Protecting Your Home Like a Fortress

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M. Peterman/Truthisscary

We all want to believe that our homes are like fortresses. We think of them as impenetrable walls that protect us from the outside world. And, while most of the time, we are perfectly safe within the walls of our own homes, it is also true that most homes are incredibly vulnerable. This isn’t because you don’t take good care of your home. It’s because thieves and other intruders know where most homes’ weak spots are.

Dispelling the Myth

A lot of you reading this are likely convinced that most break-ins and thefts happen in the dead of night. This is probably because that’s how they happen in movies and on television. Guess what: people can break into your home at any time, even in the middle of an afternoon, while you are wide awake and even while you are at home. The most skilled burglars know how to break in and get back out without ever being detected–even in the middle of the day.

Here are some of the things that make broad daylight home invasions possible:

• Failing to properly secure your doors and windows
• Leaving the home very obviously unattended (aka taking off but leaving all of the blinds open, and the empty garage’s door open)
• Broadcasting your whereabouts online (you have heard of the “Please Rob Me” website, right?)
• Having easily accessible locks
• Failing to properly vet people who work on or stay in your home

Taking Baby Steps Yourself

The good news is that a lot of these problems can be easily rectified for very little money or even no money at all. For example:

• You can get yourself in the habit of locking the doors behind you when you get home and of keeping the curtains drawn when you aren’t in a room (even better, use blinds that you can open at an angle, so that you can get natural light but still prevent nosey passers by from seeing in).
• You can plant shrubs close to your ground floor windows to make it harder for someone to open them undetected.
• You can have a locksmith install a safety deadbolt on all of your doors.
• You can put dowels in your windows to make them almost impossible to open.
• You can stop broadcasting all of the details of your comings and goings on the internet.

Kicking Your Security Up a Notch

One big myth is that you can take care of all of your home security needs yourself. It’s true that a large portion of your home security is about developing better safety habits, like those we’ve already listed. It’s also true that your home will be safer with a solid security system in place. According to the New Mexico ADT Security website, a home without a security system is three times more likely to be invaded. Yikes!

At the very least you are going to want a security system that sounds a deafening alarm whenever someone tries to enter the house without the alarm’s passcode (or if they enter by any portal that is not a door). If you can afford it, however, it’s worth it to update the system to meet new standards. These days a basic security system is one that comes with monitoring as well as an alarm.

A better option, though, is to install a system that will allow you to monitor your home yourself via remote signal. This way, whenever your home is breached, you’ll receive an alert (typically via an app that you download on to your smartphone) that will allow you to check in on the home yourself and alert the authorities if necessary. These systems are great because, in addition to offering protection when you’re not home, increase your family’s chances of staying out of the way of home invaders when you are home.

Plans Matter

Even once you have your security system in place and you’ve done a thorough safety audit (and fixed any problems it discovered), you’re not done. The fact is that, without a safety plan in place, you and your family members are more likely to panic and will increase your chances of running afoul of intruders and raise the chance that you’ll get hurt.

Sit down with your family and put together plans for what to do if someone breaks into your home. Download apps on to your phones and tablets that will allow you to alert local authorities without calling attention to yourselves. Do practice drills just like you do when you put together your fire safety plan.

The real truth is that there is no such thing as a home that is 100% safe. The happier truth is that there are things that you can do to reduce the chances that someone will successfully invade.

Source: http://truthisscary.com/2015/08/protecting-your-home-like-a-fortress/