3 Tips To Prevent Residential Burglary During The Holidays
Are you concerned about residential burglary during the holidays? You should be. Home robberies are common crimes throughout the year, but especially around the winter holidays, according to the National Crime Prevention Council. No one wants to wake up on Christmas morning to discover all of their presents have been stolen. It does happen, though. In fact, thieves are busier breaking into homes during the holidays than at any other time of the year. While any house can be a potential target, the homes that look like they might have even a few high value consumer goods in them are the prime prizes of thieves. The good news is that you can take steps to protect your home, your belongings, your family, and your holiday. Here are three things you can do today.
1. Get a Professional Security System
Get an electronic security system from a professional, respected company and use it. This is a very effective tactic in deterring thieves. In fact, sometimes just having the security company's sign in your yard is enough to keep burglars away. No criminal wants to risk setting of an alarm, and the sign alerts them to the fact that there might be one. Most won't take the chance, and will move on to some other house.
3. Get Double-Paned Glass on All of Your Exterior Windows
Double-paned glass is a lot harder to break than single-paned glass. With single-paned glass, all a thief has to do is smash the window glass and push in (or cut open) your screen to get access to the inside of your house.
Most thieves want to do their job quickly, and getting through double-paned glass takes too much time. They will likely give up and move on. Double-paned glass has the added benefit of being very energy efficient, as well, so having it will cut down on your power bills in every season.
3. Get an Electronic Lock for All Exterior Doors
Electronic locks are the latest thing in lock technology, and they will really enhance the security of your home. Most residential locksmiths can install them for you. These locks started out being used in business settings, but are now becoming popular on homes, as people realize their protective benefits in residential locations.
Electronic locks work by scanning fingerprints. You simply take a scan of the fingerprint of the thumb or forefinger of any person who is authorized to have entry into your house. This scan is entered into the lock's electronic mechanisms. To work the lock, an authorized person just has to show their fingerprint to the lock's scanner.
No one else can use the lock to get into your home (or lock the house after they leave it). These locks are also virtually unbreakable. This is a definite deterrent to thieves. Most of them won't even try when they see an electronic lock on the door.
Even attempting to kick in the door just won't work with these locks. Since thieves want to do their work quickly, they will abandon your house and move on to an easier target before someone sees them trying to get in.
Conclusion
You don't have to worry about residential burglary during the holidays or any time. There are steps you can take that will virtually eliminate your risk of being robbed in your own home. Just use the precautionary steps listed here, and keep the number of a good emergency locksmith handy (just in case there's a power outage or other malfunction with your electronic lock, which should be rare).
Then, you will always have good reason to feel safe in your home, as well as when you're away from it. Start protecting your home with these security measures today.