How To Prevent Home Invasion
Home invasion is the terrifying prospect that most people dread.
This is where an offender forcibly enters an occupied residence intending to rob or violently harm those inside the house. The invasion can occur to anyone in any neighborhood.
The highest percentage of home break-ins happens in the summer while people are away on vacation. With home invasions occurring so frequently, it’s normal to take extra measures to ensure your family’s safety.
There are several deterrents, such as home security systems, that can increase the security of your residency. However, you can also try other measures to prevent burglaries. If you are worried about a burglary in your home, here are some tips on preventing home invasion.
Take these steps to protect your home and deter any intruders from breaking in and stealing.
How burglars choose a house to break-in
Before breaking into a home, burglars look for particular features. Some factors they consider include:
Easy access: A burglar will break into a home if they find easy entry and exit. Most burglars don’t break the door frames to enter the house. They will use a window or door that is easy to break in without breaking glass. Houses along a highway or next to the Interstate provide a speedy escape.
Low security and visibility: Many criminals preferred the low visibility of night to attack. They also look for houses that are difficult to see from the road to avoid being caught in the act. Therefore, houses with minimal security, such as a lack of sensors and cameras, attract burglars. So outdoor lights are important crime deterrents.
Indications you are away: Burglars usually target a house when no members of the household are present. They watch for signs that your home is unoccupied as they avoid running into homeowners. They also break into houses when people leave for work, errands, or school.
Based on this information, you can come up with several measures to prevent the home invasion. Here are the tips you can apply to your home.
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Keep the house well lit
You can make your home less appealing to a potential home intruder by installing bright lighting.
Lighting is one of the best deterrents in a nighttime burglary to help keep homes safe. Since most burglaries result from opportunity, rather than a detailed plan, turn on your lights at night to help deter crime.
In most cases, thieves use light as an indicator that you are home and choose an alternative target.
Typical burglars strike at homes they consider to be easy targets to make a quick grab. They don’t even go far from their home base to accomplish that. If you are using lighting as a burglar deterrent, ensure your security Lighting Design seems natural and not on a 24/7 basis.
You can install smart home technology, allowing you to program light bulbs to turn on and off with your smartphone app. Use smart lighting for remote control of lights.
Keeping your home well-lit can help reduce your risk of being a burglary victim. Use the indoor lights to mimic actual behavior and suggest someone is home.
Another trick is to install timers with your indoor lights so they mimic human activity. These lights should go on and off in different rooms as if someone is moving around. If you are away on vacation, these timers play an important role in preventing home invasions.
However, this indoor lighting is useless if you are not around. You should use both indoor and outdoor lighting. Fewer crimes occur along well-lit streets with motion-detecting lights adding a layer of security. Install lighting over every entrance and mount the bulbs high enough to prevent tampering
Avoid the ‘empty look’ of a house
Since burglars often target unoccupied houses, don’t leave the empty look of a house. Make your home look occupied and make it difficult to break in.
The most important element for burglary prevention is being present within the home. Burglars prefer to break in when the house is empty. Cars in the driveway and residents answering doors is enough to ward off some seasoned Invaders.
If you’re away, a burglar can easily notice the change in routine activity. Therefore, focus on making your home look lived-in. For example, don’t leave a message on your home answering machine that shows you’re away.
A burglar can be someone known to you who phones ahead to see if you are around. If you are leaving for a longer period, ask a trusted neighbor to watch your home and gather your email.
If you are away for a short time, leave a radio or TV on and turn up loud enough to be heard. If you are leaving for a longer vacation, consider using an electronic device that stimulates the TV light and flickers to give an impression that you are home.
You can make your home look occupied by placing lights on a variable timer, such as a smart timer controlled by Wi-Fi.
Invest in new locks (and smart locks)
Most successful residential robberies happened through unlocked doors and windows. Burglars look for easy targets, and an unlocked door or window is just that.
The first step to prevent a home invasion is by sticking to the basics. Keep all your windows and doors locked most of the time. If you live on the ground floor or in the basement or Windows locked all the time. Ensure you lock your apartment, whether you are at home or not.
Unlocked doors and windows provide a simple route for a burglar to break into the house. If you don’t lock your door, you make it easy for the thief to break.
The type of lock you use on your door can reinforce your security. For the average break-ins, a lock is a factor that can prevent invasion and give you peace of mind.
Change the locks after moving into your house. You can use smart locks that allow you to program a code into the lock. You can also install the deadbolt locks on all exterior doors and doors from an attached garage.
Choose a deadbolt that is graded by the American National Standards Institute for security and durability.
Install cameras
Security cameras can reduce burglary and break-ins. They are effective because criminals don’t want to be watched or recorded.
If you install a security camera, your home is safer. So, mounting a camera network in your home is a significant deterrent to potential offenders. It sends out a message that any action is recorded and would be reported.
Install a Home Security System to deter potential home Intruders into your home. Today, the internet has made it possible to use surveillance cameras at their most technical level to secure your home.
In case of an intrusion, the monitoring software can call for help. These cameras provide a complete view of every corner of your house, including the blind spot you might usually miss.
You can also consider installing CCTV cameras to monitor and record burglary actions. These surveillance CCTV camera footage can provide valuable evidence in the event of a break-in to help catch the perpetrator.
Police officers can use the recordings to investigate cases, apprehend and prosecute offenders.
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Install a burglar alarm system
By installing a clear burglar alarm and security system in your home, you can make a step harder for an intruder to break in.
Burglars will move to an easier target if they notice an alarm system. Today, you can find a comprehensive solution for home security that includes a camera and an alarm. They provide an instant real-time response to intuition in your house.
You can also try using wireless alarms. They are simple to install and portable and intimidate thieves who cannot cut the wires to disable them. If an intruder is detected, the motion sensors are triggered, and an alarm will sound to notify you that someone has broken into your property.
The major benefit of installing a burglar alarm on your property is that it prevents a break-in before it happens. Since burglars don’t want to be caught, they will avoid tough break-ins that can attract attention.
Don’t turn off your burglar alarm systems during the day since most residential crimes occur in daylight. Turn your outdoor lights off during the day and leave your alarm system on.
Burglars often search if an alarm system is present before breaking into a house. If a house has an alarm, the burglar will move to another target.
Don’t show off your valuables.
Obscure the view of valuables in your home. You can do this by closing your curtains when you leave and turning your Venetian blinds upward.
Burglars want to know what a home is worth before breaking into a house. You wouldn’t want the burglar to see the valuables in plain sight. If these valuables are not within reach, there will be no incentive for robbers to burglarize your house.
Robbers can peer through the windows and detect your level of wealth, prompting them to break into your home. Therefore, store your valuables in a safe place or move them to a less visible location.
A security safe provides an effective hiding spot for your valuables and can deter burglars from breaking in to steal them. Also, put valuables such as bikes away when you’re done using them. If your positions are too visible, you may tempt burglars to break into the house.
Also, don’t leave the first-floor windows open. Most thieves search for a ground-level passageway and use the windows to break into your house. You can also add privacy film to your windows in the evening to blur and obscure the view of your properties.
Keep your privacy on social media.
Most common burglaries are planned ahead of time, with the victims being targeted in advance. A burglar will cruise through a neighborhood, looking for targets and scouting for evidence. One of this evidence can be through social media channels suggesting you are not at home.
There are burglary instances influenced by your post on social media. These are incidents committed by offenders known to the homeowner, who follow you on social media and can use your post to suggest the home is unoccupied. People use social media to document important life events such as traveling but can also invite home invaders.
Don’t post on social media that you are going on vacation or a trip. You can inform robbers that your home is unoccupied. Also, keep the location undisclosed by ensuring your status update does not divulge your location.
It only takes a friend sharing your post to make your home a potential target for invasion. Only share vacation plans with close and trusted friends. Also, save your vacation pictures on your phone or camera until you’ve returned to guard your home against unwanted entry.
Invest in motion sensor light
Exterior lighting is a convenient way to prevent burglars from breaking into your house.
It is as efficient as the fences and hedges but with the added benefit of motion sensor lights. One of the effective lights is the motion-activated lights placed around your home. These are some of the cheapest burglar deterrents available on the market.
Motion detectors are the best way to deter burglars. Install a motion sensor light to catch intruders by surprise but put it high enough that a burglar can’t reach up and unscrew the bulb.
The motion sensor light flashes on when they sense movement. They will keep burglars guessing when someone is inside and allow you to arrive at a lit home. The shock of an unexpected light coming home can frighten the robber.
Set up motion-activated lights around your doors and windows to scare off criminals before they break into your home. They will shine a spotlight on the Burglar at night, treating them into thinking they have been discovered.
Conclusion
The responsibility to make sure your home is safe falls on you.
Unfortunately, home invasions occur even in the safest of towns. You can take many precautions to ensure the safety of your home and family.
Many of these home security tips are inexpensive or free and don’t involve changing habits. In addition, consider setting up a Home Security System to prevent home invasions. The Home Security System comes in many forms and can offer a distinct form of security and reassurance.
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