Home Security Resources

Home Security Checklist
A checklist of what to do and what not to do from the Office of the Sheriff of Contra Costa County, California. According to the Sheriff, no home is absolutely burglarproof. If a burglar targets your home for some reason, there is virtually nothing that will keep him out if he is determined enough. However, by taking a few precautionary steps you can make your home unattractive to burglars and less likely to be broken into. In order for you to get a feeling for how attractive your home is to a burglar, the Sheriff has created a checklist of 14 items. The more items you can't check off, the more likely your home is to be broken into. The list includes such things as do you belong to a neighborhood watch, do you flaunt your valuables in public, do you keep excess cash and jewelry in the home, do you have a hide-a-key on your property, plus several more questions that you may not have considered. Burglars are generally opportunistic. In other words, they enter homes that present the easiest target. If you follow the advice from the Sheriff of Contra Costa County, your house will not be on your neighborhood burglar's to-do list.

Tips On Home Security from ABC News
According to this report from ABC News, one out of every 10 homes will be broken into. Will yours be one of them? Good Morning America's Home Improvement Editor, Ron Hazelton, offers 10 simple tips for burglar-proofing your home. Tips include: make sure your outside doors have deadbolt locks; simple key locks are considered a joke by professional burglars, tips for securing your sliding glass door, which is one of the most common doors burglars use for gaining entry into your home, how to double lock hung windows and basement windows, don't hide keys around the outside of your home, make sure all outside doors are metal or solid wood and put a security sticker on your doors, install a peephole in outside doors and do not, under any circumstances rely on a door chain to keep a burglar out, install bright lights or motion-detector lights around the outside of your home, keep bushes trimmed away from windows so burglars don't have a convenient hiding place, when you're on vacation use timers to give the illusion that someone is home, and more. Additional links at the end of the article lead to further articles on additional ways to make your home safer.

Keeping Your Home Safe While You're on Vacation
Vacations are great for the family. They allow everyone to unwind and relax in a different environment, and possibly even learn something at the same time. But vacations also leave your home vulnerable to burglaries. It's no co-incidence that most vacations take place in August and that August is also the month with the most home burglaries. Did you know that more than one out of every four burglaries does not involve forced entry? The thief simply walks in through an unlocked door or climbs in through an open window. One of your first lines of defense against home burglaries is to lock your doors and windows, even if you're only planning to be gone for five minutes. According to the Insurance Information Institute, 9 out of 10 home burglaries could be prevented if all homeowners followed the precautions outlined in this article.