Prevent Break-in - Protect your Home....

During the early hours of the night you wake up to a noise. You hear footsteps, careless whispering, you hear someone moving about either inside your house or just outside your window….your body freezes while you consider who and what is making this noise. You begin to construct an

I have, unfortunately, been a victim of a car invasion, home invasion and regular burglaries, all different incidences of course. I do not live in a street known for this, I do not associate with unsavoury characters and I have great neighbour/s who, for the most, watches out for each other…..and yet, I have been broken into that many times I have lost count. I have woken to find my lounge turned upside down, something which occurred while we laid in bed none the wiser. I have returned home from the shops to discover the same. I have seen my dog timid as a result of being kicked or punched by these intruders and had the police respond so often that first names were beginning to be exchanged. 

The worst time would have had to have been the week or so after I buried my husband. My home was filled with flowers and condolences in the way of cards, photos of happier times and even if you hadn’t have known me or my family’s situation, you would have guessed instantly when walking into my lounge….it was obvious…it was also NOT enough to stop the ones who made it their hobby to break in and not just steal from me, but deface my home. They spat on my family photos, up-turned my flowers and discarded the sympathy cards…they didn’t care and they were soulless.

The police believed that I had initially been targeted at random, it should have been a once off break-in - but because there was medication, and an abundance of, they kept returning. Most of these meds mind you were useless for an addict, however, there were some considered pure gold if you wanted to get high - but - most of them simply served to save my husband from dying. 

We all, at one stage or another, become complacent about home security. When we leave to go to the shop we take a quick glance around the house and as we drive off, take another last look at the windows and then continue on our merry way. We go to bed at night sometimes not thinking about the bathroom window that is only just open, the backdoor which hasn’t been locked or the keys left in the front door. We all do it at some stage and some more often than not. I know I have left my backdoor unlocked before and only because I was just popping to the local shops to get milk, I am not going to be long. That is until you see someone you know and stop to talk and then another person sees you and you talk for a little longer – in this time span a person could have broken into your home and left and all while you are just popping to the shop.

Most break-ins are not planned and are simply just ‘crimes of opportunity’. With this being said the question you need to ask is, how much of an opportunity are you giving unknowingly? Is your home considered an ‘easy target’? and do you do enough to protect your home and family from burglary? 

I thought I had done everything to secure my home and was sadly mistaken. I even have a house alarm, something that was disconnected and ripped off the wall on one occasion. When you move around your house checking for easy access and entry points, don’t look through your eyes; look through the eyes of someone wanting to break in. Be creative when you do this because you can guarantee that they will be. 

On an average a burglar will only spend for to five minutes trying to break into a house and occur more during the day than at night. There are a few ways to increase your home security without it costing you a small fortune and requiring no more than a little common sense and little imagination. Here are a few tips that may just help you avoid being broken into.

• A burglar will phone to see if you are home and when no answer – they have the cue. Try forwarding phone calls to your mobile or to a friend’s house. 
• Although 40% of break-ins occur by the burglar entering through an open door or window, another way is through the roof and man-hole (person-hole for the politically correct). Secure the manhole with a sliding bolt. I know there are other drastic ways to get around this, however, this is about making their life and job harder.
• Don’t settle with sensor lights on the front porch alone. These are great but are normally placed in areas that do not help overly much. When placed too close the house it also makes it hard to for the person inside to see. Place sensor lights along side the house so that it lights up even the areas you don’t think about and so that the light sprays evenly across the drive way. This will help with your visibility as well.
• If you own sliding doors you know how easy they are to break into. Place a screw into the track to prevent someone lifting the door out.
• Drill a small hole through the frame at different intervals so that you can place a small metal rod, much like a key, in it. This will able to you keep the window or door open a little bit and keep it secure at the same time.
• Another simple suggestion is placing dowel, a rod or broomstick handle firmly against the track to prevent the door from being open
• Make sure there is adequate lighting for the yard
• Planting thorny rose bushes by windows is a great and natural deterrent for burglars.
• Gravel, loose stones or rocks is another natural alarm. (I recently had my front yard landscaped and can attest to this)
• Keep trees and hedges neat and trimmed back. I know these can look great but they also serve as hiding spots and offer coverage for breaking in un-noticed.
• Don’t leave your tools laying around the yard as these can be used to break into your house.
• When you go away ask a neighbour to park their car in your driveway so there is still some activity. Also have someone open curtains and blinds during the day as well as collect any mail.

Don’t think for one moment that just because you have been broken into that it won’t happen again. Some times they strike twice because they know what you have, what you will replace and also because they know how to get in.