everyone knows one another; the members are very friendly and loyal; they look after one another; they know all their children; they form a closely-knit group of people who are always ready to help. When you enter and area to live, one of the first and very important things you should do is to know the people you will be living with. At Complete Alarms we know the value of forming strong ties with your neighbours and we offer some of the reasons why:
- People who live in a neighbourhood know about practically everything that happens in it. Even more important, they know every single person who lives there. It is little wonder then that any newcomer would stand out like a sore thumb to established residents. Questions automatically start flying and very quickly, the purpose of the newcomer becomes known to the community. A burglar would tend to stay clear of a neighbourhood where residents are friendly and loyal to one another.
- One very valuable contribution to security that friendly neighbours display is their uncanny ability to have an inner care for their fellow residents. The automatically have a casual eye for their security. This friendly concern has been harnessed by the formation of watch groups which have now swelled to millions of members. Forming such groups in your neighbourhood is one very good idea.
- Knowing your neighbours is the best thing to do if you rent a house or apartment in the neighbourhood. Renters often appear different from the rest because they rent and do not own real estate and can be left out in the lurch. Don’t become a stranger; mix in and know your neighbours because recent studies show that renters are more prone to break-ins.
- This overly caring attitude of neighbours is very important especially when you go abroad for a business trip or a vacation. Your departure automatically triggers the ‘watch’ syndrome and your house becomes their focus of attention as if it is theirs also and will to do all they can to ensure your house is safe with them while you are absent
- Having the knowledge that people are always on the lookout for your interests should not make you complacent or even careless. On the contrary. You should augment such devotion and loyalty with your own diligence because if you aren’t you may well compromise the efforts of your neighbours who are 100% for you.
- Assist the efforts of your neighbours yourself by always staying alert to possible security threats and pre-empting them. The street address on your mailbox is sufficient: never give away your last name for a burglar to check out; study the crime rate of the area and where crimes usually take place; be extra alert if the area has a high crime rate
Contact us
Apart from our ability to supply excellent automated surveillance systems, especially our CCTV packages, we can also assist you in providing more information on how to personally make your home safe and secure. If you need our assistance call us now on (02) 8091 3388.
Very Interesting Facts on Residential Break-ins
Anything that has to do with the safety and security of homes is top priority at Complete Alarms and this is one of the reasons why we always try to keep abreast of any information that has connection with this very important subject. In doing so, we stay acquainted with the latest information and trends in the realm of home security in both the automated and manual systems. From this, we have a panoramic view of the whole home security situation, try to find remedies and offer you some of the fruits of our efforts so you can benefit from them. Here are just a few of our findings:
- The much frowned upon burglarizing of homes was dealt a debilitating blow when the deadbolt lock was invented and sold on the market in the 1970s. This lock became the ‘lock-out’ king that thwarted the efforts of burglars worldwide as well as here in Sydney albeit later.
- With the installation of this maverick metal box, the incidence of burglaries continued to drop and then levelled off about two years ago. Since then, the number of burglaries has remained more or less constant presumably because not everyone has access to the magical lock.
- In the U.S. as many as 25% of all homes are equipped with the very latest in home security systems. They possess an impressive array of systems that include electronic systems, reinforced glass, the latest locks and thousands of security guards that work day and night to secure workplaces and homes.
- Despite the steady downswing in the incidence of burglaries as a result of these preventive agents, a total of 1.5 million homes were still broken into in 2006. In most of these burglaries, police find it difficult to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.
- Surprisingly, most of the break-ins occur during the daytime which lends credence to the supposition that perhaps thieves break in when the house occupants are away at work. This may be the case but there is no tangible proof.
- Still more surprising is that about 40% of all burglaries committed in the U.S. are done without any signs of forced entry. Discarding the very unlikely scenarios that thieves have inside help or that house occupants simply let their houses be robbed, the only other explanation would be that thieves simply walked in, climbed an accessible part of the house or crawled in with such ease that it looked like they had the keys to the front door!
- In most of the cases involving break-ins, the most common cause lies with the house owners themselves either because they do not have the means to secure their homes; they do not know how; they are not sufficiently diligent or they are just simply careless sometimes.
Contact us
Your home is valuable to you and to us and we are always available if you need our assistance. Should you decide that you do need it, ring us on (02) 8091 3388 and we will offer you our services, whether with information on personally securing your house or automated surveillance systems
