8 useful tips to Stop Criminals from targeting Your Home

Clever and well-seasoned criminals can gain access to almost any home they choose. Fortunately for us most criminals are always looking for the easy route / option to break in. Here are our 8 tips that can lower the odds of your home becoming a target and improve your peace of mind.

1. The brighter the better

Lights always give potential intruders uncertainty, lights give the impression that someone is home. And also, lights make it easier for criminals to be seen and identified.
A great option for lighting Outside your home is to have motion-activated lights that activate when someone crosses their path, another option is to simply keep lights on throughout the night. (Solar lights are cost effective, reliable and good for the planet.) A good tip is to Place the lights up high and where they aren’t easily disabled.
Inside your home, keep lights on even when you’re away, with the new smart security options out there you can turn on and off lights and plugs from your phone, you can even go as far as Automated window blinds too.

2. Strengthen your Doors

A properly fortified door can’t be kicked in. You can strengthen a wooden door with a few inexpensive metal strike plates. A strike plate is several inches high and covers part of a door’s front, side and back. Similar reinforcers can be installed around door handles so that they’re more difficult to remove.
As for locks, strong doors are secured with high quality deadbolt locks. With the smart home influx of products you can now be alerted when a door is opened, your lock can tell you when someone is home and it can even lock and unlock your door with the touch of a button on your phone.

3. Use your Tv or Radio

A great tip is to help create the impression that someone’s at home, by simply playing the radio or having the TV turned on, Criminals might still try to break in if they think they won’t be noticed, but the sound of voices can be a deterrent.

4. Secure the Windows

A great tip is to view your house from a criminal mind. Are ground floor windows easy to open? Could they be protected further with metal grates or bars. Are higher-up windows also accessible? Remember that criminals could use a ladder, a patio table, a drainpipe, a car or each other’s shoulders as a boost. It’s vital to always close your windows and where possible to use your window locks!
If you live in an older property with older windows that don’t have locks, you can easily add bolt locks. You can also install a swedge (window wedge) on any type of window. A s-wedge will allow ventilation but won’t let the window open past a certain point.
A home security alarm with window detectors will sound the alarm should a window be opened when the system is set, this is the most successful way to keep intruders out.

5. Grease the Drainpipe

As briefly mentioned in tip 4 and it might sound silly, but criminals really do climb up drainpipes! To avoid this home invasion strategy a great and cheap trick can be to coat metal drainpipes with slippery substances such as petroleum jelly or grease.

6. Use your Neighbours

Make yourself know with your local community. We have all seen the signs in our streets about Neighbourhood watch, why not go along to one of the meetings and meet in person to know each other’s faces, share information and strategize for safety
Strength in numbers is always stronger than individual attempts, Neighbours working together can petition their local governments for streetlights; public lighting can dramatically reduce crime.

7. Keep it Hidden

Homeowners sometimes make criminals’ job easy by providing the tools! Store your ladders and stackable items (such as heavy boxes) in a locked area. Avoid placing a table or other item near your home where it might be used as a step. Keep your snow shovels and other potential break-and-entry tools out of reach.

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8. Prevent Outdoor blind spots

Trees and bushes make perfect hiding spots and zones, by keeping your property well-maintained, you can make sure that overgrowth doesn’t provide these areas.
A great and simple tip can be to plant thorny bushes beneath windows and along walkways.

If your thinking about enhancing your protection further with an Intruder alarm or CCTV, please get in contact with the office where we will be more than happy to assist with your security needs.

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