Security in Your Home, Conclusion

We’ve discussed using a layered approach to improving the security of your home, making your home too much work for the “casual” burglar. Most burglars will take the path of least resistance. Multiple layers of security remove your home from that path.

• Use effective lighing.  Don't leave potential entry points in shadows.  That's a good working environment for a burglar.  Make sure you can see what you need to see. 
  
• Use effective locks on quality doors.  Try to keep bad people out of your home.  Don't make a criminal's job easier. 
  
• Install an alarm system.  Don't let an intruder in to your home unannounced.  Monitored, unmonitored, or four-legged, don't be caught unaware. 
  
• Have a safe place to retreat.  Install a solid door to your bedroom and charge your cell phone there at night. 
  
• Get some training.  Regardless of your chosen means of self defense, learn how to use it effectively.
  

Have you done everything you can to make yourself safe?

Security in Your Home, Part 6: Training

In the worst case scenario, the intruder has made it through all of your layers. He has decided your well-lit house is worth entering. He has bypassed your locks and ignored your alarm. Your dog is incapacitated, and he has entered your safe-room before the police have had a chance to arrive. Here, you are left to rely on your training. Consider getting a gun and gun training. There is no more effective method of self defense than a gun in trained hands. Don’t get the gun without getting training. The NRA offers courses all around the country for a generally reasonable fee. Don’t treat the gun as a magic talisman to ward off evil. If you are planning to have a gun for self defense, you must be willing to use the gun. It won’t scare off intruders if you are not willing to use it. If a gun in impractical, for whatever reason, consider unarmed self defense training. Your training should include the legal aspect of using force-particularly lethal force-if the necessity arises. No matter your method of training, never give up! If you can disrupt the script in the intruder’s head, you stand a much better chance of surviving unscathed. Remember, your home provides the privacy necessary to effectively transform it into a “secondary crime scene” at the whim of a criminal. Don’t let it happen to you.

Security in Your Home, Part 5: The Safe Room

Most bedrooms can be converted to a safe room in which you can securely isolate yourself from intruders for a minimal cost. If an intruder enters your house, this is the room in which the family should gather. The door should be reinforced, and there should be a way to call for help. I strongly suggest you put your cell phone charger in this room and keep your cell phone in this room at night. When you enter your safe room in an emergency, first brace the door, then call the police.

To upgrade a room to a safe room, install a solid-core door with a 2x4 brace against the floor using these steps(as explained by Prof. Joe Olson):

1. Get a 2x4 about 6 feet long.
2. Cut off two 4" blocks.
3. Install one block on the back of the door about 3.5 feet from the floor and the other block on the floor about 3.5 feet back from the door. Use three #12 screws about 2.5 inches long to solidly attach the blocks.
4. The remainder of the 2x4 should slide between the blocks at approximately a 45 degree angle. Shape the ends of the 2x4 so it fits easily.
5. Once installed, it's easier to go through the wall than the door

Make sure to modify the door the same way that was explained in part 3 of this series. Install a heavy-duty strike plate and secure it with screws at least three inches long. Secure the hinges the same way, and consider adding an extra hinge in the middle of the door.

Put your cell phone in your safe room. If this isn't practical, for some reason, get an old cell phone. Put it, and its charger, in your safe room. Most older phones will still work to call 911. To test this, dial a number that is not 911. You should get a connection and some form of automated system. If this is the case, you now have an emergency phone. Leave it plugged in at all times, to ensure a charged battery.

Windows are a weak point in a bedroom that serves as a safe room. They need to be legal fire escapes, which precludes most forms of inexpensive or discreet barricades. Pegged double-hung or casement(crank) windows provide more security than most other low-cost and discreet options. Windows also provide a possible exit, if you are sure it is safe to leave.

Keep your keys in your safe room. This will not only prevent the easy theft of your car, but, if you have an alarm or panic button on your key-chain, you can wake up the neighborhood with your car's alarm system and provide a loud beacon for responding police.

Your safe room is also the place to store defensive weapons. If a firearm is legally and psychologically available to you, keep it here. There are numerous storage methods that allow quick access while still keeping your gun out of unauthorized hands. If you are not willing or able to use a firearm, a taser, pepper-spray, or even a baseball bat should be kept here.

Security in Your Home, Part 4: Alarms

When most people think of home security, they think of monitored alarm systems. Alarm systems don’t have to be monitored and they don’t have to be a “budget buster.” There are too many options both for installation and monitoring to fit within the scope of this primer.

Unmonitored, wireless security systems can be had for as little as $100. These can be programmed to turn on your lights and trigger an audible alarm. These alarms serve primarily as an "early warning system". They prevent an intruder from entering your home unannounced. Some of them can dial outside numbers, to ask a neighbor to check on your house.

Monitored security systems can make sure the police are summoned, even if you are unable to use the phone. If you avoid the big name alarm companies, it is possible to get a monitored alarm system installed for under $500 and pay less than $10 per month for the monitoring service. Some of these systems monitor for fire or water, too.

Consider getting a dog. Dogs won’t provide effective and reliable protection, unless specifically trained for it, but they make a great early warning system, if you are willing to investigate when they bark. Smaller dogs often provide a better “bark alarm” than big dogs. Big dogs, however, prove a better deterrent to a potential burglar. Any dog will provide some deterrent to burglars. Do not get a dog with the intention of assuming it is a guard dog, unless you are willing to get a dog professionally trained to guard. Dogs should be considered an early warning system and potential deterrent. Beyond that, dogs should be treated as family. If you can’t commit to properly caring for a dog, don't get one.

In short, lock your doors, lock your windows, and do whatever you can to keep someone from getting into your home unannounced.

Security in Your Home, Part 3: Locks

Continuing in the series, we’ll move on to the locks layer. Locks are the most basic protection/warning device you can have against intruders. Locks are designed to slow an intruder and cause the intruder to make noise while bypassing the lock.

Your doors should be locked regardless of the time of day. Home invasions can and do occur at all hours. Intruders no longer save their activities for the dark half of the day. You should have a heavy-duty strike-plate and you should always use at least 3 inch screws to secure the strike-plate. This will secure the strike plate to the wall framing, instead of to the door trim. There are also "full-height" strike plates available. These are steel trim extending the height of the door. Attach this with 3" screws, and it becomes very difficult to kick in your door.

Ideally, your exterior doors will be solid doors, as opposed to solid-core(wood-filled) or solid-core(foam filled). A steel-clad wooden door or a steel-center solid-core door are acceptable choices.

You should invest in a secure set of locks that are resistant to bump-keying. Look for the ANSI rating on the locks. An ANSI Grade 1 lock is twice as secure as ANSI Grade 2. Grade 3 should not be considered for an exterior door. Kwikset is currently marketing ANSI Grade 1, bumpkey-resistant lock sets to the residential market for a reasonable price. Schlage and Medeco both have high-end lines of lock sets that are very secure. There are others, so please don't consider this to be an all-exclusive list of locks. Do some research before you buy the primary means of securing your home.

If you have a window within arm's reach of your deadbolt, get a double-cylinder deadbolt that requires a key to unlock.

These considerations also apply to a door leading to an attached garage. The connection between your house and garage should always be considered an external entry point. If an intruder has access to your garage, he can attempt to circumvent the entry to the house in complete privacy.

Your patio door is also a prime point of vulnerability. Putting a broomstick in the bottom track isn't enough. Invest in a $13 "Charlie Bar" to keep that door secure. A Charlie Bar is mounted at the vertical middle of the stationary panel of your patio door. It removes the leverage that a stick at the bottom of the door leaves available to an intruder. Some versions can be set to allow the door to open a few inches for air flow.

Be very wary about opening the door to strangers, particularly outside of daytime business hours. Don't be embarrassed to refuse entry to someone you don't know because it might seem rude. It's better to be safe than not embarrassed. Opening your door to strangers removes most, if not all of the layers in your security system. Install a well-made storm or screen door with your front door. Keep this door locked, so you can open your main door, without leaving yourself open to a "rush attack".

If someone claiming to be law enforcement is at your door and you are suspicious about that claim (e.g. no squad car visible), lack of appropriate attire or credentials), simply call the 911 dispatcher to get confirmation of their identity. No legitimate law enforcement officer is going to be offended when you verify their identity.

Your windows should also be locked. Casement (crank) windows or double-hung windows with a pin-lock or brace provide more security than regular double hung windows left open. If you can’t secure a window while it is partially open, it should be closed and locked on any floor of the home.

Lock your car in the driveway. If you have a garage door opener in your car, this could give easy access to your home. If you have personal papers in your car, this opens you up to identity theft.

If at all possible, consider locking your bedroom door at night. This can mean the difference between waking up to an intruder standing over you and waking up to someone trying to break down your bedroom door. This isn't always possible, or desirable, especially if you have children.

Security in your Home - Part 2, Lighting

Our next layer is lighting. Lighting is our best “deterrent from a distance”. If a house looks well-lit, with an inconvenient lack of shadows and motion sensor lights by each of the entrances, it is more likely to be considered a poor target for intruders. Lighting comes in three essential stages, two of which do not come into play until the burglar is actually in your house, but we will address all the stages here.

Install motion activated floodlights by every entrance. If possible install the light above easy reach, to prevent an intruder from simply unscrewing the light bulb. If that’s not possible, try to find a light with a locking grate over the bulb opening. This will force an intruder to be visible while he tries to enter your home. It also makes it easier for you to get your keys into the lock when you come home at night. Be sure your exterior lights illuminate the "hidden" entry and/or ambush points, like rear doors and windows, walkways, shrubs and garage entries. Keep your bushes trimmed away from your house, to avoid giving an intruder a place to hide while he works. Don't make his job easy for him!

In addition, put a nightlight in the living room area, away from the safe room. This will effectively disable a burglar’s night vision. It will also silhouette the intruder if you come into the room. It has the added benefit of allowing you to see where you are going if you need to get up in the middle of the night. Emergency nightlights with light sensor and "no power" detection are the best choice. Consider putting some of your lights on timers, or installing a FakeTV, to simulate activity when you are not home. If it looks like you are home, burglars are less likely to attempt entry.

Finally, have a flashlight with batteries available at the bedside of everyone in the house to see in the dark. This will allow everyone the ability to see if there is a problem at night, whether it is an emergency or a simple power outage. A stout flashlight can also double as a self defense tool, if necessary. Check the batteries when you check your smoke alarms. LED or crank-powered flashlights last a long time, with very little maintenance

Security in your Home - Part 1, A Layered Approach

This is part one of a series.

We’re going to discuss using a layered approach to improving the security of your home. Using a layered approach provides two primary benefits. First, it makes your home too much work for the “casual” burglar. Most burglars will take the path of least resistance. Multiple layers of security remove your home from that path. Second, each layer adds to your reaction time, either by warning you of an intrusion, or slowing down your intruder. This gives you time to get your family to safety and call 911. Every second counts.

Before we get into the options for home security, I want to define layers, in the context of security. A security layer is anything that provides notice of intrusion, or anything that slows or prevents said intrusion. In plain English, if it slows down an intruder, or convinces an intruder to go elsewhere, or alerts you to an intruder's presence, we’ll consider it a security layer. These layers can be anything from the streetlight on the corner eliminating shadows in our yards, to the monitored alarm systems with sensors on every possible entrance to our houses, to the family dog. Our goal is to convince the intruder to seek easier prey, or failing that, to slow them down enough that we can get to safety and wait for the police without fearing for our lives. We’ll be approaching the layers in the same manner as an intruder, from the outside in.

The first layer an intruder will encounter is an intangible that will never be noticed. This is the most important element in any security system. I’m talking about planning and awareness. The best security system in the world will accomplish nothing if you don’t get it installed before there is an incident or if you don’t know what to do when it is activated. The loudest alarm won’t help if you’re not paying attention when is shrieks.

Plan ahead. Get the alarm installed before you need it. Trim your bushes back, reinforce your front door, and most importantly, develop a plan of action for you and your family. Have a plan of action for your family in the case of a home invasion/hot burglary, much like you would for a fire. Conduct “Invasion Drills” as often as you would conduct Fire Drills. Everybody in the family should know what to do and where to go in the event of a home invasion.

Be alert. If your dog barks, investigate the bark. That’s why you have a dog. If your security lights turn on, look out the window and find out what caused it. Lock your doors and windows if you know you’re going to be less aware for a time. That means lock the door when you take a nap or a shower, or when you will be listening to loud music. Many people let down their guard at home, assuming nothing bad can happen there, that nothing bad can happen during the day. This is simply not true. If you are aware of what is going on around you, you are much less likely to be victimized. I’m not suggesting constant hyper-vigilance 24 hours per day. People need downtime to relax. I am, however, strongly suggesting you take basic precautions before you unwind.

Next time, we will discuss lighting.

Cross-posted here and here.