Security Products
Apartment
&
Dormitory

NO security products are guaranteed to prevent any crime - but will likely serve you well if used with the guidance in Home Security.

Serial killer Danny Rolling was in the woods that bordered the back of Apartment 1203, peeping in their windows. Rolling had watched for three ours. ... When both residents were asleep, Rolling used a screwdriver to pry open the apartment's sliding glass patio doors. Rolling, in the same black death costume he wore at the previous murders, pounced on Manny Taboada, plunging the combat knife into his chest and striking his heart. ... Tracy Paules heard the noise and was in the hallway outside her bedroom. When she saw Rolling, she jumped back into her room and slammed the door, which Rolling opened with a kick.
Excerpted from The Palm Beach Post – 20 August 2000 [See Patio Doors in Door Reinforcement and Safe Room for security products.]

He was peeping through windows when he came across an apartment's unlocked bathroom window, police said. Serial killer Timothy Krajcir said he climbed in, then hid in a shower stall and ambushed the woman when she entered the bathroom.
Excerpted from The St. Louis Post-Dispatch – 24 January 2008

• Doorstops (a wedge under the door) won't stop a Push-In or a kick-in. But when traveling (or in a school dormitory), a hotel/motel doorstop alarm from www.magellans.com will at least slow unwanted entry, alert you, and likely scare off an intruder.
• Door-brace: leans diagonally from the floor to the door - see www.smarthome.com.
• Doorknob Alarm at www.guarddog.net.
• Chain-locks (a.k.a. Chain Door Interviewers) allow partial door opening, but are far too flimsy to stop an aggressive Push-In. Instead, use a peephole and an intercom to communicate without risk. See www.smarthome.com.
• Window alarms - see www.smarthome.com.
• Motion detector alarm with a siren and strobe-light for in-or-outdoors. See www.smarthome.com.
• Alarm Systems (wireless, portable) at www.smarthome.com and www.smarthome.com.
• Keyless Touch-pad deadbolt lockss avoid lost keys and can be quickly recoded when careless roommates reveal the code to unwanted visitors.
• See Pepper Spray & Devices.
• See Safe Room for home security insights.
• See Simple Home Electronics for more security products.

Kids distributing restaurant ads can get inside “secure” apartment buildings by using the intercom to fool a tenant into buzzing them in. Criminals do, too. (See Force Predators for elevator security.)

Form a tenant network (see Neighborhood Watch in Good Neighbors). All tenants must be careful as they come and go to not allow anyone to enter – as well as be vigilant about intercom buzz-ins at the main entrance. And as a group you’ll have a collective weight for petitioning your landlord to enact reasonable security measures, such as:
• Convex Mirrors: reveal anyone lurking around corners or nooks.
• Fire Escapes: the outside drop-down ladder should be wired to an alarm.
• Window-guards: Windows accessible to a burglar’s climbing, or opening onto fire escapes, need to be fully fortified and alarmed. Decorative folding grills do effectively fortify, but by law must be easily opened by residents and/or guests so they can escape a fire.

Tour a prospective apartment in the evening to check for good lighting in entrances, hallways, carports, and laundry room. Also look for secure doors and entries as described in Door Reinforcement. Ask tenants how they feel about security.

See Alarm Systems

See
• Security Products - Overview
• Home Security - Product Buying Guide - Intro
• Safe Room
• Door Reinforcement
• Window Reinforcement
• Garage & Yard Reinforcement
• Simple Home Electronics
• Alarm Systems
• Flaws in Electronic Security
• Apartment & Dormitory Security (YOU’RE NOW ON THIS PAGE)
• Pepper Spray & Devices

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