Protect Yourself Against Home Burglary

Leaving your home unprotected is risky

A burglary can happen anywhere, whether you live in a house, a condominium or an apartment, in the city, suburbs or a rural area. In fact, burglaries of residential properties accounted for 69.5 percent of all burglary offenses in 2016. Don’t let your home become another statistic.

Even if you’re not there when it happens, a break-in can permanently shatter your feeling of security at home. Fortunately, taking a few simple precautions could dramatically reduce the risks of an invader gaining access to your home and keep your home or apartment in tip top shape.

Common sense care

Believe it or not, it’s often the simplest and most obvious precautions that homeowners tend to forget-and which burglars tend to exploit. Maybe you’ve lived on the same street for decades and doubt it could ever happen to you. Maybe you’re in a rush and skip the usual routine.

Whatever the situation, you should always lock your doors and windows when you go out. Keep close track of any spare keys that exist. Do you know where they are? Do you trust who has them?

Here are a few more common sense tips to minimize the chances of a break-in:

• Do not have money or jewelry lying out in view from a window. Consider purchasing two fire-resistant safes: One for your valuables and one for important documents and data. To protect your safes from theft, bolt them to the floor.
• Don’t tell strangers your daily routines, and avoid telling others about the valuables in your home. If you’re at home working outside, leave all other doors that are out of sight locked.
• Don’t leave tools or ladders in your yard. Burglars may use them to gain access into your home.
• Be wary about posting your vacation plans and updates on social media websites-even though you trust your friends, you never know who might learn that you’re not home.
• If you have children, discuss home security with them, such as not talking with strangers about their home, its contents or family schedules.
• Keep a detailed inventory of your valuables, including the date of purchase, price paid and serial numbers.

Original Article Here: Protect Yourself Against Home Burglary

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Home burglaries skyrocket in summer — here are some prevention tips

Since Vallejo is in California, and California was No. 1 in the country for State Farm theft claims in 2015, that company offers some anti-theft tips for summer vacationers.

“While December and January are top months for home theft due to the delivery of Christmas and holiday packages, July is also a top month for home theft because so many people are away from home on vacation, leaving their home unmonitored,” company officials said.

The average claim reaches nearly $3,000, they said.

There are measures you can take to protect yourself against a home burglary, State Farm officials said.

Outside your home:

• Install bright lights above your porches, yards, and entrances to your home and garage. For apartment dwellers, the outside of your building and the parking lot should be brightly lit. The more light, the fewer hiding places.

• Consider timers or photocell controls to ensure your outdoor lighting is on from dusk to dawn. Or consider motion-activated lighting. You can even combine dusk-to-dawn and motion-activated lighting with Hi/Lo sensors. These keep lights on at 20 percent of their brightness from dusk to dawn, and switch to full brilliance when motion is detected.

• Trim trees and shrubs around windows and doors. The less cover you give to burglars the better.

• If you’re away for a lengthy trip, have your lawn mowed or raked and have your driveway, porch, and walks cleared of leaves.

• Don’t let daily deliveries pile up while you’re away. Cancel newspaper delivery and ask your local post office to hold your mail for you. (You can go to the U.S. Postal Service website to stop your mail delivery.)

• Never leave notes that can tip off burglars to your plans.

• When you’re home, park your cars in the garage and close the garage door. This will make it less obvious that your home is unoccupied when you are away.

• Don’t leave tools or ladders in your yard. Burglars may use them to gain access into your home.

Inside your home:

• Install deadbolt locks on all exterior doors and doors from an attached garage. Look for a deadbolt lock that has been given a Grade 1 rating from the American National Standard Institute which tests and grades locks for security and durability.

• Pin-type locks or key locks work best to secure sliding patio doors. For extra security, cut a 2x4 to size and leave it in the door channel. You can also drive two or three screws in the overhead track to reduce the chance of burglars lifting the door out of the track. If you choose a keyed lock, be sure to keep the key somewhere easy to find for family members in case of a fire.

• To make locks more secure, install a heavy-duty strike plate using three-inch screws that penetrate the wall stud. Make sure the door strike is held in place by four or more screws. Strengthen the door frame by installing a door jamb reinforcement product.

• Consider buying two fire-resistant safes — one for valuables and one for important documents and data — and bolt them to the floor to protect them from theft.

• Think about installing an alarm system, preferably a monitored system that includes an audible alarm and strobe light to frighten away burglars.

• Set up contact sensors for points of entry, motion detectors, or security cameras that can sync to a home monitoring system and be programed to notify the owner via text, email, or phone call when someone enters the residence.

• Have automatic timers installed to turn lights on and off in different rooms at different times.

• Keep a detailed inventory of your valuables, including the date of purchase, price paid, and serial numbers.

• Lower the volume of your telephone so it can’t be heard outside.

• Change locks when you move into a new residence.

Original Article Here: Home burglaries skyrocket in summer — here are some prevention tips

Related Article Here: Helpful Tips on How to Protect Your Home from Burglary

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Common home security system problems and their solutions

Home security systems are a must for every homeowner these days. Not only do they protect you and your family but also make residential colonies and neighbourhoods much safer. But no matter how good your home security system is, problems can still crop up and must be dealt with so that the house can be made safe again. The following is a list of the most common home security system problems as well as some of their solutions and fixes:

Compatibility issues with home security systems

The most common problem that can come up with your security system is compatibility issues. Sometimes when you purchase different security products from different manufacturers, then the devices may prove incompatible with each other.  They may thus not work properly and in such a situation you may either have to purchase additional devices to club them together or contact a professional who can help you connect them with one another.

Incomplete alarm cover from security cameras

Another common issue that may arise with a security camera is that its alarm coverage may be incomplete.  The limited area of surveillance may prove annoying since in that case, a few areas around your house may not be fully protected. In such a situation, you must either purchase broad angle security cameras or install them at such locations where you can get maximum coverage. The idea is to be careful and think smartly during the installation process itself.

Home security camera giving false alarms

A lot of people who have got home security cameras installed around their house with sensors may experience false alarms and this too can be pretty irritating.  False alarms usually go off during bad weather conditions or when birds fly past etc.  This can be due to extra sensitive sensors, wrong installation and manufacturing defects etc. The solution to this problem is to lower down the sensitivity level of the sensors or get the wiring etc checked by a professional. You can also get a mask feature created so that you can prevent motion detection in few parts of the house.

Vulnerable security systems

In some cases, it may be easy for hackers to hack into your system due to its vulnerable nature.  Hackers can steal the camera videos and thus monitor your activities and life from a remote destination. To prevent this and to solve this problem, you must opt for a security system which is redundant, encrypted wireless and wired in nature.

Original Article Here: Common home security system problems and their solutions

Related Article Here: Security Camera Problems And Their Respective Solutions

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