Making your home more secure
Everyone can take steps to make their home more secure. Bear in
mind that any home can be broken into. The various measures you
take makes it take longer, which in turn gives you more time to
call the police.
First, you want your home to be a less desirable target, and
second you want to make your home harder to get into.
Even if you don't have a dog, or you have a small dog, get a
large water dish for a dog with the name "Killer" on the
bowl. Leave it where someone going around the side of your house
is likely to see it and where it looks like it belongs (just
inside a side gate for example).
Install
exterior lighting with motion sensor switches. You'll have to
play with the sensitivity as you don't want cats walking by to
set it off but you do want people to. Install them at the corners
of homes so they shine down both sides. These lights still need
standard switches somewhere and for them, install timer
switches. When you're away, set the motion sensors to off, and
set the timers so the lights come on after sunset and stay on for
about two hours. Of course have someone else get your mail and
newspapers while you're away or their presence will ruin the
effect.
What your exterior doors and made of matters. Metal exterior
doors are harder to break into than wood exterior doors. Solid
wood exterior doors are harder to break into than "solid core"
exterior doors.
Make sure you have good deadbolts. The distance the bolt travels
into the door frame is called the "throw". The standard throw is
1 inch, but throws of 1 1/8" are commonly available and some have
throws as much as 2 ½ inches. The longer the throw, the more it
protrudes into the door frame. Make sure your window locks work,
and use them. If you don't mind drilling holes in your window
frames, you can create "stops" so a window can be opened only so
far. You could open it 4" for air, but no one from the outside
could force it to open later. For sliding glass doors, get rods
to put behind them. Cut broomsticks will do, but metal rods are
better.
They work
similar to the wired ones but need no wires. Of course you need
to remember to change the batteries every once in a while. Make
sure you get loud ones.
One very important consideration is your phone. Unless you
absolutely have no choice, if you have to call 911 do it from a
landline, not a cell phone. From a landline they immediately know
exactly where you are. I've had people tell me when they called
from a cell phone they were immediately put on hold and kept
there for several minutes. Additionally, make sure you have
a "regular" non powered phone in your main living space (the
kitchen is generally the center of activity in most homes). If
your phone plugs into the wall in any way (or has a base station
that does), it will not work during a power outage. Old fashioned
phones with only a phone wire connection (and no electrical
connection) work without power.
The
Santa Clara County Sheriff's office helps people set up a
Neighborhood Watch for your area which has the potential to get
your neighbors involved and hopefully make your entire
neighborhood a less desirable target.
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