Burglary Prevention:
Home Defense

You can turn your home into a fortress without hiring a burglary prevention expert. Find and fix the cracks in your home defense that burglars hope you'll never discover.

• Most burglars enter through unlocked (or weak) doors or windows!
• Anything to help them climb to a less secure window, such as tree limbs or latticework – or standing on a vehicle, unchained patio furniture, or garbage cans to reach higher.
• Hiding spots provided by shrubbery, flimsy enclosed porches, privacy fences and walls, or unlighted areas.
• An attached garage is a bonanza if it’s easy to get into. Hidden, they’ll use your tools to penetrate the door to your house.
• Screens are easy to quietly slice and reach through to unlock a door or climb through a window.
• Homes without dogs or nosy neighbors.
• Secluded homes without especially extensive security products.
• Noises (such as heavy traffic or other machinery) help prowlers.

We got an Ex-Con's Expert Advice on simple things you can do to avoid a burglary. ... What would make him choose your house? Therron Arrington, Parolee: "It's the lighting. That's the first thing that would bring me to it because it's dark. And lights, if they're within hand's reach you can unscrew them. ... Q: you've done that? A: I've done that. Or I'll shoot them out the day before with a BB gun. ... Q: Then you come back? A: Yeah, so it's dark." ... What about stickers warning of a home's security products? He says they get noticed, but only stop a thief if the alarm works. Therron Arrington: "Usually they'll check it and then pop the glass and wait. ... Q: For it to go off? A: See if it goes off."
Excerpted from KSL-TV5 Salt Lake City – 26 February 2004

Burglary is the most preventable of crimes. Simply make your home the least burglar-attractive – and most burglar-proof – in your neighborhood.

Look at your home through a burglar’s eyes and improve the worst area first. The most important burglary prevention improvements are fortified doors and windows, good outdoor security lighting, and wired or wireless burglar alarms.

Family Watchdog

Police are investigating a violent home invasion that happened just before four New Year’s Day morning. 26-year-old Jennifer Hazen says she was expecting a friend, so when she heard a knock at the door, she answered it. Instead of a friend, she found a man wearing a ski mask. ... Hazen says the man forced his way inside, pushed her down, and slashed her face with a sharp object. "My pet boxer came leaping over the top of us and grabbed him and managed to chase him back out the front door and he was gone," says Hazen.
Excerpted from WKYT TV-27 (Lexington KY) – 01 January 2010

Burglars usually avoid homes with even a small barking dog. Most adult dogs from animal shelters are ready to begin providing burglary prevention right away (and it needn't be a mean dog that's dangerous to innocent people). Read Adopt the Perfect Dog: A Practical Guide to Choosing and Training an Adult Dog by Gwen Bailey – Readers Digest 2000. Or visit Dog-Paw-Print.com to help you choose a family watchdog.

Burglary Prevention: Two Home Invader’s Entries

Police arrested Martel Cordon Robinson and Frankie Cornelius Pickett for four home invasions:
• Felipe Patro reported two males pushed their way in when his roommate opened the door and was struck with a baseball bat.
• Domingo Perez reported two males broke through the door and struck him with a baseball bat.
• Esperansa Jose said two males climbed through a window while she and her children were asleep. The offenders left with a small quantity of cash.
• Another victim reported two males kicked in her back door and one intruder raped her.
Excerpted from WAAY-TV31 (Huntsville AL) – 16 October 2009

These home invaders used various ways to get in: a Push-In, door Break-Ins, and a window Break-In. Burglary prevention begins with Security Products - Door Reinforcement (including Peepholes and doorbell intercoms at Home Intercom System to prevent Push-Ins) and Security Products - Window Reinforcement.

How to React in Home Invasions

People often say, "If I ever wake up and find a burglar in my house, he wouldn't get out alive!" But initiating violence is too dangerous. Fight only if you must – in self defense. Try to avoid confronting burglars. Instead, jam something against the bedroom door so they can't get in while you call 911 from a cell phone (a burglar might have already cut the wires to your land-line phone). Or, better yet, convert your bedroom to a Security Products - Safe Room beforehand.

However, if family members – especially children – are in other rooms and vulnerable to who-knows-what plans of the burglar, you may need to rush to their rescue after you’ve phoned the police (and remember that the average response time to emergency 911 calls in the U.S. is NINE minutes – an eternity in home invasions).

If you do confront a burglar, allow him to escape. Or, you should flee to safety. Too many victims, men especially, try to capture or punish a burglar, which leads to a dangerous escalation of violence. Again, fight only if you must – in self-defense. See Survival Options - Overview.

As in the old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Burglary prevention is an investment to protect your heirlooms – and if you’re there when a criminal targets your home – burglary prevention is actually both health and life insurance.

Finally, Crime-Safety-Security.com has classified all home invasions into five types so you can truly understand home security. To add to the familiar police terms of Break-In, Walk-In, and Push-In, I’ve created two new categories: Mug-In and Scam-In – as shown below:

Complete Home Defense: burglary prevention and the best home security products - from home security hardware to burglar alarm equipment

Remember, even if you live in Sleepy Valley - predators love hunting where the prey least expect them.

Make sure you insist all your family members use these burglary prevention strategies. Predators always find prey – but the most cautious targets will likely be safe.

Related Pages:
Lock Bumping vs the best Deadbolt Locks | Peepholes | Home Intercom System - Doorbell Intercom | Security-Products - Door | Door Security Systems | Sliding Door Security | Apartment Security | Security Products - Alarms | DIY Home Security Systems | Security Products - Window | Security Products - Garage | Senior Safety Products

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