How To Protect Your Home When You Are Away

by Broderick Perkins DeadlineNews.Com While you vacation or otherwise leave your home unoccupied to attend the work-free rites of vacation, burglars are hard at work looking for a source of income. To keep your home safe and your family free of crime, you've got to keep malefactors from getting in while you are out -- or in. "Petaluma (CA) is a very safe neighborhood, but when Polly Klaas was kidnapped, her mother was sleeping in the other room and he just came right through open windows," said says Stephanie Mann, an Orinda, CA crime prevention consultant who helped found the Neighborhood Watch Program. Your insurance company may reduce your premiums based on the level of security you build into your home and the savings will eventually pay for the work. Peace of mind, however, is invaluable. "People pay $2,000 for a refrigerator to protect $200 worth of food," says Sam Storm, a security consultant and owner of Anti-Crime Technology, in Beverly Hills, CA. Whatever you spend, the key is to thwart break-ins early. Thieves and other criminals want easy access and most will spend no longer than a minute or two trying to break into your home, according to The National Crime Prevention Council. Burglar alarms If you take the electronic route, a full-perimeter home security system is the minimalist's approach, albeit a sufficient one to keep most burglars at bay as well as reduce your insurance premiums. "The most important factor in deterring home robberies involves creating a perception of risk for the burglars," said Hank Monaco, vice president of marketing for SecurityLink, a national security provider. Perimeter systems include a series of sensors at points of intrusion, most often doors and windows. Sensors detect glass breaking, doors and windows opening and even tampering. Screen sensors, fine wires embedded in screen mesh, can detect a touch. Once your security system is "armed" and someone tries to gain entrance through a sensor- guarded portal, he or she trips the alarm and activates a bell, siren, horn, the lights or perhaps even a digitized yell, "Burglar! Burglar! Burglar! "Barking dogs, anything that makes noise. The problem with lights is that the burglar doesn't have to walk around with a flashlight. It's better to have voices, sound," said Storm who also prefers the reliability of hard wired systems, to more problematic wireless systems. In addition to scaring off intruders, security systems often include the option of paging or calling you or a monitoring station shortly after the alarm sounds. Storm says use only local, UL-approved monitoring stations. Sensors electronically deliver to the monitor the intruder's specific point of entry. The monitor telephones that information to the police. Rather than redundant inside motion sensors, Storm and other security experts recommend low-tech home improvements to harden potential points of entry. Doors. All outside doors should be metal or solid wood, fitted tightly in their frames and hinged on the inside with long screws that reach well into the door and frame. Use a wide angle peephole instead of a door chain. Heavy-duty deadbolt locks, with bolts that reach well into the frame, should be installed from the inside, a foot or more from the doorknob to get the full benefit of the lock's strength. The locks should be at least 40 inches from windows or other openings so the burglar can't reach in and unlock your door. "Do your homework. Some people just go into a discount store and buy some lock that looks good. Talk to several people in the hardware stores, not just one. Go to several different stores. You want to put your money into something that is as effective as possible," said Mann. Add key-locks, as well as slide-bolt or pin locks to sliding glass door frames at the floor to prevent it from being lifted from its frame. Further secure sliding glass doors by putting a dowel in the inside track to jam the door shut. Windows. Likewise, secure sliding glass windows. "Pin" double hung windows by drilling a small hole in a 45 degree angle down through the lower frame of the upper window, into the upper frame of the lower window. Insert a removable nail or pin into the hole. If you install security bars on your windows or doors, install only those with quick-release devices that can't be accessed from the outside. Be certain everyone in your home can operate the release. Many jurisdictions prohibit window bars without quick releases and demand that you remove them, or replace them with quick release models before you sell your home. Copyright © 2005 DeadlineNews.Com -- Broderick Perkins, is executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, an editorial content and consulting firm. Perkins has been a consumer and real estate journalist for more than 25 years.