You Can Help Prevent a Home Invasion

You probably don’t like to think about a burglar breaking into your home in Ann Arbor. Everyone prefers to believe their home is a safe haven for their family and friends. However, the truth of the matter is a burglary occurs once every three minutes, according to SafeWise, the home safety and security experts. 

Our team at Lockout Locksmiths wants to help you stay safe. Here are some tips to help you make your home a safer place and protect your family and belongings from a home invasion.

Reinforce Front Door Locks

According to crime-prevention organizations, nearly one-third of burglars simply walk through an unlocked door to enter a home. As well as locking your doors, you can also reinforce your main doors with deadbolts installed into the studs of your walls instead of just on the door or frame. These reinforced locks are readily available in Michigan for a reasonable investment.

Make It Hard to Hide

Burglars operate at night because it’s easier to hide in the dark. However, by installing motion-detector lights in your yard, you can be alerted to unusual activity around your home. In addition, someone trying to break in your home may abandon your well-lit home for another that is completely in the dark.

Along the same vein, be sure your bushes and trees are trimmed near your home, eliminating convenient hiding locations around doors and windows.

Use Technology to Show Occupation

In days past, people would simply leave their lights, television, or radio on while they were away to discourage burglars from approaching a seemingly occupied home. Today, many more sophisticated systems are available to show occupation while you are absent. Inexpensive solutions are simply light timers that come on and off automatically.

More sophisticated solutions involve smart-home technology that can allow you to control home systems from your smart phone. You can turn on and off lights as well as raise and lower blinds automatically, even when you’re away from home.

Fortify Windows and Doors

Besides investing in strong locks, you can reinforce your doors and windows with metal strike plates and window bars. Kicking open a metal-reinforced door is much more difficult than breaking down a wood door. Metal bars or reinforced window locks can make your windows less accessible as an entry point to your home.

Employ Neighbors’ Eyes

There’s nothing quite like other people watching to discourage a would-be burglar. Form a neighborhood watch group so neighbors can keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. 

If you’ll be out of town for an extended time, be sure your neighbors know so they can report anything that seems amiss. Neighbors can also keep an eye out for things like unexpected packages, so they don’t accumulate near your door. 

Don’t Help the Burglars

Be sure you lock items like ladders, garden tools, and shovels away in your storage shed or garage. These items can actually help burglars break into your home. If you have patio furniture or tables, you may want to keep them out of sight or locked away as well, so a perpetrator can’t use them to reach higher windows.

In addition, keep expensive tools, toys, or other items put away. If a burglar sees expensive possessions outside, it’s easy to assume there are expensive possessions on the inside as well.

Contact Us Today

If you’re looking for more secure locks or other ideas to keep you safe from home invasion, call our professionals at Lockout Locksmiths in Ann Arbor, MI. We would be happy to help you protect your family and belongings. Call 248-321-2244 or contact us online!