Home Safety Tips

Locks, Lights and Alarms

Whether you live in the city or a more remote location, your home can be a potential target for burglary. 

Think of increasing the layers of security around your home as you consider these safety tips.

Locks

• Make sure all your exterior doors have strong deadbolt locks. They offer the best protection from picking and prying.
• Use the locks you have. Always lock up when you go out, even if you’re gone for just a few minutes.
• Equip your home with strong exterior doors and doorframes made of 1 ¾ inch steel, other metal or solid wood, which can withstand more of an impact than hollow-core doors.
• Secure your garage. Garages can provide criminals easy access to your home. Be sure to lock the door that leads from your garage to your home. Many people do not lock this door, creating a weak point in their home security.
• Secure sliding glass doors with bars or locks. A wooden dowel or broom handle in the door track can be a good alternative.
• Make sure your windows have good locks, particularly those at ground level.
• Never publicize your personal travel plans. Before going on vacation or taking a trip, you may be tempted to post updates on social networking sites, including specific dates and times when you will be gone. But criminals have been known to troll these sites for vacant homes and unsuspecting victims. Always keep your vacation plans as private as possible and have a trusted friend or family member collect your mail and check in on your home while you and your family are away.
• Similarly, avoid giving out personal travel information on your voicemail message indicating to potential criminals that the coast is clear at your house for a break-in.

Lights

Interior lighting is necessary to show activity inside a residence at night. A darkened home night-after-night tells burglars no one is home. Similarly, lights burning unnecessarily during the daylight hours can send the same message.  
Exterior lighting is also important to allow you to see a potential threat in advance while also serving as a deterrent to criminals who don’t want to be seen or identified.    

• Make sure all porches, entrances, and outside areas are well lighted.
• Exterior lighting should be bright enough for you to see 100-feet.
• Use motion sensitive lighting to deter would-be burglars.
• Use timers to turn lights on and off while you are away.
• Timers can also be used to turn on and off a radio or TV to create the illusion that someone is home.
• Trim back trees or buses that conceal doors, windows or exterior lights.
• Keep ladders and tools inside and locked up when you’re not using them.
• Never hide your keys under the doormat or in a flowerpot. These are the first places burglars look!  It’s much better to give an extra key to a trusted neighbor along with your contact information in case they need to reach you.
• Mark your valuable property like televisions and small electronics and keep a record of it by making a list and including a photo of items. Store the record in a safe place.
• If you park your car outside, never leave your garage door opener in the car.