As the Holiday season fast approaches, the threat of theft and burglary begins to steadily rise, this is due to a couple of factors, the first is that many houses will have far more valuables inside with many stocking up on their Christmas gifts early. This leaves the path clear for opportunist thieves to steal high value goods.
The second reason is that there are many who will turn to crime as a way of providing for their own family during these tough months. In the US alone, robbery and petty theft has, in recent years, seen a rise by as much as 21% compared with the rest of the year. In order to avoid becoming a victim of these crime statistics, here are some tips on how to lockdown your home during the coming months.
Install a First Class Security System
One of the surest ways of warding off would-be thieves and giving you peace of mind when it comes to home safety is by installing a home security system. As technology has changed, so too has the world of home security and these days there are far more advanced options than just a simple alarm.
Security website SecurityGem has rounded up some of the best security systems on the market and ranked their top 3 systems which not only offer home alarms, but additional features such as image sensors, geo-based control, live video streaming, security cameras and e-mail and text alerts. Benefits like these will help you to feel safe whether you are in bed or at work.
Use Light Timers
Robberies don’t just take place in the dead of the night when everyone is sleeping, to the contrary, many take place in broad daylight or in the early evening. A house with no lights on at 830 in the evening is practically an advert for a house that is empty and these are the houses that thieves will target. Using light timers will ensure that the lights in your house switch on and off at certain hours, perfect for when you know that you will be out of the house, and don’t want anyone to know about it.
Windows
It is always worthwhile obscuring your windows during these coming months, whether you decide to keep the curtains and blinds closed a little earlier or place tables and furniture in front of your windows, it is important that you don’t give would-be thieves the perfect view of your belongings.
Emergency Key
As handy as it may seem when you have lost or forgotten your keys, that key that you hide under the plant pot or nearby rock is almost an invitation to be robbed. Thieves aren’t stupid and they will always look to make their job as easy as possible, the first thing they will look for is that emergency key and if they find it, then you have just given them an early Christmas present.
Social Media
As much as we all love to brag about our latest purchase or upcoming vacation on social media, it simply isn’t worth risking making this kind of information public. As we said, thieves are smart and you can guarantee that if you are telling everyone in the World about the fact that you have a new expensive gadget or that you will be out of your home for a week or two, then the thieves are listening.