Advanced Lock & Security on How to Protect Your Home & Family from Burglary

Making sure that all your windows, doors, and other entry points around your home are secure while you’re sleeping or away is certainly important when keeping you, your family, and possessions safe. However, did you know that there are important things to consider beyond physically securing your home when guarding against burglaries? Generally, thieves and burglars will first get an idea of which homes are worth their time and effort. This means casing prospective properties. There are a variety of ways a criminal may do this to include approaching you and your home under false pretenses. This could be a person knocking on your door asking to use the restroom, phone, or even trying to sell you something in a manner that gains them entrance to your home. This is how they will get an idea of what’s in your home of value, what security weak points there may be, and perhaps even provide themselves with access later by unlocking a window. What this all means is that you and your family should remain vigilant in who’s allowed access to your home and never leave valuables like cash, jewelry, or expensive electronics in open view.

There are occasions where it is necessary to allow strangers access to your home for services like carpet cleaning, pest control, painting, or even lawn care and other legitimate services. One of the best things you can do is vet the business you’re considering before hiring them to do work in your home. Fortunately, the digital age has made this much easier, but you still need to take the time to research the business and pay particular attention to what other customers are saying about them. What’s more, any business to which you allow access of your home should have the appropriate licensing and bonding. Even after you’re comfortable that the business you hire to work in and around your home is reputable and legitimate, it’s still a good idea to have an adult around while the work is being performed. We also recommend letting a neighbor know what’s going on and have them stop by at random. In fact, knowing your neighbors by organizing a cookout or other community activity has a wide range of security benefits for everyone.

You should also always take measures to mitigate loss if a burglar does gain access to your home. Keep your computer files backed up regularly on an external drive, and hide this hard drive in a place where valuables aren’t typically found like the kitchen pantry or laundry room. This could make the difference of hanging onto things like financial records and family pictures. If you do come home to find that a break-in has occurred, do not enter and immediately go back outside and call the authorities. There’s always a chance that the culprits could still be inside, and it simply isn’t worth the risk to your safety to find out. Additionally, don’t touch anything as the thieves may have left fingerprints or other evidence behind. To ensure that your home is as safe as possible, give us a call at Advanced Lock & Security to have a specialist come out and evaluate your home security.