Sep 03 2010
North Carolina Home Wireless Security - Keeping Your Loved Ones Safe
A home burglary is damaging emotionally, as well as financially, so it is worth the time to learn how to avoid such a traumatic experience. Many anti-crime strategies can be implemented on your own. When it comes to the correct installation of hardware and devices, however, you may want to consider using a North Carolina home security expert.
The best way to prevent a burglary in the first place is to make your home too big of a hassle for a burglar to spend their time on. Most burglars do not choose their victims randomly. Instead, they are seeking a specific set of circumstances so they can enter and leave quickly. They want access to be easy and quick, with good cover so they cannot be observed. They want the home to be unoccupied. They want an easy way to leave the scene of their crime. Your objective in defending your home is to make breaking into it a difficult and risky task.
Back doors and garage doors are the ports of entry into your home used most by burglars because they provide the best cover. You might think your unlocked car is safe if it is parked in your garage but it is not. You should lock the doors and not leave valuables in sight. The door between your garage and the inside of your house should be as secure as any outside door. Use a solid core or metal door at all entrance points, secured with a heavy-duty deadbolt lock with a one-inch throw bolt.
Burglars will often kick a door open. Use a four-screw, heavy-duty, high security strike plate installed with 3-inch wood screws. A burglar seeing this will most likely pass your house up in favor of an easier target. Sliding glass patio doors are particularly vulnerable. Sliding glass doors should have a secondary blocking device. It is important to keep the latch mechanism and rollers in good condition and properly adjusted. Use through-the-door pins or upper track screws. Put alarm, beware of dog, or neighborhood watch decals on the door.
Never leave windows unlocked or open. Open windows will attract burglars. All windows, including upper floor windows, should be secured using secondary blocking devices. Use a blocking device so that accessible windows cannot be opened more than six inches.
Getting to know and working with your neighbors is a great way to fight crime. Arrange with your neighbors to have mail picked up, lawns mowed, and cars periodically parked in driveways when people are gone for extended periods. Keep an eye on each others properties and alert the police if you see anything suspicious. Make your home appear to be occupied even when it isn’t. Never hide your house key outside. Instead give a copy to a trusted neighbor.
Create the illusion that your house is occupied when you are away. Install light timers so your house is never dark. Also, install timers on your television or radio. Install exterior lighting as well. Have your entryways lighted. Many security experts suggest placing infra-red motion sensor lights on the rear of single family homes. Criminals want to operate under the cover of darkness, so use a good system of lighting to deter them.
The best home security plan is making your home a bad risk and a difficult job for a criminal. Some aspects, such as coordinating with your neighbors and locking your car door, can easily by done without outside help. But when it comes to installing doors, locks, alarms and other devices, it is suggested you hire a North Carolina Home security alarm system professional. Luckily, there are many well-qualified and experienced Charlotte home security alarm system professionals who would be happy to work with you in making your home secure and safe.