Keeping burglars outside is an important concern for most homeowners. That’s why it is very important to put a most secured locks and bolts on your doors and windows since these are their major source of entrance upon invading your home.

The following are the secured locks for your doors and windows:

Sliding window lock

Keyed sash lock

Window latch

Sliding window latch

Keyed patio door lock

Patio door pin

Patio door bar

Deadbolt

Source: Home Tips

Summer is ending… but break-ins and burglary crimes can still happen. As parents prepare to send their children to school and take off for work themselves, a lot of homes are left empty and unguarded.

Home security and protection is often overlooked at these times. No one is left at home and the house is left vulnerable and ripe for burglary. Ventura County Contractors Association (VCCA) offers home security and safety tips for the public. Their list of licensed contractors, at www.vccainc.com, can also help in upgrading the features of your home to help deter burglaries and break-ins.

VCCA’s 6 Home Security and Safety Tips:

1. Check Your Locks

Door and window locks in most homes today might keep out someone who just rattles the knob, but they won’t stop a determined or professional burglar. In more than 40 percent of residential burglaries, thieves came in an unlocked door or window.

Every exterior door should have a dead-bolt lock with a one-inch throw. If you have a key-in-the-knob lock, install an auxiliary lock - a vertical bolt, cylinder dead-bolt, or horizontal-bolt model. And if you just moved into a new house or apartment, re-key the locks. You never know who may still have old keys. Do not hide your keys in mailboxes, planters, or under doormats. Give a duplicate key to a trusted neighbor instead.

Secure sliding glass doors with commercially available locks, with a rigid wooden dowel in the track or with a nail inserted through a hole drilled in the sliding door frame and projecting into the fixed frame. Lock double-hung windows with window key locks or by sliding a bolt or nail through a hole drilled at a downward angle in each top corner or the inside sash and part way through the outside sash. Consider grilles for basement or street-level windows if you live in a high-crime area.

2. Check Your Doors

Locks lose their effectiveness if they are installed in flimsy or weak doors. Make sure outside doors are solid, at least 1 3/4 inch metal or hard wood. Doors should fit tightly in their frames and hinges should be on the inside. Double check the door between your house and the garage since that is a common entry spot for thieves.

Install a peephole or wide-angle viewer in all entry doors so you can see who is outside without opening the door. A short chain between the doors and the jamb is not a good substitute because it can be broken easily.

3. Look at Your Home from the Outside

To discourage burglars from selecting your home, make sure that any shrubbery around doors and windows is pruned so they will not hide anyone tampering with the entry points. Cut back tree limbs that could help a thief climb into second story windows.

Keep your yard well-maintained and store ladders and tools inside your garage or basement when you’re not using them. All entrances and porches should be well lit.

4. Consider an Alarm System

The simplest in-house alarm system sets up a small electrical circuit across door locks and from window to frame. When this current is interrupted by someone opening the door or window, the alarm sounds. More sophisticated systems include sensing devices that set off a siren when an intruder disturbs a field of continually moving sound or radar waves. Advanced alarm system can be monitored by a central station which alerts the police if a thief breaks in. These systems can include smoke/fire alarms and “help” or “panic” buttons to signal a medical or other emergency as well.

5. Have a Family Plan

Remember that your goal is to avoid any confrontations with a burglar since there is a good chance he or she is armed. If you find a door ajar, a screen slit, or a window broken when you come home — do not go inside. Call the police from a neighbor’s house.

6. Prepare When You Leave Town

Notify a trusted neighbor that has a view of your house of your vacation schedule and ask him or her to pick up your mail, deliveries and newspapers. Put lights and a radio on timers to create the illusion that someone is home. Leave shades, blinds, and curtains in normal positions and arrange to have your lawn and garden maintained if you will be gone a long time.

With home invasions and break-ins still going on in the country, many people have looked into many home security devices that can help in preventing burglary crimes to happen in their homes. One of the eyed home security devices in the market is the Door Jamb Armor®.

The Door Jamb Armor® consists of a set of metal sleeves that slide over an existing door and wooden door jamb to repair existing kick-in damage or prevent future ones.

Repairing a broken door jamb has never been an easy task, and it costs a lot at times. Door Jamb Armor® stands both as an easy repair alternative and a door reinforcement, serving as a unique and dependable home security solution.

Also available is the Ultra Door Jamb Armor®, which is a response to the needs of landlords and apartment owners who are often required to provide privacy locks for their tenant’s safety.

Door Jamb Armor® was founded on 2004, and it specializes in propriety products that repair kick-in damages. Door Jamb Armor® provide physical door security for homes, apartments, and office buildings.

There have been reports of many home burglaries in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Tulsan police have discovered that burglars and thieves have a new simple tactic up their sleeves: disarming the home security system.

The burglars first see to it that no one is home by knocking on the doors. When they’re sure that the house is empty of its residents, they go around the property to find the electric box and cut the wires. The power is cut and your home security system is disarmed, leaving your home free to be ripped off of valuables.

The police department are advising everyone to take extra precautions and backup security plans. A battery back up that lasts for more at least 4 hours and a cell phone back up are a great help. And, as usual, always lock the doors, windows, garage, and sheds. Keep your home well lit, and don’t leave anything outside your home that will potentially help a burglar or thief enter your home.

Home security tips have been coming from almost everywhere ever since home break-ins and burglary crimes became violent and many this summer. Here are twelve top tips from Auto Club and EARTHtimes.org in helping families and homeowners prevent home burglaries:

“1. Always lock your doors. Secure all doors and windows before you leave. Use deadbolts, dowels, locking pins in sliding glass doors and windows to keep them from being pried open. Slowing down a would-be burglar will likely make them seek another home that’s easier to break into.

2. If possible, install a monitored alarm system in your home. You may be eligible for a reduction on your insurance rates after the system is installed. The Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club offers such a discount. Make sure your home insurance is up to date and provides adequate coverage if you own luxury goods, expensive jewelry and electronics. Check to see if you need an additional rider or floater insurance policy for those items from your Auto Club or other insurance representative.

3. Keep the exterior of your home and yard well lit with low-wattage outdoor lighting.

4. Close and lock the garage door. Side garage doors should be solid, without any glass and equipped with a strong deadbolt.

5. Don’t advertise that you are going out of town. Stop all deliveries, mail and newspapers, or ask a trustworthy neighbor or friend to pick them up for you. Don’t let mail, including bank statements and credit card offers, sit in the mailbox to advertise you are away and tempt a thief to steal your identity.

6. Use automatic timers with inside lamps and a radio. Set them to come on at random times.

7. Remove spare keys from outside your home, especially near the front door or under a welcome mat.

8. Trim bushes in front of entrances, including windows. This eliminates a burglar’s ability to hide while breaking in.

9. Keep some blinds up and curtains open to keep up normal appearances. Put away personal documents, and place critical documents in a safety deposit box or leave them with a relative. Hide expensive jewelry or place in a safety deposit box at your bank.

10. If you have just moved into your home, change the front door lock.

11. Many thefts are perpetrated by individuals who may have access to your home. If possible, conduct background checks and closely monitor those who may be working inside your residence.

12. Neighborhood Watch programs are great deterrents. If your neighborhood doesn’t have one, volunteer to start one with your local police department before leaving town or ask a trustworthy neighbor to keep an eye on your home while you are away.“

Another piece of advice when leaving your car in a public place: Don’t forget to bring your garage door opener!

We can never underestimate burglars and thieves. Another trick that they have learned to do is to get into cars and steal garage door openers. Later on, when they’re sure no one is around in your home, they’ll open up your garage and steal your things. This is indeed another improvement on the thief’s part. But what do we do?

The most important thing we have to do is to always be alert. Don’t leave your cars unlocked. Don’t leave the garage door opener on plain sight, either. As a matter of fact, don’t leave it in your car at all!

There have been a couple of this incidents lately, and the police department is advising everyone to notify them instead of confronting the intruder (in cases wherein the thief gets in the house). There have also been recent killings in Cheshire that have sparked alarm for home security systems and alarms. The authorities would rather you do not confront the criminals for your own safety.

The overall number of burglaries has not been increasing, but the theft of remote garage door openers has been significantly many in some areas. The police recommends that the homeowners and residents take pictures of their contents at home. They’re are also advised to record serial numbers of their property and engrave their initials or a unique mark on their things so that there is a possibility that they will be returned when recovered.

Remember to always lock the door that connects the garage and your home, too. House keys shouldn’t also be forgotten inside your car. Bear in mind that the thieves can check the vehicle registration papers to know your address.

Once you’ve discovered that your garage door opener has gone missing, immediately unplug the opening mechanism in your garage. Contact the company where you bought it and ask for a new remote garage door opener and a new mechanism code.