Takes One to Know One - Home Security Tips From Reformed Robbers
Sometimes, the best person to give you advice is one who has been right in your shoes, where you are at this very moment in time. But other times, the absolute best source for information is someone else: the person who is your opposite. And in the constant battle between homeowners and renters and professional crooks and robbers, the best source for information on how to better protect your home might be from someone who used to make their money stealing from people.
It might seem weird to turn to a former criminal for home security advice, but it actually wouldn't be a bad idea at all. A number of different television shows have made a successful season off of this idea, and security companies actually do the same all of the time. After all, no one knows how to break into a house better than someone who has actually done it, so using their skills from their background, you can actually figure out better ways to protect and safeguard your own property from those who are still out there making money by stealing from others.
The first thing that most reformed criminals say is that the goods that are easiest to sell and carry are the ones that they try to grab first. This means that if you are spending a lot of time worrying about that grand piano going missing, you most likely should focus your attention elsewhere. Households with a lot of electronic equipment, gadgets, and especially smaller pieces of gear should make sure that they do their best to keep objects hidden away. If something is of particular value, it makes the most sense for your home security to keep it in a safe or safe deposit box. Most robbers aren't also good at picking safes, and won't waste the time trying to do that if there are other things to grab elsewhere in the house.
Of course, another important lesson to be learned from those who know how to rob is that it is far more vulnerable for your home to appear unoccupied. Whether it's for a couple of hours during the work day, or over the course of a three-day weekend, if your home appears to be empty, it is far more of a target for a robber. Avoid this by incorporating a timer for your interior and exterior lights with your home alarm system, so that lights go on and off throughout the course of the day. This will make your home look occupied, even when it's not, and will be a major deterrent that keeps robbers away.
While it is helpful to have a home alarm system and getting one installed is a major step towards better home security, advertising that you have one when you don't is never a good idea. A professional burglar is going to be able to tell the difference between a bunch of different stickers saying you have an alarm and the system actually being installed. So don't bother with that sort of brouhaha if there isn't the technology to back it up: you are just as easy of a target if a well-trained eye realizes your mistake immediately, and then they know there's no alarm to alert the authorities that they have broken in, and can take even longer.
