How to deter burglars

A consistent fear of homeowners is theft.  Doing things to actively deter burglars can make a huge difference.

Some surprising statistics:

• 60% of burglars use forcible entry to get into a home. However, about 30% entered through an unlocked door, window, or other opening.
• 33% of burglars enter through the front door. Hollow and old wood doors are easy to kick through.
• 25% of burglars will cut through alarm and phone wires before attempting to enter a home.
• 65% of burglaries occur between 6 am and 6 pm when people are most likely to be at work

Though these numbers may be frightening, there are ways to prevent home theft.  With some quick and easy preparations, you can deter burglars from targeting your home.  The harder it is for them to break in, the less likely that they will go after your house.  These are some ways to protect your home from thieves:

• Install a wireless home security system. Burglars are less likely to break into a home if they see that there is a security system in place.  Using CCTV or another security camera system is a turn-off for a potential intruder.  Having alarms go off when a house is broken into can also prevent a thief from doing much damage.  Some burglars reported leaving the home after hearing an alarm.
• Put in motion-activated security lights. Intruders will think twice about entering if a bright light turns on when they walk past your house.  It draws attention to the situation.
• Hearing a barking dog can ward off intruders. A barking dog draws attention to the home and can alert others nearby that something is going on.
• Lock all windows and doors. This seems simple, but many home invaders enter a home through an unlocked front door.  When you leave the house, check the doors and windows to make sure they are shut and the locks are in place.
• Don’t announce when you are not going to be home. Often times, burglars can be people that a homeowner knows.  By announcing a departure, it could give the burglar a clear window of opportunity to break in.
• Install solid doors and heavy-duty deadbolt locks. These will make it much harder for a burglar to kick open your door and enter.

Sometimes, even though all precautions and preventative measures are taken, things still happen.  If you home gets broken into and you incur loss, then you will want to have homeowners insurance to help cover some of the damage.  Making sure that your homeowners’ insurance policy is adequate before something unfortunate happens is important.  Having a home inventory can also be helpful when trying to calculate the amount of loss that has occurred.  It’s far better to be ready for these types of situations before they happen rather than scramble to put pieces together afterwards.