More Great Home Security Tips from the Experts

The doctor will see you now – the crime doctor, that is. I recently came across a great article with recommendations to make your home safer, offered by Chris McGoey, a longtime security consultant whose website name says it all: crimedoctor.com. Chris was interviewed by a Florida publication and in this recent article he lays it all out.

Don’t waste your money on a fake rock designed to hide a house key. In fact, don’t bother hiding a house key anywhere outside your door. Burglars know it’s a common practice. “The whole mindset is wrong. Why are you hiding a key? Because you are going to lose it. It’s stupid to think potential burglars aren’t going to look around,” said Chris McGoey, a national crime prevention expert who has been in the industry for 40 years. His website crimedoctor.com has lots of practical advice. Instead, give a house key to a trusted neighbor, McGoey suggests.

Common Sense – and Experience

There’s a lot more – I suggest you read the entire article, and take this man’s advice to heart. He really knows what he is taking about. Just shows what forty years in the business can do for you. How about this section:

McGoey also advises against buying gadgets such as soft drink cans designed to hold jewelry and cash. A better approach is to make your home as burglar-proof as possible, by taking a hard look at how a burglar might get in. While outdoor lighting is a good deterrent, the fact is, most burglaries occur in the daytime. Burglaries are the most common threat to our homes. The FBI says a burglary occurs somewhere in the U.S. every 15.4 seconds.

“Think of your home as a box and the doors and windows as being openings to that box. Burglars will enter through doors or windows accessible from the ground. Just closing and locking these accessible openings when you’re away is a basic burglary prevention step,” McGoey said.

The Advice We Like Best

If a potential burglar sees a house with a burglar alarm, solid doors with deadbolt locks and entrances that are visible from the street, he’s likely to choose an easier target. Keep the garage door shut. Dogs are a deterrent also. Have an alarm system that works, and use it. Have a sign on the lawn or a sticker that says you have one.

Got that? “Have an alarm system that works, and use it.” That’s been our recurring theme here at FrontPoint ever since we opened the doors in 2007. And the sad news is that only about one in five US homes has a monitored alarm system. But we’re trying to change that!

Knock-Knock Burglars are Common

“Most burglars will try to get in through the front door. They will ring the bell or knock, just to see who answers,” McGoey said. If no one comes to the door, then the burglar will try to open the door. If you’re home, look through the peephole, and ask who it is. Never open the door to anyone you don’t know.

“The top advice is to have good locks and a solid door. The first thing that some burglars do is try to kick the door open. Most doors will simply fly open. They have inadequate locks and strike plates holding the deadbolt in place,” McGoey said.

Items Burglars Target

Cash, jewelry and guns are the top three items stolen in home burglaries. If you have a lot of valuables, consider a safe deposit box or a home safe. A home safe is designed to keep the smash and grab burglar, nosey kids, dishonest babysitter or housekeeper from gaining access to important documents and personal property. A home safe needs to be anchored into the floor or permanent shelving.

Of course, at FrontPoint we always like recommendations on getting and using a monitored home alarm system to increase your peace of mind. But more and more lists of home security reconditions offered by local law enforcement and other experts do contain that excellent suggestion, and it’s not just having that system in place: you also have to be disciplined about arming it, even when you are at home.

FrontPoint cares about your safety and security, all year long. After all, protecting homes and families is our highest priority. We’ll keep on finding and posting these great tips, since it’s our goal to be your resource for crime statistics, burglar behaviors, and the latest technologies to thwart intruders. Remember, FrontPoint is the only alarm company in the country to use safer cellular monitoring on every system we’ve ever sold, and that means five years – and counting! Smart homeowners also know us for our smarter Interactive level of monitoring. Make sure your home is protected: by FrontPoint, the leader in wireless home security systems, and the #1 ranked alarm company in the US.