security & safety tips

security & safety tips videos

- play video: safety tips in your car

- play video: protect your personal information

- play video: home safety when you travel

- play video: home exterior safety

- play video: home fire safety

- play video: front door safety

 

STATISTICS TO CONSIDER

The majority (approximately 62%) of home and apartment burglaries occur between the hours of 9 AM and 3 PM when many people are away at work or school.

The months of July and August have the most burglaries with February having the fewest crimes.

Many burglars will spend no more than 60 seconds attempting to break into a home.

Burglaries are committed most often by young males under 25 years of age looking for items that are small, expensive, and can easily be converted to cash.

It is reported that 70% of the burglars use some amount of force to enter a dwelling, but their preference is to gain easy access through an open door or window.

Ordinary household tools like screwdrivers, channel-lock pliers, small pry bars, and small hammers are most often used by burglars.

Burglars prefer to choose an unoccupied home with the easiest access, the greatest amount of cover, and with the best escape routes.

security tips for your HOME

If something isn't exactly right when you return home, don't go inside. Go to a neighbor's home for assistance.

Always lock your doors; even if you are running to a neighbor’s house for a quick visit you never know who could be watching your house.

Never hide house keys under the door mat or a rock that is near your door. Instead give an extra key to a trusted neighbor or purchase a secure lockbox that has a security code (ask your Custom Alarm sales person for details).

Burglars know to look inside your car for keys and other valuables, so keep it locked, even when parked inside your garage.

All outside doors to your home should be made of solid wood, steel or fiberglass.

Use high-quality, heavy-duty, deadbolt locks and heavy-duty, knob-in-lock set.

Secure your sliding glass doors by installing commercially available locks or placing a piece of wood the length of the lower track. Make sure it is a tight fit and cannot be popped out of the track.

Keep your windows closed and locked when you are not home and during the night.

Lock your upper floor windows if they can be accessed from a stairway, tree, fence, or by climbing on balconies.

When you move to a new home, re-key all the exterior locks.

Install a peephole in all entry doors so you can see who is outside without opening the door.

Don’t open your door to strangers, even if they see you. It is ok to just ignore them; remember it is your home. It is especially important that your children do not open the door!

If someone comes to the door and is asking to come in and use your phone to call for help do not let him/her in. Instead, offer to make the call for him/her and they can wait outside until help arrives.

Have separate key rings or pull apart key rings for your house and car keys.

Never leave your house keys with a parking lot attendant.

Don’t screw shut your windows and put only key deadbolts on your doors – if there is an emergency, you need to be able to exit quickly.

Keep a safe for valuables or get a safety deposit box for valuable and important personal documents and mark all of your valuables with your license number for identification in case they are stolen.

Get to know your neighbors on each side of your home and those directly across the street. Invite them into your home, communicate often, and establish trust.

Use light timers at your home so you can have signs of life in your home even when no one is at home. It is also good to come home to a lit home instead of a dark one.

Create a family emergency plan by holding a family meeting to discuss the plan and play out different scenarios. Include fire exit plans and where you would go and who you would notify in case of emergency.

Lock your front door and close the garage when you are working in your backyard and lock the backdoor when you are working in the front yard. Remember burglary is a crime of opportunity; it only takes a moment to hop on and steal a bike.

Never leave written messages on your front door: it is a sign that no one is at home.

OUTSIDE your home

Avoid landscaping that provides hiding places.

Do you have a privacy fence? If someone got into your yard, would the fence provide cover for the burglar while he breaks in?

Make sure you have good lighting outside your home by using motion lights or dusk to dawn timer lights at all your door entries including your garage entry, exterior sides, and back of your home.

Don't leave anything, such as ladders or tools, lying around that can be used to break into your home. Put away ladders or other objects that would assist a burglar in reaching an upper window.

Your house number should be clearly displayed and well lit at night so that law enforcement could find your home easily in the event of an emergency.

when you TRAVEL

Ask a trusted neighbor to watch your home while you are away.

Give your house that "lived-in look" by putting a few of your lights on timers.

Stop your mail and newspaper delivery or have a trusted neighbor pick it up for you.

Ask a neighbor to occasionally park in your driveway.

Arrange to have your lawn cut or your snow removed while you are away.

FIRE safety tips

Make sure you have a fire emergency exit plan worked out with your family and practice a couple of times a year.

Make sure you have a working fire extinguisher. It should be replaced according to manufacturers’ recommendations; refer to the label on your extinguisher for details.

Keep a flashlight in a drawer next to your bed in case of a power failure or fire emergency occurring in the middle of the night.

Test your smoke detectors monthly. Whether you have smoke detectors that are hooked up to our Central Monitoring Station or you have battery operated smoke detectors that were installed when your home was built, it is important to test them each month. If you have smoke detectors which are hooked up to our Central Monitoring Station, please call us before you test them.

Smoke detectors have an average life of 10 years. All smoke detectors should be replaced per manufacturer’s recommendations, typically 10 years, so check your smoke detectors to see if it is time to have them replaced.

PARKING LOT safety tips

Park only in a well-lit and highly-visible location with high traffic if possible.

Remove all interior valuables from plain view.

Lock your doors and roll up all windows.

Don’t leave mail or packages with labels with your name and address in view inside your car.

For a list of security and safety tips for your business click here.

Sources:

The National Crime Prevention Council

The National Security Institute

The Security Resource Center

Minnesota Crime Watch

Burglary Prevention Council