Safety and Home Security During Uncertain Times

The election is getting closer and the vitriol is getting more and more heated.  I don’t know about you, but I’m guessing that there are plenty of us – me included – that are getting a little nervous about the after-effects of this election no matter who wins.   If Trump wins, we’ll have plenty of people who won’t believe it.  We’ll get a lot of “Not MY President.”  My prediction is that we’ll get people who will take to the streets and cause all sorts of trouble.  If Biden wins, I don’t think we’ll have the rioting that we would get if Trump wins, but I think the push-back will be of a different sort.  The problem is that our families – our children – if they are perceptive – may be lacking that sense of security.

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So what can we do?

Keeping our family safe is of the utmost importance.  We just want to provide our families with security against “every day” potential problems – including uncertain times caused by the elections.  And if that is the case, I just want to point out that you don’t have to make your home a veritable Fort Knox.  Believe it or not, all you need to do is to make your house look like a less attractive option than houses around you.  Why would a burglar try for an apple in the middle of the tree when you can grab one off the bottom branch.

So let’s jump right into how to do that.  How do we make our houses less appealing to the burglars?  Here are simple steps to put our houses at least up to the middle of the tree.

In research for this article, I found information on what burglars said actually deterred them from hitting a house.

(1) A Barking Dog

When we moved to this house and we were no longer renting, we got a dog for this very reason.  Burglars say that for many of them if they hear a dog, that’s a no-go for them.

(2) Closed Circuit TV

The cool thing about this is that, if you do it right, you don’t actually have to have a CCTV.  It simply needs to look like you have one.  You can buy the real thing for about $130.  OR you could buy a look-alike for about $25.  Someone who worked in the security business, when asked about this type of camera, said that the difference between a real and a fake camera like this is no longer distinguishable by looking at it.  The only way someone would know that this type of camera is fake is if you picked it up.  If it’s attached to the outside of your house, they can’t pick it up, so they would never know the difference.

(3) Television

Burglars have said that having a TV that is on or at least sounds like it’s on is a deterrent.  It makes them believe that people are actually home.  Most burglars don’t want trouble.  They want in and out (usually) in less than 5 minutes.

(4) Visibility

You want the space around your windows and doors to be clear.  You don’t want shrubs under your windows.  A burglar can hide in the shrubs while trying to jimmy a window open.   If your windows and doors are well-lit, this will also deter burglars.  You can install something as simple as solar power motion-activated lights.  If there is a movement within a certain area, the motion light will go on, but you don’t have to worry about hooking it up to electricity or about changing a battery.

(5) Door Security

Having a solid front door goes far in the way of deterring burglars.  Having a solid wood door is the best by far.  If you can’t have that, at least have a solid wood core to your door.

Deadbolt

With your regular doorknob lock, install a deadbolt.  While a deadbolt isn’t a 100% deterrent, it does give you two lines of defense against your door being easily opened.  Remember that our job isn’t to make our home into a fortress as much as it to make it hard to get into.

Securing your door jamb

Other ways to secure your door is to use 3-4″ long screws on the door jamb.  Now, if you’re like me, you may not know what a door jamb is.  Go to your door.  Open it.  Take a look at the wall where your lock fits into the wall.  This is called the strike plate.  UNDER the strike plate is your door jamb.  In order to install longer screws into your door jamb, you’ll have to remove the strike plate.  If you have a strong door jamb, your door will be so much more secure.

Nightlock

If you are looking for an additional way to provide your family with security, start by working to secure your door.   If you, like us, have glass on either side of our door and can’t install longer screws into your door jamb, there are other ways to secure your door.   One of the things I’ve been looking into until we can replace our front door is called Nightlock.  Nightlock is made up of three pieces.  The first attaches to the back of your door.  The second attaches to the floor, and the last one secures the one in the door to the one on the floor.

Your Sliding Glass Door

Do you have a sliding glass door?  If you do, then you want to make sure that you also secure them.  You can purchase something “fancy” like this.  Honestly though, if you find the right length of 1″x2″, you can slide it in the door so that no one can open the door.  It’s just as effective and provides your family with security.

(6) Window Security

Now for securing windows, there are several things you can do.  If you are concerned about someone breaking a window to get into your house, there is a way to reinforce your windows.  There is something called reinforced window film.  You can purchase from 3M or from Amazon.  This film takes any impact to the window, or door and spreads it out over a much greater surface area making it much harder to break into windows.

Now if you do not want to install this film, but you still want to protect your windows, you can install window glass break alarms.  If glass breaks, an alarm will sound.  This will either alert someone that something is happening or it will scare off an intruder.

Another way to secure your windows is to make sure they can’t be opened if you haven’t locked them.  There is something called Window Bully which works to a window as a doorstop works to your door.

(7) Activity on Your Street

Believe it or not, being outside, having your kids outside, having people who work in their yards, and walk their dogs is a huge step toward security not only in your house but for your entire neighborhood.  Know your neighbors.  Talk to them!  Interact with them.  On one news program that I watched where a former burglar took a member of the news around with him in a vehicle.  When they drove through a neighborhood where people were out and about, working in their yards, walking, talking with neighbors, etc.;  the burglar said that he would never go into a neighborhood like that.  It would be hard to do that and not be seen.

So we can love our neighbors AND keep them safe by getting to know them and being happy to be seen outside talking with them.  That’s one of the most exciting things that I learned researching for this article.

Other tips

So, things that I listed above have been noted as being deterrents to theft in your house.  I found some other helpful tips that I also want to pass along.

If you have locks on your doors, actually USE them.  About 1/3 of burglaries are not committed by forced entry!

Have a burglar decoy box with some cash, fake jewelry, and important looking papers planted in a dresser drawer could get someone one out fairly quickly with really nothing of value.

Shut your blinds at night or everyone can see into your house and know exactly what is where.

And What About You?

What steps have you taken or do you plan on taking to secure your home.  Is there anything in the article that surprised you?  I’d love to hear.  Leave me a comment below.

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