By Raymond Duncan
The nicer weather can actually leave your home at greater risk: My only insight is tips, unfortunately it's more work, but it's for your security.
If there have been several nice days, I'll have the AC off and open the windows. If I leave the house for any reason I have to go around and close every window, lock it, then put those pins out (if somehow the window is opened there is another protection in place to keep it being open all the way).
At night before I go to bed I went around the house to close the windows, not completely, but so I could put those pins out, so while I was sleeping, those windows could not be opened all the way.
I think about a deck of cards, the easiest target, the top card of the deck, is the next possible burglary victim. During a past neighborhood meeting we went over crime prevention through environmental design, ways to target harden your home. Can someone easily see your stuff through a window? What makes the person easily seen at night? Do you use exterior lights? Can neighbors see your back door, windows, and yard easily? Sometimes privacy such as high fences makes you an easier target because the suspect won't be seen. I changed my back yard over the years to make it less private, and my neighbors then did the same thing to their yards. It's was a great decision, it's cute to hear a little kid say your first name, say hi and bye while she plays with her dad in the neighbor's back yard next door.
Take a look at your home at night? Can you really see it? Can you see someone at a window or at a door or does it look like a shadow, not going to be noticed by a passing car or a neighbor? At a meeting, we looked at exactly what it costs to use a light on a porch or an exterior light. Are you saving a few dollars a month and trading that cost for the thousands lost in a burglary?
Some neighbors still might not be convinced by reading this. We went further in our discussion during that meeting. A phone charger that we looked at uses 38.5 watts of electricity. So the neighbor that thinks they are saving money and not turning on their porch light, might have their phone charger plugged in along with other things that uses small amounts of electricity (DVD player, computer, laptop, microwave, coffee maker, etc.) That same neighbor could unplug those things and turn on a porch light with a compact florescent (13 watt bulb) and actually see no noticeable difference in their bill.
I hope this can convince some of my neighbors to turn the light on, change the bulb, or find out what you need to do to make it work. We want to make sure that, as a neighborhood, we keep the target of property crime away from us. As a neighborhood, we can be proud that we have, by far, the lowest property crime rate compared to all surrounding neighborhoods.
Nevertheless, the real financial implications of one burglary can easily result in thousands of dollars lost, kids and family members afraid, and a lost sense of security. Nothing we can do will decrease crime to 0 percent, but the studies in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design say that it goes down when you use lights at night.
Over the last couple of years I started to put my garbage and recycling containers in the garage, because they can be used like ladders to get in your home and can actually be used to hide stolen goods as the suspect takes your stuff, puts it in the garbage can, and wheels it off to a waiting car. Yard furniture such as chairs and tables can be used too.
In the end these are tips, not guarantees. However, the crime statistics available is that if you make your home a hard target, usually the suspect will just move to another home. It's been a while since we had a burglary while other neighborhoods have several in a month. I want the neighborhood, to not be on the top of the deck.
Probably the first thing I did to my home was change the strength of the front and back door. The picture shows the garage door (pardon the spider).
When a door is kicked in, the door breaks in usually at the strike plate, where the lock goes into the frame of the door. It is much more rare that a door would break in half...possibly break at the hinge.
When you look at the screw that goes into the lock plate...notice how long the screw is...often the screw is very short...sometimes as short as one inch. Just by going to a hardware store and asking for replacement screws for your lock plate and your hinges...you are going to make it EXTREMELY difficult for someone to kick in your door.
Another step is that I have a key lock on both sides of the door. Take a look at the photo again. It would be very hard to get into the garage with no standard windows, but if you could...you could turn the lock. In a home...you can have a key lock on both sides...further protecting your home because no one could open your door if they somehow got inside. For safety...when you are home, keep your key in the lock...you can still take it with you when you leave.
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Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
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Safe & Sound, Inc. is a non-profit organization committed to the mission of reducing violent crime in communities and among youth by blending law enforcement, neighborhood organizing and youth development. Safe & Sound’s vision: “Making Milwaukee neighborhoods safe places to work, live and raise families.” Learn more here!