Basic Statistics On Home Burglaries, and How You Can Try To Prevent Them
Posted: Friday, December 04, 2009
by Don Carter
groundfresh
According to recent FBI stats, a home burglary occurs in the USA every 15.5 seconds, and is the most common threat to the security of our homes. This article discusses different steps you can take to make your home more secure. Burglary, by proper definition, is non violent and happens when you are not in the residence. Even though the bad guys have long since left the scene, the psychological effects of a burglary can be devastating.
Almost all home burglaries happen during the day, when people are at work. The hot summer months are when most burglaries in a residence occur. February actually has the fewest number of burglaries compared to any other time of the year.
Break-ins are usually perpetrated by men under 25 years of age. The thieves are usually trying to nab small things that are easy to carry away and convert to quick cash that they need for living expenses and most often, illegal drugs.
The favorite items of theft are cash, guns, jewelry and watches, computers and DVD players, and CDs. All of this stuff is easily concealed in a backpack as the criminal exits the house, and are easy to sell for to cash.
Burglars never wish to put in any extra work if they don't need to, so they always look for an open door or window. And, unlike most stereotypes where the bad guy carries a fancy lock pick kit, criminals like to use common household items such as screwdrivers, pliers,crow bars and hammers.
Although it may seem like home burglaries are completely random and occur on a whim, this is almost never the case. The criminal will always choose the easiest house. This is the dwelling with the best access, good spots to hide, and a good escape route.
Burglars always go for the easy target! Experienced burglars will avoid your dwelling if it seems too difficult to enter. So the best way to help stop burglaries in a residence is to make it very hard for a thief to break in.
Experienced thieves pick a point of entry that has the best cover, and usually has the weakest lock. This is always the garage door, then the back door, and then the front door.
But first let's review some tips for the types of locks
you should consider:
- Invest in a top quality, heavy-duty, deadbolt lock that has a one-inch throw bolt (This is the part that slides into the door when locked)
- If you have to use a "knob-in-lock", make sure you invest in one that's superior quality, heavy duty, and has a "dead-latch" mechanism.
- A "dead-latch" feature prevents a credit card or shim from being used to slide open the lock.
- A top quality deadbolt will have what's called a beveled casing. This almost always prevents the use of channel lock pliers to shear off the lock pins and get in.
- Make sure to spend the extra money and get Grade One or Grade Two locks for exterior doors, as these resist pounding, and lock picking.
The expert tip:
Most people leave an extra set of keys in the car. Criminals are wise to this and first look inside your automobile for house keys and valuables. Don't fail to lock your vehicle, even if it's "safely" in the garage.
Now let's discuss doors.
Study these tips below when considering doors in your dwelling.
- Always invest in the extra cash and purchase solid core or metal doors for all outside entrance points. Almost all cheap exterior doors will have hollow cores, and can very easily be kicked through with not much effort by a determined thief.
- If the door doesn't come with one, install a peephole that is a wide-angle 160, placed no higher than 58 inches from the floor.
- Don't fail to make sure the door comes with a heavy-duty, four-screw, strike plate with 3-inch screws to sink deep into a wooden door frame. The strike plate is almost always the weakest part of the door, as this is where the deadbolt secures the door in place with the door jamb. Cheap doors come with very soft wooden moldings that are usually lightly tacked onto the door frame. All it takes a powerful kick or shove with a shoulder to smash the lightweight molding away and burst the door open.
- Also, always make sure that the screws holding the door hinges in place have at least two 3 inch screws per hinge plate.
- Don't fail to make sure that the screws holding the knob lock strike plate are 3 inch screws as well.
We always urge spending a little money to get good solid core or metal exterior doors, and strong, heavy duty locks. Remember that an experienced bad guy can identify good doors and good locks.
It is very likely that the visible presence of these upgrades will cause the thief to think twice and move onto an easier target.
This article was brought to you by Don Carter and a licensed Clearwater electrician and electrician Los Angeles at at Vozzcom Electric West Florida 13584 49th St N #20 , Clearwater , FL 33762 (727) 209-0171
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