Every 15 seconds in the US, a home is burglarized*. After residing in many kinds of locations and working in security, I can say that some of these situations may be avoided with a few precautions.
- Don't flaunt belongings to acquaintances. When you do not know a person, you do not know that they may be looking at acquiring what you have more than looking to get to know you.
- Do secure your home's front door and daytime entrances. Most people are unaware that thieves usually just come in the way everyone else does. [This happened to me once, a long time ago, when a neighbor perched on a roof to watch my habits, and breached my front door in the middle of the day! I was not happy with him!]
- Use sturdy cables to secure bicycles, motorcycles and machines which must be left in a yard or a shed AND remove a necessary working part like seat and wheels, to make stealing these items less profitable.
- Don't put your spare key in obvious hiding places. The door mat and jam are not secure. If someone sees you put your key away, you are not really locking your house to the world.
- Use security devices. Add deadbolts and dual locks where possible. Use locks or screws in window jams of unused windows. If you can afford cameras, motion detectors, and alarms, use those as first detection of possible intruders. Even cheap systems can alert well!
- Use creative means to make premises more secure. One example is the use of chimes in rarely passed entries. Dangling triggers which will be bumped sound the entrance of unexpected visitors. Don't put large shrubs in front of windows, giving hiding space to the unwanted. Do not put valuables all in obvious places. For instance, if you are burglarized, you will loose all contents of your jewelry box on your dresser.
- Teach children about family privacy in the matter of belongings. They should not share the location of valuables, weapons or security devices.
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Check out the help. Before bringing someone inside to fix, decorate or clean your home, do a good background check
