Complete Guide To Protecting Your Home From Burglary/Theft/Intruders

You must be already aware of the common ways to protect your home from burglary/theft. But there are a lot of burglaries that happen in spite of following these ways. Often there are times when we avoid or forget to do small things for our home safety. In addition, there are a few effective ways that we are not aware of.

So, to protect your home from burglary/theft we have made a comprehensive guide that would help you to carry out all the precautions smoothly. They all are jotted down below. Make sure you adopt them as they are an efficient precaution to avoid any such danger to take place at your own home.

Ways To Protect Your Home From Burglars, Robbers Or Intruders

1. Install A Home Security/ Alarm System

Installing a proper home security system that includes the cameras, video recorders and automatic doors and windows lock are very efficient methods to protect your home from burglars.

It makes them aware that they are being watched and entering inside would not be easy and that is why in most cases, they avoid taking any risk. The alarm system also has facilitated the security system to a great extent. It can sense any motion and notify the owner by ringing the alarm as soon as the burglar tries to break in.

Do remove the stickers showing the brands on the security cameras you have installed otherwise the burglar might hack your security system. It is also very important to keep in mind that the machines are man-made and therefore, can get inefficient after a certain period of time. You can prefer an NVR power self-monitored security system to avoid the risk of getting hacked and shuting down.

As suggested by a famous businessman David Nance, if you have an alarm system installed then keep a check if your system is working efficiently on a regular basis and charge it or refresh its batteries when necessary otherwise it has no use. You can also get home insurance for installing these systems too.

2. Make The Doors And Windows Safe

According to an estimate, 30% of the burglars enter inside your home through open doors and windows without any force. So, the first step is to keep your doors and windows properly locked while you are at home or away.

There are several other ways through which you can make your doors and windows stronger and make it tougher for the burglar to break in. Check if your doors are hollow from the inside by knocking on them and replace them by metal doors or hard wooden doors. It can avoid the breaking in of the burglar. They can also be a good investment for your home and increase its value.

Installing window alarm sensors in all the windows of your home can avoid the burglar from entering through windows. You can also install peepholes in order to check outside if someone is close to your doors.

3. Ensure There Is Proper Lightening

Burglars avoid targeting the properly lighted houses as there are risks of getting caught by coming under the sight of people. So make sure that your house is lightened up properly and keep your garden area and balconies or terrace properly lightened too. Install light timers or motion sensor flood lights which would lighten up the area as it senses any motion around.

4. Keep Your Surroundings Clean

Make sure that you trim the extra bushes and trees and keep your garden clean as these places can act as a shelter for the burglars to hide in. Also, avoid building high fences on which the burglars can easily hide and get to peek inside your home and monitor the inside activities. Try putting up some fake signs for extra secuirty.

Make sure that you do not keep any ladder or a weapon lying outside your home in the lawn or the road. The burglar can use these while they perform their act for climbing up or breaking in.

5. Keep A Check On What Trash Are You Throwing Out

A burglar checks the empty boxes and tins you dispose of after taking out the things from it. It gives them ideas of the expensive electronics like TV, fridge, microwave oven, etc. you have bought and they find things inside to steal. You should, therefore, remove the labels, reduce the trash into small pieces or reuse/recycle your trash if necessary.

6. Keep A Friendly Relationship With Your Neighbors

It is very important to work as a community in order to avoid any such danger to take place in your home. The neighbors can protect your home in your absence and help you a lot if they are in good relations with you.

Become a good neighbor yourself by keeping a check on the suspicious activity in your neighbor’s house and they would do the same with you. You can also ask them to collect your newspapers and mail when you go on a vacation or business in order to trick the burglar to believe that you are still at home or your home is being watched.

You can also give your house keys to your trusted neighbor when you go out in place of hiding it anywhere else as the burglars are clever enough to know the places where you might have hidden your keys.

7. Be Careful Of The Unknown Visitors

Oftentimes, you would have come across a stranger coming to your house for free help like providing you free cleaning service or coming up with free care service to you. This might be a sign that Burglars Are Casing Your Home To Target It You should always ask for an identity card of the visitor and the card of the organization he has claimed to have come from.

It can be a thief disguised as a visitor in order to see the inside of your home and get a look at your belongings and family members. In addition to this, you can also install smart video doorbells to talk to the visitor on your door without opening it.

8. Background Check Of The New Contractors Or Workers

Always ask for the identity proof of any new contractor you hire or any other worker who is coming inside your house quite often this will avoid any criminal with a malicious intention to enter inside your house and get an idea of your life inside.

9. Keep A Barking Dog

Most of the burglary or theft is avoided in the first place in homes which have big barking dogs. Most of the burglars are scared of dogs and avoid to enter the place guarded by big dogs.

The dogs sense danger much before we do and they quickly get to know whenever there is any suspicious activity going around your home. Therefore, keeping a barking dog in your home would be the best precaution to take which would protect your home from the burglars.

10. Be Careful Before Posting Anything On The Internet

According to a study, 90 percent of burglars check your social media profiles on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. before attempting the crime. Therefore, avoid posting any vacation pictures or pictures showing your activities and places you are going to until you come back as it will give the information to the burglar that you are not at home and he can easily come inside your place without any risk.

11. Keep Your Garage Safe

We often forget to secure our garage and avoid this zone when we think of our home safety but is one of the most vulnerable places which is targeted by the burglar to enter inside.

Make sure that you keep your garage properly locked and if possible, upgrade your garage door opener and secure the garage doors with extra locks. It would be better if you remove the expensive goods which you have stored in your garage.

12. Keep A Home Security Safe

Keep all your valuables like extra cash, important documents, any memorable picture, important keys, etc. in your home security safe in order to protect these valuables. Most valuable items like a large amount of cash, jewelry, gold/silver coins, etc. must be deposited in the bank safe where you are provided with insurance from the bank.

There are some more steps which you need to follow in order to keep a record of your belongings and keep a check on your valuables. The steps are-

• Write something on your valuables with a permanent market or make any mark so that if stolen, it can be identified. You can use some theft detection powder on your jewellery to be safe before hand.
• Take pictures of the valuables on which you cannot write.
• Keep an updated record of your valuables. It might include the model, serial number, market price, etc.
• Replace old and broken windows and doors when needed and repair the broken fences and locks when needed.
• Make sure your street number is clearly visible on your street so that the cops can find your house easily.
• Remove heavy rocks and wooden stuff from your surroundings which can facilitate the break-in and the burglar might use it as a weapon.
• Maintain your home and its surroundings to give an impression to the outsiders that you take good care of your home and it is not neglected.

The Mind Of A Burglar/Thief

There are several ways given below which can protect your home from burglars and intruders. But before knowing about the ways to adapt to avoid burglary, it is very important to know about the thought process of a burglar. What does he think is easy prey for him and what are the things he observes in your home and how does he find an opportunity to enter your shelter.

After having a one to one interaction with a former burglar by one of the official authorities in U.S, he spoke on the mind of a burglar and here is what he said-

• A burglar/thief does not want to get caught, so he wants to do his activity as quickly as possible and tries to break in within 5 minutes. And if he fails to do so he looks for some other house where he can break in easily. Therefore, an efficient door and window locks which are complex to open can make the entry difficult for the intruder.
• They look for places like bushes, thick trees, fences, etc. to hide in order to monitor the activities inside the house before they decide to come in so it is very important to keep your surroundings clean, avoid building high fences and trim the trees and bushes to make it difficult for them to hide.
• Stay low key especially when you are the rich ones in your neighborhood. If you have lots of money, no need to show it. Burglars always look for a rich house where they can get a lot of wealth to steal so they often keep a check on what all things do you have which determines your status and wealth. So if you have an expensive car, try to keep it in your garage.
• They are scared of lighting. They try to avoid danger as much as possible and lights can make them nervous to perform their act as they feel someone is watching them and they might get caught. So installing a motion sensor flood light or timer lights can be best to scare them away.
• Burglars keep a check on your daily activities as well as your neighbor’s activities. For example, if you and your neighbor both are outside at work during the day, then it becomes an easy task for the burglar to come in without any fear from your neighbors too.
• They are scared of big barking dogs.
• They keep a track of your habits too. If they observe that sometimes you forget to lock your doors and windows in a rush or you are a bit careless regarding your door locks then they can very easily decide to break in whenever they get a chance so staying alert makes your strong impression on the mind of a burglar that you are protective of your home and he would likely think twice before taking any risk. Make sure your locks are bump-proof.

Additional Tips To You Which You Can Do In Case If You Get Robbed

• Keep the list or pictures of the belongings of your home which will help you determine what all things have been taken away and easier for the police to find.
• If you enter inside your house and find your home unlocked and things destroyed and broken inside immediately call the police in place of confronting the intruder yourself.
• In case if a robber gets in do not try to deal with him alone. Remain safe. But try to observe his features carefully so that you can identify him later.
• Do not tell all your information to the robber. In case if the robber asks you about yourself try to trick the robber by giving him the wrong information if it is possible.       

Important Things To Keep In Mind In Case Of An Emergency

• It is very important to keep a record of all the important helpline numbers like police, ambulance, fire extinguisher etc. close to you in a diary so that you can quickly make a call to prevent any further harm to you in case of an emergency like if your house is being robbed or any criminal with weapon enters your house to cause harm to you. If possible, mug up the numbers so that you do not have to look for your phonebook in the time of an emergency.
• Tell your neighbors that if they sense any unusual activity going inside your house then inform the police immediately in case you are being robbed and they sense that you are in a trouble inside, your neighbors can help you.
• Keep any non-lethal weapons like a knife, pepper spray, etc. with you for emergency situations to use it for your defense. If necessary, you can keep authorized guns with you too for any dangerous situations like an intruder breaking in with an intention to physically harm you or your family.
• Learn physical skills like karate which can add up to your own safety against any criminal causing harm to you.

Final Talk

Your home is your shelter and it is a place where you feel the safest. You can avoid any threat to your home by just following some necessary steps given above. Always remember the difference between theft and larceny. It can prevent your home from any kind of a potential threat and give you a free and secure and happy life.