40 % of Australian home robberies occur while someone is home and whilst the house should be a place where residents can feel safe; poorly secured households are easy targets for criminal activity. There are many small yet effective methods that home owners can employ to ensure the safety of their residence and anything from leaving the front light on to installing video surveillance can deter intruders. Here are a few helpful hints to assist in keeping your living space safe.
Deter Intruders
Would be intruders are opportunists. If they can find easy points of access they’ll exploit them. After all it’s no use reinforcing your front door if your back window is open. Remember that it is the simplest security measures that will make the world of difference when securing your home.
- If you are leaving the house un attended at night ensure that all doors are locked and windows closed. Close any curtains or blinds so that potential intruders cannot asses the inside.
- Leave a light on (preferably one that is visible from the front of your house). Studies have shown that even this simple measure can minimize risk by as much as 30%.
- For added security consider installing flood lights or security cameras at the front, rear or side of the house.
- Do not leave valuable items outside the interior of the house. Again intruders are opportunists and will exploit the low hanging fruits.
Prepare for Intrusion
In the event that intruders do gain access to the interior of the house it’s important that everyone is prepared and understands how to react. By minimizing panic and acting quickly the risks of harm to residents and valuables will be minimized.
- Priority one should be contacting authorities. It is important that access to phone’s landline or otherwise is possible from various parts of the household. It helps to have multiple land line outlets in the house so that if the intruder blocks access to one outlet another can be utilized.
- Don’t antagonize intruders. Whilst trying to find a weapon can seem like a good idea in an emergency scenario it can often further escalate the situation and cause more harm to residents. In most cases intruders will be hesitant to harm anyone and so it’s best to comply with their wishes and attempt to keep them in conversation so that the authorities have time to arrive.
- Any exceedingly important or valuable possessions such as jewelry should be hidden in a safe place so that in the event of an intrusion it may not be found or take intruders a lengthier period of time to locate it.
Keep Doorways and Windows Secure
Intruders will use the same access points that residents would commonly use to gain access to the interior of the house. It is important that these hotspots are made secure so that the risk of opportunism is minimized.
- Intruders typically gain access to households by coaxing residents to answer the door. Consider installing a security door, peek hole or door latch so that potential intruders never have open access to the interior.
- Installing a double locking mechanism on doors can amplify security in situations where no one is at home. Often single locks can be broken easily, but double lock mechanisms prove a challenge for intruders.
- Installing alarm systems on sheds, doors and windows can provide an extra layer of added security. These alarms can deter, but also see to it that intruders are caught in the act.
