The most common threat to our home is burglary. According to the FBI, a burglary occurs somewhere in the United States every 15.4 seconds. Burglary is defined by Florida statute 0as entering a building or conveyance with the intent of committing an act therein0. The statute goes on to say that burglaries are usually committed when the dwelling is unoccupied, but should the residents be present, the statute carries a more serious charge and much stiffer criminal punishment guidelines.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in its0 most recently released Uniform Crime Report contains data collected for FY 2006 regarding not only the national statistics on the number of burglaries for both residential and businesses, but also on the times these crimes usually occur. Why is this data important regarding home security?
Table 23 of the Uniform Crime report reveals the following:

In 2006, there were an estimated 2,183,746 burglary offenses Burglary accounted for 21.9 percent of the estimated number of property crimes committed in 2006. (Based on Table 1.)
In 2006, burglary offenses cost victims an estimated $4 billion in lost property. (Based on Tables 1 and 23.)
The average dollar loss per burglary offense in 2006 was $1,834.Of the burglary offenses in 2006, […]

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In 2004 the Bureau of Justice reported that: -77% of all crime was property related -17% of all crime domiciles were violated by a burglar -85% of all burglaries the offender gained entry into the house or other building.

In the article "Home Security: Do It Yourself Home Security" we talked about ideas to prevent entry to your home. But the fact is that a determined burglar will get into your home. That is his job and let's face it, looking at the statistics, they are unfortunately good at it. Remember this: property crime occurs every 3 seconds, a home burglary every 15 seconds.

The home burglary that has received the most attention recently involved the theft of a laptop from a Veteran's Affairs analysts' home. The laptop reportedly had the personal data for 26.5 million veterans.

Three other tactics might be used to help prevent a burglary are home security alarms or burglar alarms, property marking and home security cameras.

Property marking is simply marking all your valuables with an identifying "signature" so they can readily be identified when recovered. Methods of marking include micro dots, laser pens, and ultraviolet pens. The key here is to have signage letting everyone know your property won't be so easy to sell on the black market because it is marked. Believe it or not most burglars do read and study their targets.

Home security cameras as part of a home security system are very effective in two respects. First as a deterrent. If a burglar sees that a property is covered with surveillance cameras they will have second thoughts in targeting that property. Second, if they are not that smart and decide to enter anyhow, a good surveillance system will capture the images of the perpetrator making it easier for the police to capture the bad guys. Home security cameras can be wired or wireless, real or dummy, indoor or outdoor, or any combination thereof.

Alarms can act as a successful deterrent. 90 % of police believe alarms deter burglary attempts. There are all kinds of alarms including expensive home security alarm systems monitored by ex-police officers. Silent, noisy, wired, wireless, door, window, motion, monitored, unmonitored-you name it and there is an alarm for it. Signage again is the key. Let burglars know they are in for a hard time ahead of time. The thing is alarms work.

Alarms, surveillance cameras, and property marking are three more ways you can protect your home from burglary. Home security has become a huge business in the United States. With the advances in home security alarms, home security systems including wireless home security and home security cameras maybe, just maybe the bad guys will think twice before breaking into your home

If you think crime can only happen to the other guy you are wrong. The "other guy" is thinking the same thing and YOU are that "other guy". There is a reason why they call it self defense. You have to protect yourself.

Jack Krohn started Security Solutions to help people prevent crime. His websites http://www.aaa-safetyfirst.com/electronicwatchdog.htm and http://www.aaa-safetyfirst.com/cybereye.htm offer unique, hard to find products for self defense, home security and professional high tech surveillance equipment for homes and business.

Join us Today for special offers and deep discounts on specified self defense and home security products http://www.aaa-safetyfirst.com/. We offer a nice selection of home alarms. There is bound to be one just right for you. Be prepared-protect yourself!!

Burglary is a phenomenon: thieves seem to discover each day new ways of violating our homes. There are so many countries where people live each day with the fear that when they come back from work they might find their homes burglarized. Police cannot do much and many burglars go on unpunished. Burglary represents for thieves an easy way to make money. Most of them will not bother to develop scenarios for complicated burglary, unless the target can bring them the "queen's diamond". So the burglars look for homes with easy access. Therefore, the best thing you can do to minimize the risk of having your house on the burglars' list, is to make it difficult to enter. To do this you need to fortify your entrances, secure the windows, employ good lighting and use reliable alarm systems.

Fortify Your Entrance Points

Although they don't look very pretty and bring a "heavy look", metal entrance doors transform your home into a difficult target. Most burglars do not possess the skills we see in movies. If a house is too difficult to burglarize, they will simply avoid it. Statistic, housebreakers prefer to enter via the garage door. Followed by the back door, the garage door is known to be the most accessible point of entry in a house. For this reason do not use metal doors solely to fortify your main entrance, but to secure all the other points of entry as well. Remember: a door with a wooden jamb is very easy to kick open. Fortify such entrances and make sure to use quality locks that resist lock-picking attempts for all your doors.

Secure All Accessible Windows

Despite the common belief, burglars are not intimidated by the daylight. Statistic, most of the break-in incidents happen during the daytime, when people are away at work. An open window is an invitation. Do lock your windows when you are away from home. Windows with latches are very easy to slide open, that's why you should use secondary blocking devices that will discourage burglars. Usually housebreakers prefer ground floor windows and windows that are accessible from a balcony, fence or a stair. When you secure the windows make sure burglars cannot reach and remove the blocking device. If you have an alarm system in your home, connect it to the accessible windows as well.

Use Lighting to Show Signs of Activity at Night

When away from home in a business trip or in vacation, make sure your home will not stay darken night after night. To avoid sending such an invitation to the thieves, use light timers. The light timers can be also used to turn on and off lights, radio and TV sets that will intensify the false impression of occupancy.

Don't undervalue the importance of exterior lighting. Since burglars do not want to be seen or identified, good exterior lighting will discourage them to come near your home. For this purpose use security lights with infrared motion detectors.

Use Reliable Alarm Systems

Burglars do not want to be caught, that's why most of them will bypass a home with visible alarm signs. An alarm system is effective and reliable when properly installed and maintained. Take care of your alarm code and don't write it in visible places. Your purpose is to make it difficult for burglars to break in into your home and not to make their job easy.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Home Security