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Home Security Basics

Burglary ranks as the second most common crime in the United States.  This means home security is an important consideration for the homeowners of today. Three vital ways of decreasing the chance of home invasion is increasing light, time, and noise.  Most burglars work best when they can work fast and quietly and in the dark. 

• Lighting
  1. Being seen means being identified.  Nothing is more detrimental to a rewarding burglary than being observed.  Proper landscaping, motion activated lighting, and video cameras create a displeasing environment to intruders.
  2. Increasing light can be as simple as reducing shadows around the house.  Trees and shrubs create key hiding places for an intruder.  Planting them away from doors and windows prevents criminals from using them for concealment when they attempt to break in.  Trimming plants regularly lessens their ability to be used as hiding places by burglars. 
  3. Placing motion activated lights about your house, most especially on the driveway and near the doors, will startle most burglars and reduce their element of surprise. 
  4. Security cameras also deter intruders.  Though, unlike lighting or open ground, they do not provide an immediate threat to the intruder, they do create the danger of being recorded and recognized on film, which is lasting evidence against them.
• Time
  1. Increasing the amount of time it takes an intruder to break in greatly decreases the chance of a successful invasion.  Getting in and out is vitally important to home intruders.  Most home security, then, must make the intruder work hard and long to break in.
  2. Until the intruder becomes a ghost, they must choose between entering by a door or by a window.  A proper lock, especially bolt locks, is the most effective time increaser.
  3. Securing windows is increasingly more difficult.  Many people like to open windows to allow fresh air into their homes.  An open window is an open door to a burglar.  If home security is to be maintained, the windows must be closed and locked.  Some older windows do not have locks on them.  It may be necessary either to change the window or to run a nail through the trimming to prevent it from being opened.
  4. Fences and gates around the perimeter of your property provide a danger to intruders.  It is easy to exit a house by an already opened door or window.  But a gate or fence, especially a locked gate or fence, requires climbing.  The minute or so it takes to climb or go around the gate or fence may be the difference between a successful or unsuccessful robbery.  Motion activated lighting near the fence will also increase the unwillingness of the intruder to come through the fence.
• Noise
  1. Noise is a powerful deterrent to robbery.  An intruder is very likely to run at the sound of a noise.  Noise means the presence of people, animals, or security alarms.  Noise means detection. 
  2. The two most effective noisemakers are dogs and alarms.  A pleasantly vicious-sounding dog can be the perfect answer to most security problems.  No sane minded thief wants to tango with a dog. 
  3. Alarm systems can alert in two ways.  They can alert the people in the area and can alert a dispatcher.  A monitored alarm system will not only sound in the house and possibly frighten the perpetrator, it will also alert a monitoring agency.  The monitor will then alert a dispatcher of the problem. 

  Home Security Systems

  • While it is good to keep in mind landscaping and various other components when providing your home with good security, a home security system is the best completion to home security.  A home security system means continuous security whether you are at home or away.
  • Security systems come in two kinds: wireless and hardwired.  If the house is already built, installing a wireless security system may be the simplest way to go. 
1. Wireless sensors send messages to a control panel by means of unique radio frequencies. 
2. Hardwired sensors send messages to a control panel through electrical lines. 
• Basic home security packages come with a control panel, door/window sensors, and a 24-hour back up battery.  The control panel gives you the option of dividing your home into security zones.  Dividing your home into zones assists in response time since it allows the system to forward to monitors what section of your house is being invaded.  The control panel is the central feature of your security system because it is this piece that receives the information from the sensors, sounds the alarms, and alerts the monitors to an intrusion.
• Door/window sensors have a simple circuit that is connected by a magnetic current.  After the system is armed, when the door or window is opened and the magnetic connection is disturbed, the alarm is activated.
• Adding extra accessories, such as motion detectors, glassbreak sensors, and security cameras, create a more effective home security system. 
• Motion detectors on driveways or walkways assist in alerting you to an intruder before he reaches your home.  These detectors can be wired to your control panel to activate an alarm.  Wildlife can sometimes interfere with outdoor motion detectors, especially in rural areas.  There are, however, sensors that are able to discern smaller animal's motion from a human's or larger animal's.  These are important especially when dealing with pets, whether indoor or outdoor.
• Windows can be the most vulnerable part of a home.  There are many of them and they can be easily broken.  A simple door/window sensor may not be sufficient for window security because it will not go off if the intruder breaks the glass.  A glassbreak sensor, on the other hand, activates an alarm when irregular stress is placed on the glass or the actual glass surface is broken. 
• Security cameras supply evidence.  That is their primary purpose.  When a home is broken into and things stolen, it is difficult to track down the perpetrator.  A security camera assists the police by furnishing information of the character's identity.  A security camera also is a powerful crime deterrent if it is in clear view.  An intruder will think twice before entering an area where his identity might be seen and recorded.
• Monitoring is very important to an effective security system.  A non-monitored alarm system will alert only those in the immediate hearing range of the alarm.  If no one is home when the alert is activated, there is no one to respond.  A monitored alarm system will alert a monitoring service to the intrusion.  The monitoring service, upon receiving the alarm, will call back to the house.  If someone answers the phone, they will be asked for a code and to verify the actuality of an intrusion.  If no one answers the phone or the wrong code is given, the monitoring service will alert the police.

Escape Route

It is important, when constructing a security system, to plan an escape route.  This is in case the burglar makes an actual entry or in case of a fire.  Locked doors will delay your exit in either case, and waste valuable time.