Precautions to Reduce Burglary

There are four basic types of precautions which must be provided to significantly reduce the chance of burglary:

• Deterring Measures: These are security measures which are likely to lower the chance of a break-in when the burglar cruises the neighborhood in search of a target. Burglars search for homes that appear to be unoccupied. Thus, deterring measures suggest that somebody is at home. For example, a car in the driveway, motion sensitive exterior lights, interior lights, and radios and TVs on timers, all give the impression that someone is in the home.
• Preventive Measures: These are security measures which make the actual break-in more difficult and/or time consuming. Burglars spend no more than 60 seconds breaking into a home. Measures which rise this time may cause burglars to change their mind. Some examples include deadbolt locks, bars on windows, and pins in sash windows.
• Detection Measures: These are measures which detect the presence of an intruder on the premises and send a message out. Only a burglar alarm serves that purpose.
• Managerial Measures: In nature, these measures are in the deterrence category. They are not physical precaution measures like the three previous categories but are associated with the deterring category in their objective, which is to produce the impression that somebody is home. They include stopping newspaper and mail delivery, notifying police when you will be away, and having neighbors watch your home.