Daylight Savings Brings Home Security Awareness

When Americans set their clocks ahead on Sunday, March 14th they may not realize that Daylight Savings Time brings with it the season for increased property crime.  According to the FBI, warm weather is often a predictor of increased criminal activity.  Most residential burglaries also occur during daylight hours, specifically between 6am and 6pm.  With longer days and spring weather around the corner, Security Choice offers the following tips to keep homes safe.        

Secure doors and windows – The most common points of entry for criminals are the most obvious.  All doors and windows should be secured throughout the day to ensure maximum security.  Sliding glass patio doors are particularly vulnerable, and should be reinforced with a wooden dowel or a secondary blocking device.

Hide garage door openers – Garage doors are a common weakness in home security, as many people do not lock the door that leads from the garage to the house.  An increasingly common tactic is to steal garage door openers from cars.  Criminals use registration documents to find the address of the car owner and the garage door opener for easy access to the home.  Keep garage door openers hidden and internal doors locked at all times.

Always appear to be home – Burglars are looking for an easy target.  The biggest deterrent is a home that looks occupied.  Extra cars parked in the driveway or street can often raise enough doubt to make burglars move to the next house.  Keep blinds closed, and make sure delivered boxes, mail, or newspapers don’t sit outside all day, as they are telltale signs that no one is home.  One way to make your home look occupied when you are away or asleep is with a FakeTV.  This is a burglar deterrent device that produces light that looks like a real TV with flicks, pans, and such.  This retails for around $30.   

Landscape wisely – Spring brings new growth, and while hedges can serve as a deterrent, overgrowth can provide criminals a place to hide.  Trim back unruly plants so that they do not provide cover for opportunistic burglars.  To go hand in hand with wise landscaping is the appropriate light.  Solar Motion Detection Floodlights work great.  This way a path of light can either surprise a would-be-burglar or provide for a safe path of light when you walk up to your home at night.     

Use home alarm systems – Not much can match the increased security and peace of mind that comes with a home alarm system.  Properly installed, alarm systems can be a potent deterrent for criminal activity.  Look into trusted brands that offer audible horns and visible decals.  Once a monitored alarm system is put in place your odds of being burglarized drastically decreases.       

In addition, Daylight Saving Times has traditionally been the time to check the batteries of your smoke detector.  This should be done at least twice a year.  If you do not have adequate smoke detectors for the coverage your house needs, this is also the time to buy and install some.