Warning: Your home is wide open to burglars unless you put in place a full range of effective home security measures
Home Security Basics
Home Security... Where To Start
First
Assess the present level of security of your home. Do a survey
of its security strengths and weaknesses.
Second Pinpoint the main
weaknesses and act now to fix them.
Third Systematically improve
every layer of security for your home - do as
much as you realistically can.
Basic home security measures to protect your home
against intruders
Choose A Safer
Location If you are moving to a new town or city and
know nothing about it find out about local crime e.g. from estate
agents who know the area. The obvious starting point to increase
you home security is to buy your home in a low crime
area.
Work Out
What Makes Your House A Easy Target
A burglar looks for an easy
target - why go for a difficult one when there are plenty of
houses to choose from. Imagine a burglar observing your house
checking out what is available for him to steal and how he might
gain access to your home.
Control
Access to Your Property
If a criminal cannot gain access they cannot commit a
crime. It is not possible to make property absolutely secure,
but you can reduce the ease of access and control access to make it as secure as you
reasonably can.
Improve Boundary
Security Good boundary
security will usually stop a passing opportunist thief or
burglar, because they want to be in and out quickly and easily and
a wall or fence will slow them down. It is best to have high
fences at the rear of the property to prevent the criminal getting
in. If fences and gates make it difficult for him to get to the
rear of the property he is less likely to target the
premises.
Instal
Electric Gates A great advantage of electric security gates is that they deny
the potential burglar the opportunity to casually wander on to your
property to check it out as a potential target. Another is that
they prevent the easy removal of parked cars and other property
from the house.
Secure Your Back Garden Check out your
garden
security. Check the state of the fences and how easy it
would be to get into the back garden of the property. Is
there easy access from fields, parks, footpaths? Is there
overgrown bushes that could provide a hiding place for an
intruder?
Garden Shed Security Summer is a busy time
for garden shed burglars. Check your shed security and make sure it is
locked up and made as secure as possible.
House Security The purpose of
taking measures to improve the security of your house is to make you and
your house a less tempting target. The more difficulties you cause
for the potential burglar. the more likely he is to move on to a
softer target.
Secure Your Doors and
Windows Once you have assessed the security needs of
your property boundary and outside space you then need to turn your
attention to the house itself. Pay attention to potential access
points: door and window
security, basements and lofts/roofspace. Doors
are the criminals' favourite means of entry so give these
particular attention.
Locks The effectiveness and
security of a door (or window) largely depends upon the design and
quality of the locks used to make it
secure, how many are used and how well they are installed.
Replace Your Locks & Keys
There is little point in improving the security of your home if you
are not sure who possesses a set of keys.
If you have not changed all the locks and keys since you moved into
your home you have no idea of the number or type of people who have
possessed, or may still possess keys to your property.
Choosing A Burglar Alarm
System Intruder
alarms help prevent you becoming an easy target and are
known to deter burglars. One of the best ways of choosing an
alarm installation company is by recommendation from a satisfied
customer.
Instal CCTV There are
essentially two types of video
cameras available for home security: those that are wired and
those that are not. Both use television cameras together
with internal monitors, alarms, and keypads in order to
improve the security of your home.
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Protect Yourself From Identity Theft?
Your personal information is valuable to criminals. If they
can steal your
identity they can use them to open bank accounts and get
credit cards, loans, state benefits and documents such as passports
and driving licenses in your name.
Mark Your Possessions
The best thing you can do is to protect your home against
intruders. But if someone did break in and steal your property how
could you identify them? So mark
your possessions.
Your complete
guide to locks, alarms, cameras and security systems designed to
protect homeowners and their valuables. This book is available as
an inexpensive instant-download.