A security alarm system is an important part of your home security plan. In addition to your alarm, there are many things you should be aware of that will help you to strengthen your safety campaign. Be cautious at all times and don’t fall into a false sense of security. As a local Washington State security alarm company, we hear about crimes on property and persons every day.
When Traveling
- When traveling put your office address and cell phone numbers on your luggage tags. Airport and transportation workers will know that you are traveling, not home, and should not know where home is.
- Remove all address information from your parked car at the airport. Anyone who breaks into your vehicle would know you are not home and have your address and garage door opener. Removing your garage door opener is a good idea also.
- Stop delivery of mail and newspapers while you are away.
- Leave shades and blinds in their normal position while you are traveling.
- Park a car in your driveway if available so that it looks like you are home.
Everyday Security
- A quality deadbolt lock on all perimeter doors is always your first line of defense. A door is most often the point of entry for an intruder. If you don’t have a quality lock the perpetrator knows that a good blow will break the non-fortified wood that is holding the door lock cylinder in place. Quick entry and closing of the door hides the damage, as it will be on the inside.
- If you just moved into your home or business, you should change the key cylinders on all locks, as you don’t know who has a copy of the key.
- Cut the cord handle off your electric garage door openers. It’s easy to push the top of your garage door in enough to put a wire hook in and catch the release handle. By pulling on the handle, a burglar will override the screw or chain drive and be able to manually lift the overhead door. Once protected by the privacy of your garage, entry to the home is inevitable. Be sure to leave just enough cord so that you can use it from inside if needed, but not enough to reach the top of the overhead door!
- Burglars hate light. You should replace outside perimeter lighting with motion activated lamps. These are very inexpensive these days and readily available at most hardware and electronic stores. The protection they will provide coupled with the convenience of having a well-lit area to come home to, make them a must-have. We also have Zwave bulbs for existing features that will work with your Absolute Security alarm.
- Place timers on a few of your inside lights to give the appearance that someone is home. It is always smart to vary the time every few days so that a pattern is not realized if you are being cased. Alarm.com lighting controls can help you maintain an at home appearance while you are traveling.
- If your last name is posted on your mailbox, a burglar can get your listed phone number from information. By ringing your phone with no answer, they would be able to assume that you are not home.
- Turn down the volume on your answering machine so that burglars can’t hear that no one’s home if the phone should ring.
- Don’t hide keys outside your home, as they will be found. Leave a spare with a trusted neighbor instead.
- Leaving ladders and tools outside your home can trigger a burglar’s impulse, even if that was not on the schedule today.
- When leaving your home for daily routine, be sure to vary times and direction of travel. Your repetitive actions are a gift to potential burglars who are always on the prowl for their next victim.
- Remove or place a light on shrubs that can easily conceal a waiting burglar from your view.
- When you unpack new appliances like televisions or stereo’s and computers be sure to hide or destroy the boxes. New valuables are an invitation to a burglar’s already distorted senses.
- Whether at the door or over the phone don’t ever tell a stranger that you are home alone. Instruct children to say “I’m sorry they are not available right now. Can I give them a message?” Always ask through a closed and locked door when a stranger comes unannounced.
- When an emergency pickup or important information is passed on by an unscheduled person, children should have a secret password they ask for that only they and a parent know, so that they can confirm its parent authorized.
- Install a peephole viewer, if you do not have a convenient window to check who is at your door before opening it to a stranger.
- If someone asks to use your phone for an emergency take the information through closed doors and inform them that you will make the call for them. NEVER open a door to a stranger.
- If you see signs of entry, DO NOT ENTER the house. Go to the neighbors, to call for help and be on the lookout for strange cars or people near your home.
- If a neighbor’s security alarm goes off, do not personally investigate and place yourself in potential harms way. Be aware of your surroundings and leave the response to the police.
- Always keep your cell phone in your bedroom with you. If your alarm system depends on phone lines or cable for communication and they are cut, you will need it to call for help.
- Your car remote may have a panic button on it. If so, leaving it on your nightstand will allow you to set off the car horn if you hear a strange noise in your home.
- Don’t leave a purse, wallet, cellphone, tablet or laptop on the counters that can be seen from a window. This will almost always trigger a forced entry by a prowling burglar.
- Security signs without corresponding security company stickers on the windows may lead a passing burglar to believe that you don’t really have an alarm system installed.
- Neglecting to arm your security system would be foolish in hindsight if a burglar was brazen enough to enter even though you have a system. Why would you do that?
- Don’t leave notes on the door telling someone that you are not home and what time you will be back.
Absolute Security Alarms and Alarm.com would like you to always be safe. Remember to be proactive instead of reactive!