STATE-OF-THE-ART WIRELESS SYSTEM

Burglaries are the most common threat to people’s homes. FBI statistics reveal that a burglary approximately once every 15 seconds in the United States. Burglaries generally do not occur in a random manner, but general involve planning where homes are targeted based upon several factors including the ease of access, the availability of escape routes and a premise being unoccupied.

There are many helpful steps you can take to reduce your vulnerability to being the victim of a burglary. We have provided a list of helpful suggestions for you to make your home and family safer. The elimination or reduction of access is one of the key ways to make your home safer.

Windows

Since windows can provide access for an intruder to enter your home, it is essential that you take the proper measures to secure all of your windows. Particular attention must be paid to ground floor windows and windows visible from the street or alley as intruders will be especially attracted to these windows. Even upper floor windows can present a threat to your home especially if they be accessed from a stairway, tree, fence or by climbing on balconies. The following are some recommendations to secure your windows:

• Use additional blocking devices to prevent an intruder from being able to slide the window open from the outside.
• Block the window open no more than six inches and make sure you can't reach in from the outside and remove the blocking device or reach through and unlock the door.
• In sleeping rooms, these window blocking devices should be capable of being removed easily from the inside to comply with fire codes.
• Use anti-lift devices to prevent intruders from lifting your windows up vertically.

Sliding-Glass Patio Doors

Sliding glass doors also present a point of vulnerability for homeowners because these doors are secured by latches and not by locks. The following are a list of recommendations to decrease your vulnerability concerning your sliding glass patio doors.

• Insert a wooden stick or other device such as a “charley bar” into the track to limit or prevent movement.
• For older sliding glass doors, consider installing anti-life devices to prevent the door from being lifted vertically.

Doors and Locks

One step you can take to reduce access to your home is to make your home more difficult to enter by securing it with superior locks and doors. Burglars will move on to a different home if your home is too burdensome to enter. The following are some recommendations to improve your doors and locks:

• Since garages are more frequently broken into, keep your car locked even when it is in the garage because burglars are skilled in looking for keys and other valuables in your vehicle.
• Use high quality Grade-1 or Grade-2 locks for exterior doors as these tend to be superior at resisting the lock-picking efforts of burglars.
• Use a wide angle 160° peephole mounted no higher than 58 inches.

Lighting

Maintaining significant interior lighting is a critically necessary measure to be taken to reduce the likelihood of your home being burglarized because it signals to potential intruders that there are signs of life and activity inside a residence at night. A home that is entirely dark sends a message to burglars that nobody is at home and, thus, provides a greater incentive for intrusion. The following are recommendations regarding lighting:

• Use light timers on a daily basis.
• Maintain good, bright, exterior lighting.
• Use good lighting around the perimeter of your home.

Establish and Maintain Relationships with your Neighbors

Your neighbors can provide an excellent resource in the fight against home invasion. Neighbors with good relationships should look out for one another and should be alert to changes in established patterns. We have listed some recommendations for you to follow with your neighbors:

• Get to know your neighbors especially those on each side of your home and the three directly across the street.
• Communicate regularly with these neighbors and establish a trusting relationship with them.
• Advise your neighbors when you will be away and ask them to pick up your mail, tend to your lawn and park their car in your driveway so that it will not appear as though you are away.
• Do not hide keys outside of your home.
• Give a spare key to a neighbor in case you lock yourself out.

Alarm Systems

Now that you have made the wise decision to acquire a state-of-the-art security system, it is essential that you insure that you understand how to use it properly and that be certain to maintain it. Alarm systems are most effective as a deterrent to burglars when used properly and when properly maintained.

• Keep your alarm company sign on your lawn and your alarm company decals in your window to act as a deterrent to burglars.
• Do not write your alarm code anywhere near the keypad.
• Be sure to update your alarm company and central station with information
including your response call list.

Keeping a Safe in Your Home

Maintaining a safe in your home will afford you protection for many of your valuables against several sources including burglars, children, dishonest or nosey guests, babysitter, housekeepers as they will be prevented from gaining access to those items of personal property and documentation which you store in your safe. However, be sure that your home safes are properly anchored into the floor or permanent shelving. There are several important things to remember regarding your home safe.

• Use your safe regularly so that you will be able to access it when you need to and so that you will be in the habit of placing important documents in it
• Be certain to protect the code for the safe, but also be certain to change it occasionally
• Install the safe away from the master bedroom or closet

Maintenance of Proper Records concerning your Belongings

One of the best ways for you to maximize your potential for either the recovery of your belongings following a burglary pursuant to a police investigation or pursuing a successful claim with your insurance claim is to maintain stellar records of your belongings. There are several different ways for you to maintain organized records of your belongings.

• Take photographs and/or videotapes of your valuables. Be sure to regularly update this list to insure that newly acquired items are included on this list.
• Maintain a list of the make, model, and serial numbers for all of your valuables and be certain to update this list as you acquire new valuables. This will be of invaluable assistance for providing the requisite proof of ownership when filing insurance claims. You should keep this list in a safety deposit box or with a relative for safe keeping.
• Retain receipts for the more costly and larger items so that you will be able to prove their value for insurance purposes if value becomes an issue.
• Make photocopies of important documents as well as the contents of your wallet and store these copies in a safe deposit box. This will be of infinite value in the event that your home is ever destroyed by fire or flood, is ransacked, or if your wallet is lost or stolen.