Home Safety Tips

Recently my husband and I attended a Homeowner's Association Meeting on the recent spike in crime in our neighborhood.  I walked away from that meeting with one thought- "How was it possible that most my neighbors didn't know basic safety rules?"

So of course that started me thinking- perhaps many people don't know these basic rules and are just embarrassed to admit it.  Today, I want to share with you what my husband and I personally do to stay safe.  This includes NOT becoming a target for thieves, car prowls and residential burglary- all of which have drastically increased in my neighborhood.  Let me preface by saying that I'm not an expert in this field.  These are all simple, easy and relatively inexpensive measures that myself and my family have personally taken to maintain safety and if we can do it, so can you!

Let's start with outside our home.  When we first bought our house 3 years ago we discovered drugs and drug paraphernalia across the street.  Needles, trash, little baggies, spoons- yep, all that stuff and right within distance of my son and our home.  Great.

Obviously, we didn't want that in our neighborhood.  So we set out to clean up the 'hood!  Below is a list of things that you can do to the outside of your home to make it safer for your family.

• We started by trimming trees.  There were LOTS of nice, big, tall trees that were providing a safe cover for these drug users.  We didn't cut them down, just trimmed the overhang that was giving these folks a hiding spot.  Sorry- no more hiding spot here!
• Don't forget to trim up bushes and trees directly in front of your house.  These offer great hiding places as well- so get rid of them!
• Maintain a clean street.  This shows that the neighbors care about what happens in their neighborhood.  Carefully, we cleaned up their trash and drug paraphernalia.  If the drug activity resumes, we will know because they like throw their trash out the car window.  
• Get your neighbors involved!  We took one needle in a ziploc bag around to our immediate neighbors and informed them of what we had found.  We also asked them to call 911 if they ever saw a car that didn't belong in the neighborhood just sitting at the end of the street.
• Add extra lighting and motion lights.  This is a fairly inexpensive way to deter thieves.  Light your house up like it's Christmas if need be!
• Fence in your property.  After you've done this- add padlocks to your gates.  Do not make it easy for burglars to just open up your back gate, walk around to your back door and smash it in.  Provide deterrents.  I can guarantee you, if they have to climb over the fence or break the lock to access your backyard, they may just decide it's not worth the hassle and move on to the next home.  Burglars are lazy- make them work for it!
• Try to keep your cars in your garage to avoid car prowls.  But if you're like my family- and just don't have the room for this- then consider alarms for your cars.  Also- never keep valuables sitting in your car.  And another thing to consider, removing your garage door opener.  Some experts recommend putting it in your purse whenever you get out of the car- ugh, how tedious!  I have simply hidden it inside my car, NOT in the glove box!  This way, I know where it is when I need to use it but it's not in any of the normal easy to see and quick to grab locations for thieves.  Consider keeping your car registration in your wallet or purse as well.  This has your home address on it so if thieves break into your car, they now have your home address and your garage door opener in order to access your home.  Yikes!
• When away on vacation or out of town- unplug your automatic garage door.  Don't forget to stop newspaper and mail delivery too!  You do not want your home to look as if you are gone.
• Keep thieves and burglars guessing.  Consider putting your lights on a timer.  This works especially well if you work long hours and are away from home for extended periods of time during the day.
• Watch your neighborhood.  Be aware of who belongs on your street and who doesn't.  If you see something suspicious- call 911.  Yes, you CAN call 911 for non-emergencies.  The dispatcher will simply ask you what your emergency is and you'll say "I don't have an emergency but I need to report something suspicious"  Easy as that.

Now let's move in to what we do to keep ourselves safe inside our home.

• Consider getting an alarm for your home.  We have recently had a lot of burglars breaking into homes during the daytime while folks are at work.  They always "case" the homes first- luckily in our area, if they know someone is home, they move on to the next house.  However, if you are not home- you need to think of ways to make your home as undesirable as possible.  An alarm will do that!  I hate to say this but if you have an alarm and your neighbor does not- most likely they will break into your neighbors home because there's less risk involved.  You might also look into window alarms too!
• Lock your doors.  I'll say it again because it's so simple and easy- LOCK YOUR DOORS.  Every single time I open a door, I lock it behind me.  The only exception to this is when my son is playing in our backyard.  And don't forget window locks if needed!
• Add a lock to your garage door.  I'm talking about the door leading from the garage to your home.  We added a simple deadbolt that is locked from the inside of the home.  This door stays locked  unless we are going in and out of the garage- just like every other door lock in our home.  By taking this simple step- you ensure that if thieves do break into your home through your garage door- they can not access the inside of your home.
• Never leave windows open while you are not home.  I don't care if its 100 degrees outside and it's a 3rd story window.  If a burglar decides that your home is worth it- they will find a way to access that window.  So close it!
• Keep your curtains or blinds closed when not home.  Don't give a burglar access to peek inside your home and see your valuables.  If you have a laptop sitting right by the door that they can easily see, they may decide it's worth the risk for a quick "grab".  
• Get a dog or two.  You don't need to get a dog trained in security like a German Shepard or one that is thought to be a more aggressive breed like a Pit Bull - which BTW- both these dog breeds are super loving and sweet and would make a great addition to your family!  What you do need is noise.  You need a dog or two that will bark when someone knocks on your door.  This can sometimes make a burglar pause and re-think entering your home.
• Acknowledge people at the door.  This rule is very important.  Do NOT open your door to strangers.  Ever.  But if someone does come to your door, you need to let them know you are home.  Yell through the door - "who are you, what do you want?" or pull the curtains aside and let them see that you are home.  Why?  Well here's why...in my neighborhood, burglars are going door to door.  They knock on the front door and if no one answers, they go around to the back and break in the back door and enter your home this way.  Do not ignore the knock.  If burglars see that indeed someone is home, they will most likely just move on to the next home.  They do not want the confrontation.
• Consider personal safety devices.  I'm talking weapons here people.  Unfortunately, there are some aggressive and really stupid thieves out there and they don't care about the risk involved.  If you encounter someone like this- you may need a means of protecting yourself and your family.  I would first recommend that you hide (while on the phone to 911 of course!) or try to get out of your home.  If that's not possible- you MUST protect yourself.  Personally, I am a fan of mace.  It's easy to use, disables someone intent on harm and is not going to accidentally kill you if you don't know what your doing.  I carry it every day on my key chain.  Other good safety devices include guns, baseball bats and tasers.  Use what you are comfortable with, get some training if necessary and make sure you have it available to you if needed.
• Get a safe and bolt it to the floor or wall studs.  Even if you don't have guns or weapons to store in a safe, I'm pretty sure you have some valuables or important documents to lock up.  Great Grandma's wedding ring, tax returns, passports- you get the idea.  Do NOT keep important personal documents just laying around your home- lock that stuff up!  You don't need to rush out and spend $3000 on a massive safe either.  Choose one that fits your needs and budget.
• Take pictures of your valuables along with serial numbers and store these in your safe.  You may wonder why you would need to do this if you're already keeping these items in your safe.  But let's say you decide to wear Great Grandma's wedding ring to a work party and you lose it or it's stolen.  If you have a picture to give the police, it will help them in recovering your lost items.  

I highly recommend you walk around your home, both inside and outside, and write down a list of everything you can do to make your home safer for you and your family.  Then get started on that checklist!

I live in a nice, family friendly neighborhood.  Home prices are fairly high and it's considered a "desirable" neighborhood to live in.  So before you start thinking that your home or neighborhood is too "nice" for any of this to happen- think again!  It happens everywhere and you don't want to be the next target!