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9.0 SAFETY & SECURITY FOLLOW UP; HOW TO PREVENT CRIME, ACCIDENTS, INJURIES

After having written about this topic, I saw an NBC television report on home security which confirmed much of what I wrote.

Here is the gist of what was said in that report.

The average burglary takes about two minutes, often less. A thief can frequently defeat or avoid home alarms. Even if the alarm does go off there is little chance of the police getting there in time. It can take the police about an hour to arrive if at all.

About a third of burglars go in through the front door. Often the only tool used to force the door is a screwdriver. Another favorite entrance is through a ground floor unlocked window. The dollar amount of the average theft is about $1300. However, the psychological damage is much greater because if you do not feel safe in your home, where can you feel safe?

The reporters got three home security companies to estimate the cost of installing a system into the same house. The estimates were: about $100, $1000, and $3000. Most alarms do not ring into a local office but instead may call a central office anywhere in the USA; the call then has to be routed to a local office which takes time. You can pay $10-$20 more for a private security patrol to respond to your alarm but they are not really police so their enforcement powers are extremely limited and their response time is about the same as the police.

The best deterrent, which was neighborhood watch, cost nothing.

In addition security experts recommend these inexpensive steps as the most important to security. Use motion detector lights because these will illuminate and perhaps startle the thief. Make sure your house has visible street numbers. Light the address numbers on your house so the police can find you. Use outside lights and place them up high so that a thief cannot unscrew them. Avoid bushes and other shrubs close to the house, because a thief can hide behind them. When you leave on vacation do not tell the post office and newspaper to hold your deliveries, instead have a neighbor pick these up everyday. The neighbor can also check on the house at the same time.

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