WRBL News 3 has given their tips on keeping your home safe and secure!

• Make your home look occupied all the time.
• Always lock all doors and windows when you leave the house.
• Use automatic timers on lights when away from home (interior and exterior).
• Place radios on automatic timers and raise the volume so they can be heard outside.
• Lower the sound of your telephone ringer and answering machine so that they can’t be heard outside.
• Never leave notes on your door that can tip off burglars.
• Trim back bushes so that any suspicious activity can be seen from the street.
• Do not hide spare keys outside your home; instead give one to a trusted neighbor.
• Do not provide your house keys to service people.
• Do not invite strangers into your home.
• Use a peephole to identify visitors before opening your door.
• Do not have money or jewelry lying out in view from a window. If possible, keep jewelry and other small valuables and important documents in a safe deposit box.
• Avoid telling others about the valuables in your home.
• Do not tell strangers your daily routines.
• If you have children, discuss home security with them, such as not talking with strangers about their home, its contents or family schedules.
• Always park your cars in the garage with the garage door shut. A burglar may otherwise notice a pattern that a closed garage door or no cars in the driveway means no one is home. Closing the garage door and having curtains or blinds on the garage windows also hides some of your belongings.
• Consider getting a dog. Not only are they great companions they are natural alarm systems. It’s not important whether it’s large or small as long as it likes to bark at strangers on your property.
• Invest in an alarm system. If you can’t afford an alarm system you can use official-looking alarm system stickers for your doors and windows (available at hardware stores) in the meantime.
• If you want to add a lock to your door, be sure that a burglar could not reach it by putting an arm through a broken window. Also note that spring locks, with the keyhole in the doorknob are easy to jimmy. It’s better to use a deadbolt lock with a one-inch throw, a 5- or 6- pin tumbler cylinder and a cylinder guard ring.

Source: WRBL News 3

This entry was posted on Monday, May 28th, 2007 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Home Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.