Home security

Home security Home security is a concern for any homeowner. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a burglary occurs in the United States once every 15 seconds. By definition, a burglary is an intrusion that occurs when the homeowner is away from the home.

One of the best ways to understand how to prevent a burglary in a home is to first understand what kinds of things leads a person to burglarize and what makes up the background of these criminals.

Burglaries most often occur in the middle of the day when home dwellers are at work or school. Males under the age of 25 most often commit burglaries. It is rare that large items such as stereos or televisions are stolen.

A burglary is usually something that takes place very quickly. The intruder usually seeks small items easily removed from the home and then sold for profit. Items like cash, guns, jewelry, laptop computers and iPods are among some of the most often stolen items. These items are frequently pawned for quick cash. Statistics also show this cash is then used to buy drugs.

It is recommended that homeowners should take the proper precautions to protect their homes before they are burglarized. Only about 13 percent of all reported burglaries are ever solved.

Included below are some of the ways a homeowner can protect his or her home from potential intruders:

• Make it hard to get in – The fact is that a burglar is looking to get in and out of a home as quickly as possible. Doing something as simple as locking your doors and widows is a great way to decrease the risk of having your home broken into. In addition to locking the doors, it is wise to make sure that the doors are locked well.

A quality, heavy-duty deadbolt should be used in all entrance points. The throw bolt should be at least one-inch long. The fact is that most break-ins occur when the intruder kicks in a door. This is not as loud as breaking window glass and there is less potential for the intruder to hurt himself. A homeowner with a wooden door and normal locks is less able to protect the home than a homeowner with a solid metal door or deadbolt locks because the latter is harder to kick in.

• Trust a neighbor – It is recommended that a homeowner should try to develop trust with a neighbor. If a homeowner develops a trusting rapport with a neighbor, it is statistically less likely the home will be broken into.

One of the biggest reasons for this is because many homeowners hide extra home keys under the welcome mat or somewhere else near the door. Burglars know where to look for these things. When a burglar finds a key under the doormat, the welcome mat becomes a welcome mat, indeed.

But if a homeowner trusts a neighbor, the extra key can be left with a neighbor instead of under the welcome mat. This significantly decreases the possibility of an intruder entering a home using a “hidden” spare key.

• Invest in a safe – The person who has a number of guns or a collection of expensive jewelry in a home would be wise to not only take the aforementioned steps of precaution, but also to purchase a heavy safe in which these valuable items can be placed. Because the safe would be nearly impossible to open on site and too heavy to try to move from the home, there is a strong possibility that everything in the safe will be kept from the intruder.

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