7 Tips for Protecting Your Home Over The Holidays
The holidays are here and keeping your home safe should be your primary goal. When the dark hours are long and families are traveling more than ever, security needs to be a top priority. These 7 tips can help you keep your home safer this holiday season.
#1: Get to know your neighbors
We mean it. Whether you’re in the city, suburbs, or countryside, you are part of your neighborhood. The rewards of knowing your neighbors are immense. From small things, like a hello and a wave, to taking in a package for you or helping you move something into your house, they are people you should know and trust. Neighbors have a sense of what’s right in the community. And when there is something wrong, attentive neighbors know and take action. That’s why our top recommendation is getting to know your neighbors to build trust in your community and safety at your home.
#2: Secure your doors
This may sound obvious, but it’s easy to forget during the holiday hustle and bustle. Opportunistic thieves are quick to try doors, and they often walk away from locked ones.
When you’re coming and going out of the house, be sure to keep your doors locked. Thieves may see you leave and check the doors. If they find the door locked, they will probably move on. Yet, if the door is open, they may just slide in and grab a laptop or cash. This can happen in under a minute. Lock your car doors, too.
#3: Keep your windows shut
Similar to securing your doors, keep your windows shut as well. A window left open can easily be lifted and entered through. In the case of a car, an open window can allow someone to unlock the car and open the door. It’s pretty cold during the winter holidays, anyway. All the better reason to keep your windows shut unless you know you’ll be home all day.
#4: Keep a few lights and the TV on when you’re gone
A home with no cars in the driveway and the lights off is an easy target for thieves. If you are traveling for the holidays, be sure to leave on a few select lights in your home. Don’t leave on too many to make it obvious—just enough to make it seem like someone is there. The TV is especially helpful to leave on, especially if the flicker of light is visible from the outside.
#5: Don’t forget about the garage
The garage is a high-leverage area for thieves. Homeowners often store expensive equipment, such as bikes or tools, inside the garage. Many garages are separate from the home and closer to the street. These two key factors make it easy to get in. Install a strong deadbolt on all exterior garage entrances. Make sure you have a sturdy garage door. And if you have a mail slot, limit the range of motion or lock this when you are not expecting mail, as trained thieves can fish the release cable from here. Some folks even cut the manual pull cord on their garage door to prevent burglars from using it to break in.
#6: Get a dog
Aside from the increased levels of happiness dog owners feel, a dog is also a great security measure. A few yaps when a person approaches the front door is enough to send prospective criminals packing. A dog left at home while you are out will be on high alert, often waiting for you to arrive home, so they usually react to any sounds at the doors. Dogs are a major theft deterrent.
#7: Get a Deep Sentinel Home Security System
Deep Sentinel is the only home security camera system with live security guards on duty. Whenever a person enters the field of view, the guards watch. If a person who shouldn’t be there steps up to the property, we step up and make our presence known. Simply alerting potential suspects that someone is watching is enough to make them leave the property. And with the fastest police response time of any security system, if a crime occurs, law enforcement agents know who to look for and show up quickly.
In fact, a Deep Sentinel system is a great gift for the holidays!