Everyone wants to feel that their family home is a safe, comfortable place of refuge for the outside world. The kind of place where the kids are free to run around and enjoy their games, while their parents spend lazy afternoons in their tracksuits, catching up on their favorite TV shows.
Unfortunately, there are always those people in society who want to harm and exploit others, and, especially if you live in a high-crime area, it’s important to take the right kind of precautions in protecting your home, so that you and your family can enjoy the kind of peace of mind that you deserve. While arming yourself is always a good idea, a fight with an intruder should be a last resort, not least of all because of the potential legal issues it might raise (click for more on that) and the fact that it’s always better to defuse a potential threat in the first place.
Here are a few key tips to turn your home into a more secure place today.
Install properly secure doors and windows
Most people who would carry out a home invasion are opportunists who are looking for what they perceive to be easy targets. Among the easiest targets are those homes with flimsy front doors, and large, unsecured lower story windows which are all for show and would give in with a good kick. Installing heavy security doors with good locking mechanisms, and installing safety bars on lower story windows should be your first priority in securing your home. Just the sight of them can be enough to convince many opportunistic criminals that it’d be too much trouble, and cause too much of a scene, to try and break in.
Make the outside of your home more visible from the street
It may seem counter-intuitive to say that it’s a good thing when your home can be seen from the street, but that’s a great deterrent by itself. Of course, we’re talking here about the outside of your home — you don’t want anyone being able to see what’s in your living room. The reason why visibility is good for you? Simple. Opportunistic criminals hate witnesses, and are much more likely to try their luck at climbing through a window or breaking open a door if there are big hedges or solid brick walls protecting them from the view of the people in the street. Instead of high brick walls and hedges, consider setting up an iron bar fence around your home. Anything that reduces the amount of shelter for a would-be intruder to hide behind.
Keep a good guard dog
They say dog is man’s best friend, and the tradition of guard dogs goes back far into the mists of ancient history. A properly trained guard dog can draw attention to an intruder by barking, and this attention may be enough to scare them away. If not, fear of being bitten could well do the job. Having more than one guard dog would be even better — as this would increase the risk to the criminals and would reduce the odds of them being able to distract or harm the dogs with things like drugged meat.
