Loading ...7 Tips To Keep Your Home Safe From Burglars.
Did you know that in the United States, a home burglary happens every 11 seconds? The frequency of occurence is so high that many times you do not hear about all the cases in the news. Heck, even McGruff the cartoon crime dog has trouble keeping up with the bad guys. So much for his famous line “Take a bite out of crime.” Unfortunately for the cases that do make the news, we are usually immune to it because we see it every day on the 11 o’clock news and read about it every day in the paper. It is too bad that most of us cannot learn from these mistakes to keep ourselves safe. Sean Taylor, pro football player for the Washington Redskins, was killed in a home invasion robbery. It is unfortunate that a high profile incident was needed to wake us up and remind us out there that we have problem. There are a two facts about burglaries that you should know about. The first one is that they usually aren’t planned. Most burglars drive around and when they see an opportunity, they strike. The second fact is that most of the burglaries occur in the day time when we are being slaves at work.
Now that we have turned our attention back to being safe, there are things that we are able to do to prevent being a victim. They are much easier than putting bars on every window and installing 10 foot high fences. Talk about building your own Alctraz.
1) There was a cartoon in my younger days called M.A.S.K. They had regular looking vehicles that turned into different types of attack vehicles. Their tagline was “Illusion is the ultimate weapon!” Well, guess what? This tip utilizes that principle. Make sure that your home doesn’t look abandoned and available for a burglary. This is especially important if you are packing up and going on a vacation. Keep an illusion that the home is occupied. Have an automatic timer that sets off a light every night for a certain time period.
2) Try getting a dog. They are territorial and become a detterent to burglars who try to target your home. So train Buster well so that he can protect your home when you are away on vacation or at work.
3) Install an alarm system on your home. This may cost a bit with the equipment and installation fees but is well worth it. If you can’t afford both the alarm and the dog, just go with with dog since it works all the time and you don’t have to remember to turn it on.
4) Scare the robber into thinking that your home is protected by some security alarm company like ADT. This technique can be used for both home owners that have an alarm system and those that do not. If you have the alarm, go ahead and use it. If not, it is still no big deal because of the fear that is invoked just by displaying that sign.
5) This tip is the easy one. LOCK your doors and windows when you leave the house.
6) Show off less. Don’t leave around visible signs of being rich. Leave that Beamer or Lexus in the garage.
7) Don’t publicize that you are a collector. Your jewelry and Star Wars collection may be in danger of getting stolen and ending up on Ebay.
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Tags: crime dog, home burglary, M.A.S.K, McGruff, sean taylor
