February 22, 2006
Physical Security for Your Home
Physical security is very important to a home owner. Your home is one of your most important possessions since this is where you and your loved ones reside.
Once you know that your home is safe from intruders, you can rest assured that your material and personal possessions as well as your loved ones, are secured.
There are several parts of your home that you need to secure by using electronic devices:
- The perimeter of your house to prevent burglars from intruding on your home.
- Enclosed areas within the house should be secured as well, in case of fire.
- Your garage should also have an intruder alarm to protect your vehicles, aside from the anti-theft device on the car itself.
It does not matter what style of life you lead. Home security should be and essential part of your budget to give you peace of mind. In addition to providing physical security in the home, your home security system should also help you find help should an emergency ensue. Here are some tips when planning for the security of your home:
- Make an initial survey of your house and from there, develop a home security plan. Check all of the rooms and the area outside of your house. Determine if the neighbors have a clear view of what is going on within your house. Having a very open area that can be easily observed by anyone from the outside may be a threat to your security.
- When placing burglar alarms or intruder sensors, place them in strategic areas in and out of your house. Home security need not be expensive. You do not need to put in alarms and sensors on each and every part of the house. As long as they are installed on the proper places, then your house will be secured enough.
- Review your way of living and the size of your family. Do you often have visitors who may roam around freely? Do you have a member of the family who may come inside the house in the middle of the night? These factors will help you decide on the level of security system that you will install on your home.
- You can place sensors within your house. These sensors can be installed on windows to alarm you of intruders. In addition, you may install sensors within the house, specifically in hallways, to warn you of intruders within the house.
- Place fire alarms in areas around the house which is most likely to gather heat or smoke. An unusual level of smoke, fire or heat can easily be detected to warn you of impending fire threats.
- There are mechanical locks and sensors that you can install on doors for good measure.
- For households with babies, you may purchase a baby monitor or a video surveillance. A video security system in your house will give you peace of mind. You may also automate your home, and watch your children from your TV screen so that you can keep track of what they are doing.
Whether you choose to install it yourself or get the services of a company which specializes in building security systems, home security should not be taken for granted.
You should put in extra time and effort in order to ensure that you and your family have a happy and physically secure environment.
Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides home security resources on http://www.just-home-security.info.
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Must Have Security
02/27/2006 at 1:12 pm
Can’t agree with you more. Home security is now affordable on any budget and even the simplest of devices can either deter or prevent a break in.
Paul Levi
10/05/2008 at 1:39 pm
This is a well thought out discussion. I don’t know that many folks (even employees of the big alarm companies) think much about how they live, and what technology needs to be employed, much less where.
The only criticism I have, is not specifically to Ken or Robert. We have been numbed by advertising that tells us that a monitored alarm is the first thing you should think about to deter crime. If one’s lucky, there will be a passing notion about bolstering doors and windows. This, despite the fact that there are tons of very effective devices that are inexpensive, easy to install, and permanent.
Keeping the bad guy on the other side of the doors and windows should be the first step. Monitored alarms? A distant second. Afterall, a burglar will usually enter your home through a door (source of over 70% of breakins, source: 2006 FBI crime report). On wood frame doors, a solid kick will cause the jamb to fail, and the burglar is inside in a matter of seconds.
Statistically, a Breaking and Entering is over in about 3-5 minutes. The worst of crimes, rape and murder, are typically over in less than 15 minutes. Now, how long does it take for the police to respond? In regions where police still respond, AND haven’t had too many false alarms, AND have the mobile teams available to react quickly, you’re still talking over 20 minutes and usually close to an hour before a policeman is on the scene. One has a slightly better chance with fire and EMS response, but that’s only until they become over saturated.
So, the time to find out that someone’s entered your home shouldn’t be when the intruder is standing over your bed. It should be when you hear them breaking their feet on your hardened front door. There are several products out there. We’re assembling a few in response to local Home Owner Association concerns, but we are by no means the end all/be all of home security.
Back to the text, this is the first time I’ve heard anyone comment on clearing the site lines between neighbor homes. EXCELLENT COMMENT! Getting the brush away from doors and windows, installing motion activated lighting or simply high efficiency continuous lighting, and ensuring that we give our neighbors the chance to see our doors and windows are extremely important measures. And they usually don’t cost anything. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design digs in to this perspective in depth.
Great comments Ken