5 ways to increase home security

Ok, most people stealing things from homes, including package thieves and traditional burglars, are stupid amateurs. Did you know that 85% of break-ins are from non-professionals that are usually more desperate and dangerous than skilled at thievery.

These thieves are more easily thwarted if you employ some of these simple security precautions to protect your home from vandalism, package theft, burglaries, privacy and more.

 

1. Keep the lights on

When your front porch lights are off, dumb criminals (we use this term liberally here) may assume you’re asleep, not home or simply not paying attention. Having your front light on indicates that there’s activity going on and sneaking around your house or lawn is going to be difficult. Bonus is that even if something does happen, having the lights on may increase the opportunity for a witness or criminal identification. It’s no secret that shady stuff happens under the cover of darkness, but people often forget to keep their front porch lights on. If you need a timer or even a motion sensor for your porch, get one, you can go on Amazon and order one right now. Lighting may be one of the simplest and impactful safety measures you can take.

 

2. Get a home security network

If you want to fully monitor your home and leave nothing to chance, then we recommend a home security network that allows you to track everything going on outside your home. Wouldn’t it be great if you had one to follow your kids around. There are a ton of great options that are affordable and easy to install.

Here’s a list for you to check out;

1. Skybell
2. Nestcam
3. Ring
4. Or this list of top surveillance cameras from PC Mag
5. Or this list of top home security systems from PC Mag

3. Make friends with your neighbors

Because of the “Seattle Freeze”, we often ignore our neighbors, but if you can introduce yourself or even invite your neighbors over for dinner or invite yourself over for dinner, they will get to know you, your routine, your car, etc. and vice versa. Once you and your neighbors are friendly, you can ask each other to keep an eye on each others home, grab packages, identify strangers and much more. Hopefully not too much more though. Don’t want to be too close to your neighbors.

 

4. Get a Package Guard

The Package Guard is the number one device that prevents package theft.  The Package Guard is a Frisbee-sized alarm device that sits at your front door. It establishes a clear delivery location for the UPS, FedEx, DHL, United States Post Office or other courier service with the text “PLACE PACKAGE HERE.” Once your delivery is safely on the Package Guard, the alarm is armed. The only way to remove the package is by using the app or replying to the text with off . If someone tries to steal your items, the Package Guard sets off an alarm in the device (similar to home smoke alarm). In the future it will

integrate with your surveillance camera so you can get a picture of the thief and share it with police or on Facebook to warn other neighbors.

 

5. Be smart

Avoid having stuff in plain sight that says “We have lots of $$$.” Even if you do have lots of money, not a great way to go. If you have an expensive car, keep it in a garage. If you have nice stuff in your house, keep your blinds closed. If you just bought a new computer, trash and hide the box. Make it difficult for someone to conceal themselves while breaking in or committing package theft, lights are a great suggestion here.  Avoid tall/thick shrubs around your windows and doors. Don’t let mail or newspapers build up since this alerts criminals that you’re not home.

In the end just be smart about things that make it easy for the dumb thieves to target your house, let them  target your neighbors who you just became friends with and have not done some of these steps.

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