Home Security Checklist
You might want to try breaking and entering into your own home to see just how easy it is for a burglar! It may be an eye-opener and will certainly help you identify your security needs.
Here's a quick checklist of what to look out for:
- Start from the street - are there plenty of hiding places behind trees, shrubs or wheelie bins?
- Is there a security screen door on the front and back entrances? Is it really secure - steel frame and mesh - and locked?
- If there is no security screen door, does your front door have a peephole or a safety chain so you can see who's there?
- Are the front and back doors solid and firmly fitted into their frames - or would they be easy to kick in or jemmy?
- Are there spare keys "hidden" under a rock, under the mat, in a pot plant or in the unlocked meter box?
- Is there a small window left open for ventilation?
- Are windows and doors locked, with keyed locks, preferably deadlocks?
- Would it be easy to remove the hinges from your doors?
- Is there glass in or near the front door that would be a cinch to break?
- Are there garden tools or ladders lying around that would do just the trick for breaking a window, jemmying open a door, or climbing on to reach that high open window?
- Is the garage locked, the shed?
- Could someone turn off the power (and the alarm) by accessing the power box?
- If you have sliding doors, do they have the right locks? Often sliding doors can be forced out of the track by intruders.
- Do you have glass louvre windows? These are almost impossible to secure - consider replacing them.
- Do you keep doors and windows locked even when you're at home?
- Do you have good outdoor lighting that highlights areas around the door and minimises places to hide in the dark?
- Do you have movement sensors that turn on if someone gets too close?
- If you have an alarm, is it on, regularly serviced and maintained?
- Do you have skylights? Are these locked?
- Can you afford not to make your home more secure?
