Keep Your Home Safe and Secure


Learn to see through the eyes of a burglar!


It's late at night. The place is dark, and seems deserted. An unwanted intruder finds a way in, and within minutes comes out carrying your valuable property. Crimes like this " burglary " happen every few seconds in the U.S.

In fact, in 2006 there were more than 2 million burglaries committed, resulting in more than $4 billion in losses for the victims, and accounting for more than 20% of all property crimes, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

Two thirds of these crimes involve residences, often when people are sleeping peacefully with an unlocked or open window nearby.

But burglary doesn't have to happen to you. It is one of the most preventable crimes, primarily because burglars are always looking for "easy pickings." "Burglary" is simply the unlawful entry to commit a crime. No "use of force to gain entry" is necessary. When you make your home or business a little less inviting to burglars, they'll notice what you've done and go somewhere else, leaving you and your property safely undisturbed.

Fortunately, it's not difficult to refit your place to repel burglars. For example, you can:

  • Add a security system, and turn it on every time you leave the premises. According to a study by Simon Hakim of Temple University, homes and businesses with visible security systems in place are burglarized only about 25% as often as those left unprotected. More than 40% of those burglaries took place while the alarm was inadvertently turned off!

  • Put sturdy locks on all your doors and windows, particularly on the first floor, and use them. Hakim's research showed that more than four out of five burglars gained entry through a first floor door or window. Cheap as they are, simple but sturdy locks are formidable deterrents to the vast majority of burglars.

  • Deadbolt locks are much harder for burglars to defeat, and give them another reason to go elsewhere. Use "double cylinder" locks (a key is necessary both inside and outside) for doors that contain glass panels. Otherwise, a burglar may try to break the glass and open the lock by turning the knob on the inside of the door. (Important: hang the key on a hook right near the door, but hidden from anyone looking in from outside, so that people can exit easily and quickly in the event of a fire.)

  • Install exterior lighting all around the location. Mount the lights out of reach from the ground so a burglar can't unscrew the bulbs, and protect them with wire cages or Plexiglas shields so a thrown rock can't knock the light out of commission.

  • Motion sensors on the lights will save you money, yet allow your lights to snap on suddenly at the first movement nearby, instantly making your location less welcoming to burglars.

  • Burn at least one night light inside the location, to help give the impression that someone is inside. It's more convenient to use a timer to turn the light(s) on and off at dusk and dawn, and even better to use a "variable" timer to disguise the automatic control over the light(s).

  • Leave a radio playing inside the location. This strengthens the impression that the home or business is occupied, and encourages burglars to look elsewhere for "easy pickings."

  • Trim all the trees, bushes, and other vegetation from around the exterior of the location, particularly near doors and windows. Burglars love these shadows and hiding places, where they can avoid being seen as they study the obstacles to entry, and where they can hide before and after the actual burglary, too.

  • Lock up ladders, tools, and anything else stored outside the location that can be used to help a burglar break in.