Plan Your Home Security

Crime won’t go away. The best we can really hope for, as Americans, is that we can reduce the chances that someone will commit a crime in which we feature as the victims. Home security is a matter of finding out where your weaknesses are, and then protecting them from attack.

The first step to understanding your own security needs is to get a firm grasp on the idea that security cannot be perfect. No matter what you do, you’re never going to be 100% safe. If a criminal thinks you have something worth stealing, then you’re a potential victim.

So you need a plan that takes into consideration the Four D’s of Physical Security.

• Deter - The best crime is the one that doesn’t happen. Take steps that discourage criminals from bothering you.
• Detect - The sooner you and the police know that a crime has taken place, the better. The more information they police get about the criminal, the better.
• Delay - Speed is important in security for two reasons. If a criminal is gone by the time the police arrive, it’s a lot harder for them to find the culprit. And the longer it takes to commit the crime, the more likely someone will notice what’s happening.
• Deny - The harder it is for a criminal to get inside your house, the better. The harder it is for a criminal to find valuables inside your house, the better. The harder it is for a criminal to take your valuables along when it’s time to leave, the better.

Deterrent value is the easiest part of a security plan. To deter criminals, make sure that the area around your home is well-lit. Keep bushes and shrubbery trimmed to minimize hiding places. Keep the doors and windows closed and locked. A lack of hiding places and easy entry points is often enough to deter a would-be burglar. These measure are easy to put into effect, and they cost very little.

Further deterrent value comes from investment in an alarm system. A standard part of most companies’ installation procedure involves the placement of decals in your home’s windows and signs in your yard, warning crooks to stay away.

Detection of a problem is the next most important part of a home security plan. And again, the most effective ways to improve your ability to detect trouble are low-cost. Talk to your neighbors. Make an effort to know who lives on your street, and know their routines well enough to recognize when something isn’t right. Make sure that they can recognize the signs of trouble at your home. And make sure that you and your neighbors call the police when something looks wrong.

Alarm systems are a good addition to these basic measures. Properly installed and maintained, an alarm will notify the police that someone has forced entry into your home, and they will dispatch officers to deal with the problem. With the addition of a siren, the alarm will also alert you and your neighbors of an attempted burglary. But remember that an alarm is not an “instead of” measure. It’s best as an “in addition to” proposition.

The same goes for surveillance cameras. It used to be that businesses like convenience stores and banks could afford to monitor their property with cameras to help police identify suspects, but residential security cameras were considered too expensive for most homeowners to afford. That has changed recently.

The best point in favor of using security cameras in residential settings is that a camera system can verify that a criminal’s clothing or vehicle matches that of a suspect caught by the police. In some cases a security camera can even verify the identity of the perpetrator by catching a clear image of the criminal’s facial features, but this is actually pretty rare unless you spend serious money on an advanced camera system. Surveillance cameras can also have a deterrent effect; many of the cameras currently on the market are easy to spot; many criminals don’t want to bother trying a property that obviously has them.

Delaying a criminal is not quite as good as deterring one, but the longer it takes for a criminal to finish business and leave once a problem is detected, the better. That’s more time for the police to arrive and make an arrest. Alarm systems do not provide a delay. Neither do surveillance cameras. As a matter of fact, this part of the article is where we talk about the real usefulness of locks.

Many members of the public consider locks an ineffective security measure. The old saying is that “locks keep out honest people.” And that’s true, if all you have is a lock.
It’s especially true if you just have cheap ones, because they’re not all created equal. Of course, as a security-conscious homeowner, you’re going to have more than just locks. Right? Of course you will.

The best locks, rated Grade 1, are deadbolts at least 1 inch long, and their strike plates are screwed onto the doorframe with screws at least 2 inches long. They resist picking, they can’t be opened by drilling out their insides, and the bolt itself is protected from being sawed off. And to top it all off, the keys to these locks can only be duplicated by professionals who require ID to make sure that you’re really the owner. These locks will keep out a dishonest person, especially if you install them in a solid wood or steel door (most doors are made of cardboard inside a hollow wooden shell).

Even without a solid door, a really good deadbolt basically means that crooks have to destroy the actual door to get through it. That takes longer, and it makes a lot more noise than just kicking the door hard enough to break the lock. You can get a similar benefit by installing really serious locks on your windows. The standard window lock is easy to open just by breaking the glass and flipping a clasp. Replace them with keyed window locks, and store the key somewhere that can’t be reached by breaking the glass and reaching inside your house.

Finally, after you have deterred, detected, and delayed the thief, you’re going to try to deny the thief access to your valuables. In the minds of many homeowners, this means it’s time to get a firearm for home defense. If you’re one of them, we don’t blame you for wanting to defend your home. But we urge you to observe proper firearm safety. Don’t store your pistol, fully loaded, in the nightstand. Especially not if you have kids around. Even more importantly, don’t keep it loaded and out in plain sight. Even if you live without children in your home, the best way to store your weapon is in a locked gun cabinet, with its ammunition separated from the weapon itself. Sure, it’ll slow you down if you want to get to the guns while you’re at home. But a burglary is way more likely to occur while you’re not home, because burglars don’t want to get shot to death.

If someone gets into your home while you’re away, an unsecured firearm isn’t a “home defense” item. It’s loot. Keep it locked up, out of sight, and unloaded. The worst thing that could happen if you don’t is that you come home while someone’s burglarizing you and get shot with your own pistol.

The same approach is good for your other valuables. Don’t put your jewelry and cash in the freezer. It didn’t work for Congressman William Jefferson, and it won’t work for you. Put your jewelry and cash in a safe, and secure the safe to your floor. Get insurance on the contents of your home, so that you are covered if a burglar runs off with your new television or the kids’ Wii.