Home Burglary

Being a victim of a home burglary can be a very traumatic ordeal. Enhancing safety in the home will help you prevent the chances that you become a victim of a home burglary.

Taking steps to evaluate and correct potential safety concerns in our home is something most people overlook because they don’t expect to be a victim of a home burglary or home invasion. If you or someone you know have been a victim of a home burglary or home invasion, then you know the emotional toll victim’s experience as a result of these types of crimes. A heightened sense of awareness or becoming proactive in their home and personal security often occur after a crime; not to mention the fear, anxiety, sense of having your personal space and home violated and other serious emotional issues they face, often for years.

Nobody wants be a victim of any type of crime, but, to prevent crime and ensure safety in the home, as well as our personal safety, we need to evaluate the current security of our home by thinking like a crook. Home burglary happens everywhere; there is no such thing as a ‘safe neighborhood’. Being vigilant, aware and using commons sense will all go a long way to deterring and preventing a home burglary or home invasion at your house.

Home Threats

The key to preventing a home burglary is being vigilant. Pay attention to what is going on in and around your home and neighborhood. If you see anyone that ‘looks out of place’, ask them what they are doing there, politely. Criminals will often pose as repair or delivery men trying to gain access to homes. If someone comes to your door, do NOT open the door. Talk to them through a closed door-find out who they are, why they are there and ask for identification. If you aren’t expecting them, call the company they represent and verify they are who they say they are. If they can’t be verified, call the police.

Security

Look at your house from the outside, as a potential criminal would. What easy opportunities for gaining quick, unnoticed access to your home do you see?  For example, does your home back up to an alley or common area? This provides easy access to the back of your home and perhaps unnoticed access. If possible, build a wall to make access more difficult. Install a home video surveillance camera system and have at least one camera covering this point of access. Do you have a shed on the side or back of the house? If so, don’t leave it unlocked; gaining access to tools in the shed could make entry into your home even faster and easier. Having a home security alarm system installed by a professional company adds an effective layer of security for your home, as well as giving you a sense of safety and peace of mind. Protecting your home and property is a wise decision; protecting your life and the life of your family should be a ‘no brainer’.

Awareness

Criminals are opportunistic, tricky and they look for quick, easy targets. For example, if you provide personal information on a social media website, such as your marital status and address, then you use a ‘check in’ app, criminals know exactly where you are, which isn’t at home. If they also know you are single, they know that nobody else is at your home. Be very careful what information and with whom you share your personal information on line. Employers, potential employers use social media sights to learn about you, so do criminals!

Home Burglary

According to the FBI, 60% of home burglary occurs in the daytime. Why? Because criminals know that most homes are vacant because we are at work or school. Don’t leave a spare key hidden around your home. As cleaver as we think we are, criminals will find them and gain quick, easy access to your home. Criminals don’t like to draw any attention to their activity. Having a pet can be a deterrent against a home burglary because burglars don’t want the noise of a barking dog to alert neighbors that something is disturbing the animal. Your best crime prevention tool is a home security alarm system; but, be sure you have the alarm monitored and you USE it. It means communication with your neighbours about the possibility of home burglary; it means opening your eyes to crime prevention and not assuming home burglary will never happen to you. It means taking some or all of the measures that have been described in this article to protect your security.

For more information and Safety Tips on Home Burglary and Personal Safety, visit our website.

Scottsdale Burglary

Thieves in Scottsdale are breaking in to home to steal credit cards from residences. They then use fraudulently at retail stores in the valley.

Safety in the home is critically important and having a professionally installed home security alarm system with alarm monitoring will greatly improve your safety, security and will deter criminal activity.  Contact us at 480-213-7856 to schedule your free security review or visit our website to learn more about how you can enhance the safety in your home with our free Safety Tips.

Read more about the Scottsdale Burglaries: http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/2012/08/05/20120805scottsdale-burglary-suspects-sought.html#ixzz234F0TXoJ

http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/2012/08/05/20120805scottsdale-burglary-suspects-sought.html

Copper Theft – Are You At Risk?

Homeowners and commercial building owners know that the theft of copper from air conditioning units is on the rise. Many homes that sit vacant are targets for criminals to steal the copper from AC units,as well as tearing out drywall inside the home to get to the copper in the electrical lines. Vacant homes are the only targets though. Many people come home to find their AC isn’t working because it’s been stolen or the unit has been opened and the copper removed.

Roof top units on commercial building have also been targets. Now, even cellphone towers are being targeted! If you are an AT&T customer, you may have been affected and experienced poor reception recently.

There are steps that can be taken to protect your property and give you safety in the home. Pressure plates or outdoor rated contacts can be placed on AC units and tied into your home security alarm system. If someone tries to lift or remove the top of the unit, an alarm signal will be sent to your monitoring company. The alarm siren would sound immediately upon detection of the movement and deter the criminals from continuing to steal your property.

Home Invasion

Home invasion is one of the most frightening and potentially deadly crimes that can happen to a woman or any individual or family.  Home invasion is the forced entry into an occupied residence to commit robbery or other crimes.  It is especially frightening because it violates our home and our personal space.  In addition, if someone survives such a catastrophic crisis, they often experience stress reactions for years.  Unfortunately, many home invasions may end in assault, rape and murder.

In contrast to burglaries, home invasion occurs more often at night or weekends when we are more likely to be home.  Home invasion targets the resident, as well as the dwelling.  Targets of home invasion robberies can include a woman living alone, a wealthy senior citizen or anyone else simply because of the value of the car they drive or the jewelry they are wearing.  Robbers rarely work alone and rely on surprise and overwhelming physical force to gain control and instill fear.  The greatest violence usually occurs in the first minute of the assault, and they come equipped with handcuffs, rope, duct tape, knives and firepower.

Home invaders know that most people, even if they have a security system, do not arm them while they are home and most homeowners do not have video cameras, silent alarms or panic buttons.  So, unlike robbing a business, home invaders expect privacy once inside our home and know they won’t have to deal with the police suddenly driving up or customers walking in.

The most common point of attack is through the front door or garage.  Occasionally they will simply kick open the door and confront everyone inside.  More commonly though, the home invader knocks on the door first or rings the doorbell.  They know that many of us will simply open the door, without question, in response to their knock.

Home invaders will sometimes use tricks to get us to open the door. They pretend to be a delivering person or tell us they accidently hit our car.  Some home invaders may have been in our home before, such as a delivery person, installation technician or service person.  Others use children, pretending to be selling something for school to get us to open the door.  Once the door is opened, they will use an explosive amount of force and threats to gain control and instill fear in the occupants.  Once things are under control, the robbers will begin to collect our valuables.

Some home robbers spend hours searching and destroying a residence while the homeowners are bound nearby, watching in shear terror.  Some robbers have eaten meals, watched TV, and even take a nap.  The major fear, especially with women, is that the robbers will commit even more violence, like sexual assault, rape or murder.  Some victims have been kidnapped, forced to withdraw cash from their ATM machine or taken to their business to rob it as well.

The same precautions used to prevent daytime burglaries go a long way to preventing home invasions.  If a home invader can be slowed at the point of entry, we have a chance of deterring them from entering or having enough time to call the police.  All exterior entry points should have solid core doors with strong deadbolt locks and have reinforced strike plates.  Windows should be closed and locked also.

The weakest links in home security are the people who fail to lock doors and windows, open the door without question and who do not use their alarm system.  The best prevention is knowledge and planning.  Have a security system installed, have a plan if the unthinkable happens, get your family together and discuss the importance of security and how to answer the door when someone knocks, especially with young children.   While a woman living alone is especially vulnerable to this serious safety threat, everyone should take care to protect themselves.

Author David Murphy is the CEO of Xpress Protection Security Solutions, Inc.  

10 Things Every Women Need to Know about Personal Safety

1. Awareness - The first, and probably most important component in personal safety is awareness:awareness of yourself, your surroundings and your potential attacker’s likely strategies.  Criminals use the element of surprise and they key in on people who are unaware of what’s going on around them – talking on the phone, texting, sight seeing, etc. all take your focus off of who and what is around you.

2. Use your “sixth sense” - “Gut instinct,” “Intuition” or whatever you call it is a powerful subconscious insight we feel about situations and people.  We all have this gift, especially women, but very few of us pay attention or follow it.  Trust it and learn to use it to your full advantage.  Avoid any person or situation, which does not “feel” safe – you’re “sixth sense” is probably right.

3. Self-defense training - Most people think of kicks to the groin and blocking punches when they hear the term “self-defense.”  It’s important to evaluate your goals and the practical usefulness of a women’s self-defense program before signing up. If you are thinking of taking such training, consider these two tips:

a) Be careful of martial arts studios. Many women’s self-defense programs teach watered-down martial arts techniques that are complex and unrealistic under the stress of an actual attack.

b) Be sure the program you take includes simulated assaults in realistic rape and attack scenarios, which will allow you to practice what you’ve learned.

4. Escape - This is always the best option.  What do you do if a predator suddenly confronts you – be it in a car, in an alley, or a building and demands you go with him?  It would seem wise to obey, but never leave with them! Your chance of surviving a rape, murder or serious injury is far less likely if you go with the predator, even if he promises not to hurt you.  Your best option is to run away, yell for help, throw a rock through a store or car window – do whatever you can to attract attention.  If the criminal is after your purse or other material items, throw them one way while you run the other.

5. Fight back - Unfortunately, no matter how diligent we are in practicing awareness and avoidance techniques, we may find ourselves in a situation that leads to a physical confrontation.  It doesn’t matter if you have self-defense training, what your age or physical condition is, understand you CAN and SHOULD physically defend yourself.  Many women worry that they will anger the attacker and make things worse if they defend themselves.  However, statistics clearly show the odds of survival are far greater if you do fight back.  So, aim for the eyes first and the groin second, and use the element of surprise to your advantage – strike quickly, and mean it. You may only get one chance.

6. Pepper spray - To use it or not.  While pepper spray can be a useful tool, understand that there can be significant drawbacks to its use.  Such as, it doesn’t work on everyone!  Even a full-face spray will only incapacitate 80-85% of people.  Also, carrying it in your purse wastes time and alerts the attacker to your intentions while you fumble for it.  Never depend on any self-defense tool or weapon to stop an attacker,instead, trust your body and your wits.

7. Home invasions - A horrifying crime that is on the rise.  A key to preventing a home invasion is to never, ever open your door unless you are certain you know who’s on the other side or you can verify that they have a legitimate reason for being there.  Don’t fall for someone posing as a repairperson, a police officer, or a child selling something; these are tricks used by criminals to get your defenses down. Another key is to have solid core doors made of wood, steal or fiberglass, deadbolt locks with at least a 1” throw and reinforced strike plates.

8. Avoiding a car jacking - Lock all doors and keep windows up when driving.  Car jacking takes place most often when vehicles are stopped at intersections.  The criminals approach at a 45-degree angle, in the blind spot, and either pull you out of the driver’s seat or jump in the passenger’s seat.

9. A travel tip - Violent crimes against women happen in the best and worst hotels around the world. Predators may play the part of a hotel employee; pushing their way through an open or unlocked door, or obtain a passkey to the room.  As with home safety, never open your door unless you are certain the person on the other side is legitimate. Use a door wedge, it is often stronger than the door it secures.

10. Safety in cyberspace - Although the Internet is educational and entertaining, it can also be full of danger if you aren’t careful.  When communicating on-line, use a nickname and always keep personal information such as home address, phone number and complete date of birth confidential.  Don’t post your plans or use the ‘check-in’ features – don’t give the criminals any tips or advantages!

Personal Safety for women is about awareness, attitude, and understanding the dangers.  Knowing how a potential threat may develop and understanding how to avoid them and the safest and best course of action is the key to staying safe out there.

Author David Murphy is the CEO of Xpress Protection Security Solutions, Inc.