Whether we are frequent travelers or not, workers from home or not, residents in a “safe” neighbourhood or not – our homes are often left unoccupied. A scary thought, indeed – especially if this means that with every time we leave our homes, we are putting them at risk. Rest assured, however, there are ways in which we can actively make our homes look, act, and feel safer, thus preventing them from unwanted, potential break-ins. According to SGI Canada, “to best protect your home, look at it from a burglar’s perspective. What are the vulnerable parts? Burglary is always a crime of opportunity”. Here are a few helpful tips:

 

  1. Create the illusion that someone is home: whether you’re planning to be away from home for a short period of time or for an extended long vacation, you’ll want to create the illusion that you are in fact home to passersby. For example, set your lights on a timer so that your home is never in complete darkness. “You can also set the television and radio on a timer to create the typical noise and flickering lights of an average family home at night”.

 

  1. Secure your windows: securing your home goes far beyond simply locking your doors. In fact, it is extremely important to go that one step further and lock your windows as well – especially so that they are securely shut from the outside-in. Here’s a helpful hint: “if they can’t be locked [from the outside], you can pin them by drilling a hole through both window frames and inserting a bolt or metal pin”. What’s more is that most windows are accompanied by curtains or blinds; be sure to keep them closed when night falls so that potential burglars can’t easily peer into your homes and assess your valuables.

 

  1. Secure your surrounding premises: the trick is to essentially make your home the most difficult to force entry into. SGI Canada provides some great tips on how you can safeguard the exterior of your home in order to deter burglars and break-ins. For instance:

 

  • Keep your shrubbery cut back so that it doesn’t block any windows and/or doors.
  • Illuminate as much of your property as possible.
  • Ensure that a burglar cannot access the roof from high trees of a ladder left outside.
  • Use a fencing style that won’t conceal a burglar’s activities.

 

Great news! The above list is ongoing. To explore more great tips on how to safeguard the outside of your home, follow this link.

 

  1. Install a home security system: the installation of an alarm system can’t exactly guarantee that an attempted burglary will never happen; it can, however, make it that much more difficult for potential burglars to be successful in their efforts to take and/or harm your belongings and/or your premises. How? By increasing the risk of them being caught, of course. Here are some useful tips courtesy of WebMD:

 

  • Be sure to use the yard sign and window decals that say your house is protected by a home security system.
  • Regularly check to make sure the sign is visible and has not been covered up by shrubs or pulled out of the ground by pets or neighborhoods children.
  • Choose a home security system that uses motion detectors as well as arms all windows and doors that could provide access.
  • Never post your pass code next to or on the home security alarm key pad.

 

  1. Mum’s the word: word tends to travel relatively quickly in this day and age. Particularly if/when you are planning that well-deserved vacation away from home, it’s advised that you “never, ever announce your departure or vacation dates on social networks”. Remember to only trust those in your closest circles with travel itineraries, times, dates etc. and perhaps ask a member of that circle to check up on your home every so often while your away – you know, just to be safe.

 

In an ideal world, burglaries would cease to exist altogether. Truth is, however, that there is approximately 1 residential break-in that happens every 90 seconds in our country alone. Scary stuff. Yet, leaving our homes (for an hour or for a week) stress-free can, in fact, be done. We must simply become diligent in taking the necessary precautions toward safeguarding our homes, both outside and in!