Keeping your family safe at home and in your own neighborhood is a top priority among all homeowners. Unfortunately, some neighborhoods do attract criminal activity, or you may find your dream home in a neighborhood that leaves something to be desired in the safety category. There are steps you can take to make your home safer and more secure, however. Following is a list of the most effective methods to boost security in your home and neighborhood:
1. Start a Neighborhood Watch, or Join an Existing One
Find out if your neighborhood or prospective neighborhood has an existing neighborhood watch program. If they do, join it and attend meetings. If not, start a conversation with your neighbors and start one of your own. Neighborhood watch programs are one of the best ways to be aware of what’s going on in your area and thwart crime before it ever begins.
These programs outline procedures for reporting suspicious activity in the neighborhood, which ensures a collective effort in maintaining or establishing safety in the area. If everyone is willing to watch out for everyone else and attend a few meetings, it’s quite easy to be the neighborhood where nothing gets by anyone – even an unfamiliar vehicle driving through will be remembered by a resident trained to watch for activity that isn’t routine.
2. Get to Know Your Neighbors
Host a block party, house party or find some other way to get involved socially with your neighbors. You don’t have to establish close friendships if you don’t want to, but just getting to know each other a little better and creating a rapport with them helps to make everyone feel like they belong and can identify something that seems “off.” You can also set up a community text alert system which makes it easy to broadcast important messages to everyone in the community.
3. Watch for Suspicious Behavior
If you see something, say something. Regardless of the state of your relationship with your neighbors or the existence of a neighborhood watch, always be on the lookout for anything out of place. It may be an unfamiliar car canvassing the neighborhood, a person wandering the streets, a door-to-door salesman or even the absence of normal activity from a neighbor’s home.
There are always criminals looking for their next neighborhood target, and they can’t get away with it if you’re watching for them. Even if the behavior or event seems small, it’s better to call the police or at least write down a description, time and all the details you can than to be sorry you didn’t later.
4. Clean Up the Neighborhood
If there is any graffiti in your neighborhood, clean it up. Its presence may indicate that gang activity is near, or may invite further defacing of property from bored teenagers. Taking pride in how your property appears and looks to strangers speaks to the level of surveillance that may be going on around you, and thwart criminal activity.
Keeping your landscaping well-groomed also reduces the chance of a would-be criminal thinking you may not be paying attention to your surroundings as well as you should be. Removing trash and other debris can also clear the way for possible hiding places for people and paraphernalia that don’t belong in your neighborhood. It’s far easier to canvas a clean yard and see if something is amiss than trying to keep track of cluttered areas and whether anything is out of place.
5. Lock Your Doors
Although it may seem like common sense, far too many break-ins happen because someone didn’t lock a window or back door they thought no one knew about. Ensure all windows and entrances/exits to your home and property are always properly locked, even when you’re home. This is something that often needs to be discussed and taught to young children, too. They don’t always understand the importance of locking the door behind them or locking a window after opening it to get fresh air. The fewer opportunities you give to outsiders to come in, the less likely it is to happen. Even if you’re just going for a walk or quick run to the store, it’s not always the case that you live in the safest neighborhood in town.
6. Install Proper Lighting
Much like cleaning up your property when it needs it, properly lighting your doors and even driveway can help you see any activity of persons approaching the home. Motion lights in yards where there doesn’t need to be light at all times is a money saver and can alert you to suspicious activity. Criminals are far less likely to target a property where they are lit up and can be identified by anyone looking out their window, too.
7. Keep Valuables Locked Up
Do your best to avoid inviting criminals into your home by closing drapes and bagging boxes that may reveal new purchases brought into the house. Holidays and birthdays bring an influx of electronics and other expensive items that may bait a criminal to try to break in and steal them if they know you just purchased a new television or sought-after toy.
Although it’s difficult to hide all electronics and expensive items in your home, drapes and blinds help to obstruct the view of them so it’s harder to determine what you may have stored in there. Similarly, don’t leave purses, wallets, or so much as gift cards in your vehicle – bring them inside. Lawnmowers, gardening tools, bicycles and other outdoor toys should also be put away and locked in a garage or shed so onlookers aren’t tempted to take them.
8. Cover Your Bases When Leaving Town
When planning to leave your home for an extended period, arrange to have your mail held at the post office or a trusted neighbor to collect it for you. Also have someone check on your property daily to ensure nothing seems suspicious and no one is squatting there; this can be just a simple walk by the front yard, making sure nothing seems out of place and no unknown vehicle is in the drive or garage.
Similarly, inform your neighbors if you plan on having someone house sit for you while you’re gone. Exchange contact numbers, introduce them if possible, and ensure they know a physical description of the person, their vehicle and their daily routines if different from yours. This will help prevent neighbors unnecessarily calling police when something really isn’t wrong.
Consider investing in automatic timers for lights in your home as well as for outdoor lighting. The less obvious it is that your regular routine has changed, the less likely it is that a criminal may strike while you’re gone.
9. Research Security Systems
Seriously consider installing a security system that fits your budget and comfort level of protection. There are several options that are do-it-yourself varieties, as well as outside companies that specialize in everything from door and window sensors to laser perimeter monitoring. Sometimes just seeing a sign disclosing the fact your home is protected by a system will turn criminals away.
10. Get a Guard Dog
When all else fails, having a living, breathing guard animal in your home will often alert you when something is amiss. Guard dogs aren’t only a member of the family and well-loved companion, but will also protect their families to the death if necessary. In addition, any criminal seeing you have such a dog will likely avoid your property in order to avoid a confrontation with the dog.
11. Protect Your Personal Information
Keep your personal contact information and address off of social media. Similarly, don’t post online when you’re out of town, advertising that your property is open for business. Even people you know may be tempted if they know you just bought a new item they really want and then see that you’ve left town and aren’t around to protect it.
Likewise, shred any and all mail or other documents that contain your personal information. Some criminals follow addresses, find credit card information or even social security numbers to steal your personal identity. Don’t leave your passwords lying around, and ensure your firewall and Internet provider passwords are protecting you from hackers.
12. Get to Know Your Local Police Department
Introduce yourself to any officer patrolling the neighborhood, or venture to the local station and develop a rapport with the officers there. Having a personal connection to your local law enforcement helps you notice if an unknown officer is hanging around or know who to call in case of an emergency. It also goes a long way when you just need someone to check on your property or a suspicious person or vehicle to know your local officers. They’re much more likely to bend over backwards to help you feel safe.
13. Talk to Your Children
Make sure your kids know the neighborhood well, and have a form of communication with them when they’re not at home. Teach them how to identify a predator or criminal sin general. Encourage them to be observant of their surroundings and report any suspicious activity. Ensure you know where they are at all times and who they’re with, and talk to them about proper behavior if they are ever approached by a stranger.
Utilizing even just some of these points can help to ensure your neighborhood becomes the safe haven you want for your family. Starting with just a couple and expanding through the list will help you feel more secure, safer and confident in your children’s ability to play and stay safe in your neighborhood, regardless of its location.
Author:
Emily Andrews is the marketing communications specialist at RecordsFinder, an online public records search company. Communications specialist by day and community volunteer at night, she believes in compassion and defending the defenseless.