Home safety can mean a whole variety of things such as locked doors, smoke detectors, and keeping medicines out of reach of kids and pets. This blog post shall address the “locked door” concept of safety.
The data shows that nearly one-third of all home burglaries occur via unlocked doors and windows. The best part about locking doors and windows is that it’s pretty much free (assuming you already have locks on these things) all it takes is a few extra moments at the end of the day, or before going out to check.
Make sure you have strong locks and doors. Outside doors should be at least one inch thick and metal or solid hardwood. Your door frames should be strong and in good shape too. Get a deadbolt lock for your doors. Be careful if you have one that needs to be unlocked from the inside – be sure to have a key nearby in case you need to leave quickly due to fire or other emergency.
TURN ON YOUR LIGHTS!!! This one I just don’t get: why people refuse to turn on the lights in their home (when they’re gone) and on their porch. Do you realize it costs less than a penny an hour to light a 60 watt bulb? So for those of you who refuse to keep your porch lights on all night to “save money” you’re saving less than 10 cents a night. AND you’re making your home and your neighborhood less safe to boot.
Technology is an amazing thing so put your lights, TV, radio (and even your shades) on timers to make it look like you’re home even when you’re not.
When you go on vacation arrange for someone to pick up your mail and newspapers (this one never fails to amaze me either), mow the lawn, shovel the sidewalks, etc. 6 papers in the middle of the driveway and unshoveled sidewalks just screams EMPTY HOUSE!
DON’T answer the door to strangers. Don’t worry about making them feel bad – it’s probably just a salesman anyway – better that they stand there with nothing to do, than you open the door to someone who means to cause you harm.
It’s actually kind of fun to watch folks through the peephole anyway to see what they do when they think no one is watching. It’s just a game I play. I know, I’m strange. Sometimes they ring the doorbell more than once and then knock on the door, as if I can’t hear my dog sitting in the window shrieking at them anyway, right? What really drives them crazy is when they see me come home and pull into the garage but then refuse to answer the front door. Hee hee! Fun stuff. (See, safety can be fun!)
Don’t allow shrubs and bushes to grow to the extent that they could easily hide someone who is breaking into your house. Also install motion detector lights. You’ll need to balance your need for privacy and your safety needs.
If you’re going to be gone for a while and you have an automatic garage door, place something in front of the infrared sensor so it won’t open with a clicker, or disable the electrical part and lock the door down.
When it comes to your own safety follow your instincts, they’re actually there for a reason: TO HELP KEEP YOU SAFE!! If someone or something makes you uncomfortable, listen to that little voice in your head, it may be picking up on something you hadn’t consciously noticed.
