Residential Burglary Prevention.
Home Security
*****UPDATED 3/2/2025*****
From a 2022 post
First, a short story,,,
The best surveillance camera footage that I had ever seen came from a do-it-yourself system. The system was put together by a apartment building manager. The system was a VHS, yes I said VHS, recorder , one single camera input , all bought from Walmart for under $200.00. I’ve seen numerous footage from systems professionally installed that cost over $100,000.00 where we could not clearly identify the subject as he looked into the lens.
The big difference, the apartment building manager took his step ladder, some glass cleaner and cleaned the camera lens every week. The video footage of the subject was so clear that he was easily identified by the neighbors.
How many times have you cleaned the lens on the home surveillance system that you have?
We could could talk for hours on the on how to tighten the security perimeter on your home. Today I’ll pass along a few tips that are inexpensive and you can do them yourself. Years ago the security devices mentioned below were costly and out of the financial reach of most of us. Today most of the items on this page are very cheap.
Remember !
The security of your home, your car and the security of your personal being must consist of layers. Meaning, that no “1” individual obstacle that you place between a subject who wants to steal from you or assault you, guarantees your safety. If there was such a device, we would all have one. You must make the subject defeat more than “1” obstacle before reaching his goal.
Your Home Security
The outer perimeter:
That consists of lighting and early warning detection.
Motion activated lights, security cameras that can tell the difference between the motion from nature or animals and that of humans.
Your neighbors,,, have you met your neighbors? Do you greet them occasionally when you are arriving to and leaving your home? Do your neighbors have a contact number that they can reach you at should they see something suspicious at your home? Do you have a contact number for your neighbor? Burglars for the most part, rely on isolation to apply their skills. Isolation can be your home’s physical location in regard to the location of your nearest neighbor. But in most cases burglars count on isolation in the relationship that you have with your neighbors; many neighbors just don’t want to get involved. You can change this with a friendly introduction.
Are you living in a condominium? There is not one condominium that runs itself. There will be someone that maintains the daily functions of that condominium. There is often a security person, maintenance personnel and office personnel, take the time to meet these individuals. They should all have the ability to reach you.
The secondary perimeter:
Lighting is King here ! Continuous or motion detection activated with a long duration.
Consisting of properly secured doors, windows and garage/parking area. {Examples are give below.}
Consider an alarm system on points of entry. This can be a simple door/window sensor. {Examples are given below.}
Security cameras when you are away from home. {Further discussion on cameras below.}
“Indicators of life”, as I call them. Televisions, radios, programmable lights ( quite cheap to purchase actually) or dogs.
When is the last time you went outside your home at night and examined it as a burglar would? What did you learn about the family inside?
The inner perimeter:
The last layer, it is the home owner.
Alerted, Armed and Committed to stopping the subject.
Never assume that because you are at home and your home displays “Indicators of Life” that you are safe from an intruder. Not all burglars/intruders are the same with their intent. There are actually burglars among us that don’t give a damn about your personal belongings.
**Christopher C. was a intruder into homes. I call him an intruder because he never entered to steal, though often he would take the victim’s car keys when he exited and drive away from the scene. Christopher removed his finger and palm prints with acid when he was young in his career. Christopher liked to enter occupied homes and masturbate over the victims as he watched them sleep. On a single evening, Christopher pushed his luck, he entertained himself over a young women in her home while she was sleeping and left to continue his activity in another home where he raped a 74 year old woman. The Spirit of the Law caught up with Christopher in the early morning hours on Lincoln Road, the Spirit was heavy that morning. Christopher went to prison, but violated his probation and has been a fugitive on the run since June of 2002.**
Tips For Home Security
NOTE
Your front door may have a nice Medeco lock on it, but it’s the door frame that the burglar is going to defeat, not your expensive lock. He can do it with a cheap pry-bar, They are easy to conceal, super tough and can be used as a weapon against you, should he confront you inside.
Strengthen the door around the lock. Here is probably the cheapest and best little addition to that door lock.
Now that I have you motivated toward strengthening that door, be advised that few burglars use the front door as a point of entry. The only unwanted individuals who like to breach the front door are SWAT Teams.
If your doors open to the inside, here is a link to a fantastic tool that secures the door and it is small enough to take on trips. Most hotel doors open to the inside.
How about that sliding glass door or even better that little bathroom window where you stack the shampoo. Burglars love these two points of entry. If you are able to afford or already have hurricane resistant glass for the sliding glass door, that’s great.
Often the burglar will use a pry-bar to lift the sliding glass door out of it’s track and simply place the door to the side.
See how easy it is to breach/enter a sliding glass door !
A simple prevention technique in the two videos below.
A Home Depot cheap wooden dowel or Home Depot PVC pipe in the bottom slide rail is a must. Measure the bottom and cut a piece at Home Depot about ½ inch longer than the bottom measurement. A dowel or pipe can also be placed in the bathroom window also. I can’t count the number of burglary reports that I wrote over 25 years that the small bathroom window was the point of entry.
Take some 409 spray cleaner and clean the windows, door handle area and the rails, even if you live on a floor above ground level. Crime scene techs really appreciate a nice clean surface when they lift a subject’s prints. Do this wipe down every month.
This house is just asking to be entered. Point of entry would be the second floor, accessed by the climbing the water pipe & electrical conduit pipe on the right side of the house. Based on the design of the house in this photo, a burglar would not even bother with the front door. People might be downstairs and he will be headed upstairs to steal the best stuff, which is usually kept in the bedroom. A cheap, loud sensor is a must on all windows.
Lighting is a must; motion activated and bright. Cheap battery powered devices can be bought at Home Depot.
Video Security Cameras
If you have cameras outside and inside, try to keep the same system/company for all cameras. This makes it much easier to operate the system on your cellphone from one single app.
There are all types of security cameras on the market today.
Stick with a system that has continuous running live video to the cloud.
A system that is controlled from your cellphone app.
The best clarity in recording and real-time alerts to your cellphone.
*** In 2015 a party balloon got separated from it’s owner and floated through the sky, coming to rest on my balcony here in South Florida. My security camera picked it up and I got the alert on my cellphone with live video in 7 seconds. I was in Saigon, Vietnam, now called Ho Chi Minh City.***
Many systems allow you to communicate with the person on camera. You can have your system monitored by a security/alarm company.
“I prefer a cellphone controlled system that allows me to use the same cellphone to call “911” myself, if the person attempts entry or refuses to leave. Cut out the middleman, save valuable time. Practice a few times with bringing up your home cameras on the app, then calling a friend at the same time. This gets you use to watching the live feed and talking to a dispatcher on 911. Nest cameras allow this type of control.”
i know a person who runs “3” Nest security cameras 24/7 with one week of Cloud history, for a total of $8.00 a month. Place cameras so that the sides of your home are clearly visible in the video. Most burglars are headed to the side or the rear of your home.
In the resources page of this website, I provide a link to “Nest” cameras for security.
When you have some time during the day, take a slow walk around your home. Look at your home as as though you are a burglar and what you have always wanted is inside, figure out a way to breach your home.
Burglars are no smarter than we are; they are just desperate and have some on-the-job training experience. Fix any weaknesses that you find.
Lastly, if a subject makes it into the inner perimeter, here is a device that can help,,,,,,,
B.A.P.D. Burglar Assault Prevention Device
Get one and learn how to use it !
Thank you for listening,,,,,,