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Home Security and Safety Tips

23 June 2010, 12:58 am

Education is the key to leading a safe and happy life. Safety starts in the home.
Here are some home safety tips regarding home security from State Farm:

Protect yourself against home burglary

Whether you live in a house, a condo or an apartment, a break-in can permanently shatter your feeling of security at home.

According to the FBI, a house, apartment or condominium is burglarized once every 15 seconds.

Fortunately, burglary is probably the most preventable of crimes. By taking a few simple precautions, you can dramatically reduce the risks.

Of course, every home and every situation is different, and there are no guarantees.

The first step is to determine what kind of threat you are trying to protect against. For example, defending against personal threats, such as assault, requires different measures than defending against burglary.

Most home burglars do not give great amounts of thought to planning the job and assessing the benefits vs. dangers, but understanding how they choose a target can go a long way in reducing your chances of being a victim.

Most burglars look for:

* Something worth stealing
* Easy access combined with low visibility
* A home that is unoccupied

Did you know? More residential burglaries occur during the day because homes tend to be vacant more often.

How to prevent break-ins:

* Fool them by making your home look occupied all the time.
* Use automatic timers on lights when away from home.
* Always park your cars in the garage with the garage door shut. A burglar may otherwise notice a pattern that a closed garage door or no cars in the driveway means no one is home. Closing the garage door and having curtains or blinds on the garage windows also hides some of your belongings.
* Place radios on automatic timers and raise the volume so they can be heard outside.
* Lower the sound of your telephone ringer and answering machine so that they can’t be heard outside.
* Never leave notes on your door that can tip off burglars.

When away for more than a day:

* If possible, have your telephone calls forwarded when you are away from home. Burglars sometimes check to see if someone is home by making a telephone call.

* Have a trusted neighbor pick up the mail and newspaper. If possible, do not have either stopped. That gives information about you being away from home to others whom you do not know.

* If away for an extended period, have a plan in place to have the grass mowed or snow shoveled.

* If you are away from home on garbage pickup day, ask a trusted neighbor to put your garbage cans out to the street and take them back in. You may wish to have your neighbor use your garbage cans while you are out. Burglars sometimes check for empty cans as a sign the family is away.

* There are systems available that will open and close window draperies by timer. Constantly open or closed curtains can tip the burglar off that no one is home.

* Even if you don’t need specific help, always tell a trusted neighbor if you are going to be gone for a few days.

* If you are going to be gone for an extended period, ask your local police to check your home periodically.

In short, make your house look the same whether you are away or at home.

Eliminate hiding places

* Make sure there is good lighting around the place where you park.

* Install motion detector lights around your house instead of just leaving lights on at night. The lights coming on and turning off attract the attention of neighbors. Install these lights at least 8 feet above the ground so they are more difficult to disable.

* Install the motion detector lights so they light all doors and windows. Doors, since they are the preferred entry point, should be the first priority to illuminate, followed by windows.

* Remove bushes and shrubs from around the house, especially under windows and next to doors. Keep your yard free of overgrowth.

* If you DO have shrubs and bushes, select ones with thorns to deter potential intruders from hiding in them.

* Install a security alarm system with a loud alarm and/or flashing lights. This will attract the attention of neighbors. If you install an alarm, display the decals, and remember to test the system periodically.

Use common sense caution

* Always lock all doors and windows when you leave the house.
* Use a peephole to identify visitors before opening your door.
* Do not hide spare keys outside your home, instead give one to a trusted neighbor.
* Do not provide your house keys to service people.
* Do not invite strangers into your home.
* Do not have money or jewelry lying out in view from a window. If possible, keep jewelry and other small valuables and important documents in a safe deposit box.
* Do not tell strangers your daily routines.
* If you are at home working outside, leave all other doors that are out of sight locked.
* Avoid telling others about the valuables in your home.
* If you have children, discuss home security with them, such as not talking with strangers about their home, its contents or family schedules.

Make your home a harder target

Did you know? The average burglar will spend no more than four to five minutes trying to break into a residence.

* When moving into a new residence, have the locks changed.

* Consult a good locksmith to make sure you have the correct types of locks on your doors and windows.

* Secure your exterior doors and any doors from attached garages by installing:
o Good quality deadbolt door locks
o Security-type door strikes
o Strong, properly installed doors and doorframes that cannot be spread apart
o Security-type hinge
* Secure your windows by installing additional locks and installing impact-resistant glass on any windows within 42″ of a door lock. This will make it more difficult to break the glass, reach in, and unlock the lock.

* Prune lower branches of trees near your house if they could help a burglar gain access to a second story window.

* Secure your patio door with a pin-type lock, a key lock, or a steel rod inserted into the door channel.

* Secure your garage by installing automatic openers or bolt-type locks on each end of the garage doors.

Take time to become knowledgeable about your situation and your options so that you can best decide what to do. And remember, you can also ask your local police department for advice.

Inventory and mark your belongings.

Use our free resources to complete a home inventory.

Mark your belongings with an engraving pen so that they can be traced and return them to you if stolen. These pens are usually available at your local police station. Ask your police department what numbers to use when marking your belongings. Never mark them with your social security number.

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Is It Safe To Live In America?

18 February 2009, 3:22 pm

In these tough economic times, people become desparate to make ends meet.  This generally means an increase in crime, and one of the best ways to get money is to rob a house.

Your first line of defense is your door lock.  Is it a deadbolt?  do you lock your doors, even when you are home?

The second line of defense is your landscaping.  Is your house easy to see from the street and neighbors, or hidden by shrubs, tres and bushes?  Make sure there is no easy way to hide while breaking into a window or lower level door.

The third line of defense is your neighborhood watch program.  Do you have a watch program in place, and use it?

burglars to go places where it is easy to rip you off.  If your neighborhood has signage about your Neighborhood Watch program, they may go somewhere else.  If you have an alarm sign in your front yard, they will go somewhere else.

So, the goal here it to make your house the last choise for arobber looking for loot.

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Why You Should Consider GE Security System

18 January 2009, 9:10 pm

General Electric Co.

GE security systems can spell the difference between becoming burglary victims and the house that robbers pass over because of a well designed security alarm system. Oftentimes, burglars will pass up robbing a house that has a great security system in place. Thieves don’t want the hassle of dealing with unexpected complications. Why break into houses armed with GE security systems and risk getting caught when they could just as easily move on to other houses that doesn’t have any form of security?

GE Security Systems – What They Offer

There are lots of security systems available. Finding one that’s right for you won’t be a difficult. GE security systems offer models that range from the very basic to the mega-sophisticated. The latter GE security systems typically feature camera surveillance along with other advanced technology components. Buying GE security systems won’t break the bank. Most firms provide payment plans that make it affordable for people to obtain the home protection they so deserve.

GE security systems offer the most advanced technology in security systems. They’re easy to install, have sophisticated sensors designs and provide a full range of cool features. When it comes to protecting items you value the most, GE security systems are an excellent choice.

When it comes to home security solutions, people can’t go wrong with GE security systems. GE offers a full suite of home protection options – from individual security products to entire home security systems. They’ve got solutions for development, connected, multi-dwelling homes and more.

Keeping Homes Safe with GE Security Systems

In these mad times people live in, having some form of home alarm and security system in place is made even more important. With high-profile kidnap cases involving kids being taken from their beds on the rise, GE security systems provide that much-needed peace of mind and feeling of safety that people need to sleep soundly at night. GE security systems are one way to keep children safe from being snatched away in the middle of the night by strangers and then disappearing forever.

You can stop this from happening to you by installing GE security systems in your homes. Protect your loved ones with GE security systems. They are the perfect deterrents to potential kidnappers and thieves. GE security systems will let you sleep at night, comfortable in the knowledge that your entire family and home are completely protected.

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Swimming Pool Alarms

13 January 2009, 11:19 pm
backyard swimming pool
Image via Wikipedia

Some of the best childhood memories of summer revolve around good times in the swimming pool. Swimming pool alarms are a wonderful, and much needed, invention that helps to keep quickly alert parents if a child falls into a pool while no adult is around to supervise.

Swimming pool alarms have save many lives since they were first introduced about a decade ago and have become an indispensable piece of safety equipment for homes with swimming pools or for homes that are located within easy access of fresh water lakes. Having a pool alarm can give the homeowner peace of mind and one less thing to worry about during the hectic summer months.

Unfortunately, too often children wander into unattended swimming pools with no type of pool alarm, which then become deadly hazards if the child falls in an no one is near enough to quickly rescue the child.

It is estimated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that approximately 350 children, under 5 years of age, drown in pools every year, and over 2,500 are taken to emergency rooms after near-drowning events.

The CPSC recently conducted a study that evaluated three different types of pool alarms: the surface alarm which floats on top of the water and detects movement on the surface; the underwater alarm that can identify waves beneath the surface; and, a wristband alarm that is worn by the child, and cannot be removed by children, and which signals when it is exposed to water.

The study revealed that the underwater alarms consistently performed the best and were found to set off the alarm more consistently and were less likely to create a false alarm. When a test object, simulating  a small child, was pushed into a pool, the underwater sensors delivered the most dependable results. Also, the underwater type can be used when the pool cover is on, but a surface alarm cannot.

The wristband device alarmed reliably and consistently, but this choice can be impractical because the parent must be diligent about putting it on the child, and it will go off when exposed to any water, such as tap water, sprinklers and water guns.

Swimming pool alarms can be such a useful safety device and can help give the parents of small children a sense of security that their child will not be able to get into the water without the parent being alerted. However, it is critical to understand that these alarms are not designed to replace adults or to relieve them from the responsibility of supervising any activity while children are in or near a pool.

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Security Surveillance More Common than Ever

10 January 2009, 10:57 pm
Snow days
Image by cuellar via Flickr

Many more people are installing security surveillance systems in their homes these days because they tend to be home less often and want to have the added peace of mind that such a security system can offer. In addition, we live in a time when the neighbors are also at home less and less frequently and are generally less aware and watchful of what might be happening in the area.

These situations have combined to make home security surveillance systems more desirable to people, and to cope with rising crime in many areas of the country. People feel less safe even when they are in their homes because of increasing crime trends. This is particularly true when the reported crimes start to encroach into neighborhoods that had once been thought of as very safe.

Another factor in the popularity of security surveillance systems for home use is that the prices are getting lower and lower each year. Because of this, even the systems that offer remote video surveillance options are becoming so affordable that the average homeowner can take advantage of these features.

In addition, there are even portable home security surveillance systems that have more recently come on the market for those who rent a home or an apartment, so they too can have a home security system. Most of these portable systems use wireless video surveillance cameras, so they are easy to install and also very easy to remove and reinstall at a new location as needed.

Another advantage of these wireless surveillance camera systems is that the installation costs are much lower than the traditional hard-wired security systems. In fact, many people are able to install these kinds of systems themselves, which once again helps to make them more affordable.

Home security surveillance systems are most often used to monitor the happenings around the exterior of the home. This allows the homeowner to know what is happening on their property, which is especially helpful if there has been evidence of an intrusion of some type. However, simply having an operating network of surveillance cameras can be a huge deterrent to crime in and of itself.

These surveillance camera systems can also be used to keep an eye on things going on inside the home. This can be helpful in a game room type setting where teenagers like to gather but want to be away from adult supervision. They can also be used in the case of having a babysitter in the home, as there have been many reported incidents of an abusive babysitter being caught by camera video surveillance, and many include audio surveillance.

Innovations keep coming, and one of the most popular advances in security surveillance systems is the homeowner’s ability to remotely view the video streams right over the internet. Because of this powerful surveillance software application, a homeowner can watch the video feeds from their cameras no matter where they happen to be, as long as they have access to a high speed internet connection.

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