Homes/businesses are more vulnerable during the summer months, but there are ways you can protect your home and property.
- If you like to keep your windows open to let air inside, remember to always close and lock the windows before you leave the house/office. Teach your children, other relatives & staff to do the same. If your windows don’t have locks, install some. When you aren’t home or at the office, keep your blinds and curtains drawn as well.
- If your children are home alone during the day, teach them to keep the door locked at all times and to never answer the door.
- Invest in video surveillance, allowing you to keep an eye on your property from anywhere, at anytime.
- Instruct and practice with those who share your home or office on using your alarm system correctly.
- Don’t keep your spare key under your welcome mat, hidden in a plant or under a rock near the door, or above the doorframe. Intruders know to look in these places as well. Give every resident/authorized manager their own key and keep no spares, or move the spare key to an inconspicuous place such as a hidden combination lockbox. You can also invest in electronic door locks with a keypad or smartphone connectivity, eliminating the need for a spare key altogether.
- Have a trusted neighbor or relative watch your house while you’re on vacation, and have them pick up any mail, delivered packages or newspapers. A pile of newspapers is an easy sign to intruders that you will be gone for a while. You could also place a request to the United States Post Office for a temporary hold on delivering mail.
- Install motion-sensitive flood lights around your home/office—near every exterior door, under your carport or near your garage, and especially in darker areas of the property. Light is a big deterrent to burglary activity, especially paired with cameras.
- Cut your grass and put any tools or outdoor equipment away before leaving for vacation so your home won’t look unoccupied for a long period of time.
- Don’t broadcast your vacation on social media, voicemail greeting or auto-reply email message.
- Place your alarm company signs prominently around your home/business, including on doors and windows, to serve as a visual deterrent.