When you move into a new home, see a local crime committed on the evening news when eating your dinner or a friend mentions in passing about a home being broken into in your local area – you are more than likely going to wonder about the home security that you have in place and how you can improve on securing your home from burglary.
Firstly, try not to limit your review of the current security that you have in place and start looking at your home as a potential target for a burglar. Include everything from windows shutters and blinds to stop people easily looking into your home and seeing what items you have in key rooms of the house to how you can prevent people getting access to your home in the first place.
You may also want to think about any areas close to your home that a ‘would be’ burglar may see as potential areas to opportunistically hide stolen goods. This may seem like a foreign concept at first but once you try to get into the mindset of a burglar you will start to see overgrown council grass, bushes and areas that are under lit as potential burglar aids and perhaps decide to look at remedying these unwanted elements of your local community.
Spend some time getting to know your neighbours and building trust in your community. There’s probably no better way to protect your home when you’re not at home than having friends, relatives and neighbours keeping a close eye on your home for you. It’s surprising how easily someone can tell if houses are in a close knit community or a socially disperse one. Having or encouraging neighbours to be proactively inquisitive in people parking outside your home, sitting on walls for long periods of time, looking suspicious in any way or generally looking out of place can make the3 whole community safer.
You often see comedians with neighbours who peek through the window slats, slightly adjust window blinds or peek around windows to see what’s going on outside but for many this can be a great asset to securing people’s homes and a sign of an engaged and protected community.
Written by:
Lee Wilson – I have been active in the online arena since completing my degree in business from Winchester Uni in 2003. Career wise I have worked as an online and direct marketing manager within the financial services sector covering the UK and USA for over 7 years as well as setting up and running my own online business prior to specialising in SEO.