Protecting your valuables
from the unsavoury arms of bandits
starts from the outside in. Here
are a few suggestions that may
assist you in making your home
less appealing to the darker side
of society.
Since most break-ins
are crimes of opportunity,
following are some helpful tips
on how to decrease the
perception of opportunity:
o Ensure
your yard is well lit
and keep Shrubberies around
windows and other potential
entry points trimmed. Crooks
are less likely to attempt to
break in if there is a high
risk of being seen.
o When on
vacation, have a
neighbour or friend pick up
your mail, leave a few lights
in your home on timers, and if
possible have someone come in
occasionally to make your home
look “alive”. If possible,
have someone park a vehicle in
your driveway for the time you
are away. To reduce the risk
of being caught, most Burglars
do stake out their targets.
Make everything as
unpredictable as possible to
potential intruders.
o Do not
advertise the purchase of
“high ticket” items
by putting the boxes outside
in open view. Break the boxes
down and bring them to the
nearest neighbourhood recycle
bin.
o Keep
ladders and garbage bins
hidden as they
provide burglars with easy
access to higher windows.
You should also look
around your home, from
the outside and closely examine
the possible ways an intruder
could infiltrate your home and
consider ways to make forced
entry as difficult as possible.
o Check to
see whether your windows or
sliding doors can be removed
from the outside.
Some older style aluminum
frame windows can be lifted
out of their frames while the
window is still closed. Later
models included a security
feature that prevented the
window from being lifted out
unless it was open. Screws
placed in the window frame,
above the window are an
inexpensive way of
accomplishing this.
o Ensure
that your windows and sliding
doors cannot be forced open.
Many factory standard latches
fall short of effectively
preventing forced entry.
o Install
dead bolts in all
your external doors.
o Consider
small windows inside
or beside entry doors as an
easy way to break in and
unlock dead bolts. Ensure dead
bolts are out of reach from
these windows.
o
Strengthen doors and
doorframes around
dead bolts.
o Install
longer screws in door
hinges.
o If the
hinges are on the outside
of the door, ensure they
cannot be removed easily.
o Protect
rarely used basement and back
doors from forced
Entry by installing an
anti-ramming bar across the
inside of the door.
o Consider
security window film
or window bars on high-risk
windows.
Look through the
interior of your home
and consider possible entry
points in relation to the
location of your valuables. Keep
in mind, crooks
o Keep
Computers stereo's
and all other “high ticket”
items away from windows that
can be easily accessed or
viewed from outside the home.
o Keep all
jewelry and money hidden,
wall and floor safes are ideal
for this, mattresses and
dresser drawers are not.
o You may
also wish to secure computers,
fax machines and printers to
the floors or desks on which
they are placed.
- As you may have noticed
with the above steps, each home,
regardless of size, has its own
unique set of characteristics,
which need addressing, when
protecting it from intruders.
The same holds true when
installing a security system.
For a free no-obligation
security evaluation of your
home, please contact KeepSafe
Systems at (604) 874-8772. We
service the entire Lower
Mainland and Fraser Valley.
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