Getting burgled is a lousy experience the aftershocks stay with you for a long time. It's not just about what was stolen, it's also about the fact that your home has been defiled and this takes some getting over. I have written this article to encourage folks to get proactive and slam that stable door well before the horse has bolted. Most home burglaries are carried out by opportunists,stalking residential areas under cover of darkness looking for easy targets,most of them lack any real skills (ie lock picking or knowing how to disable alarm systems),they could be carrying tools such as a pry bar or small bolt cutters,its not that difficult to deter them,and send them looking for easier pickings. I have written this guide as a series of bullet points to make it easy to work through.

DIY HOME SECURITY GUIDE

• Ensure your front door and windows are clearly visible from the street (burglars don't like being visible).
• The fences to the side and rear of your property should be tall and difficult to climb.
• All sheds and outbuildings should be secured with good quality fittings and locks (cheap ones are easily dealt with) Our thief could find things here to make his attempt on your house easier (ladders for one thing)
• Wait for darkness then examine the sides and rear of your property for places a thief could hide whilst trying to open a door or a window-consider fitting lights on motion or uv switches to these locations
• In daylight again examine all doors and door frames,windows and window frames.All frames should be sturdy and secure,all doors and windows should be a good snug fit in their frames.Loose fitting doors and windows are easy targets.
• Look for climbing places to upstairs windows,drain pipes,roofs to single story extensions,trees close to house etc, consider the use of anti-climb paint.
• All ground floor windows and all upstairs windows vulnerable to climbing attack should have locks.
• Ensure that all external doors have good quality locks fitted (consult your household insurance -there will be a minimum standard specified but remember that's a minimum),don't forget if you have a connecting door to your garage this also counts as an external door from a security point of view.
• Where external doors have panels or glazing check that the panels are strong (often they need strengthening against being kicked in) and the glazing should be toughened.
• If you're going to hide spare keys (not recommended but widely practiced) make sure its somewhere original and unique to your household,don't even think about the front door mat or somewhere else in plain sight you never know who might be watching.
• Audit the keys to your house, if you have never changed the locks since moving in then you have no idea how many there are and who has them,if you have changed the locks can you account for all the keys,has a family member ever lost one etc. It may be time to change the locks again.
• You and your family need to cultivate good habits -don't leave valuables clearly visible through windows this can prove too much temptation for our burglar.
• Folks with sliding patio doors or french windows will need to take special measures-patio doors will need an extra door lock and an anti lift lock(to prevent lifting the door off its track) French doors require two door locks and bolts top and bottom on both sides,and if the hinge pins are exposed measures need to be taken to prevent their removal.

When making any changes to doors and windows bear in made fire regulations,not only do We need to make it hard to get in, but your family need to be able to evacuate quickly in the event of fire.

This simple 'basic stuff' will be sufficient to deter most would be burglars,now that the basic home security guide is attended to it is appropriate to consider alarm systems and or CCTV monitoring. There are many excellent systems available both at the DIY level or the Professional level. At the most basic level warning signs and dummy alarm units or dummy cameras can be a good deterrent,but it could be your insurance that determines what kind of alarm system you have. All alarm systems weather DIY or Professional have the same limiting factor They are all only as good as the response they cause. In many areas people have become almost immune to alarms going off,many systems are too sensitive and frankly have become a nuisance,also the response time of police or security guards is often too slow,burglars know this,hence the rise in smash and grab robberies.The point is whilst burglar alarms are becoming a necessity these days they are no substitute for getting the basic stuff well sorted.

First of all a security system is not an alarm system, although the alarm system plays an important part in the overall security plan. In fact,no single component should be seen as most important, although as I will explain some measures provide greatest value for the security money you will be investing. The first step though is a survey of the premise, including how it is used, for what purpose and by whom, and of course the physical layout. Risk factors and loss potential are scrutinized as these greatly influence the budget.

Barrier security will be the first step in the implementation of the security system and devices such as window bars, security gates, security film, security grilles and good locks provide the greatest value for the money you will be investing. Barrier security can also be achieved through installation of security films which are fitted onto existing glass, security films such as Profilon tm, made by Haverkamp in Germany provide a near invisible coating that transforms glass into transparent armor. Security films are especially useful for strengthening glass in offices and homes. Typically thicker films work best for security applications and fourteen mil security film is currently consider minimum for commercial applications.

Security films work best on larger surface areas. Installation is very important and is as important to the barrier security as the choice of film. The glass type is also important with ordinary annealed glass as the design favorite. However if possible the glass should be changed to a laminated glass as that is the best substrate for security film. Installing on tempered glass should be avoided due to break characteristic of that glass. This is of utmost importance as door glass must conform to a safety code and that is almost always done with tempered glass and forced entry through glass accounted for two thirds of all break-ins. Unless the glass is changed to annealed or laminated glass single pane commercial doors should not be fitted with security film. It simply will not work. The mechanical bond of security film to the edges will add to or decrease the value of security film as barrier security and if possible security film should be fitted under the glass retaining stops.

To increase the effectiveness of security film in the security system the alarm system should include glass break detectors of the dual technology type or signature type. Very loud siren horns and or strobe lights outside over the glass is an excellent way to augment the effectiveness of security film in the security system.

The first line of protection in barrier security are the locks and their effectiveness as a security barrier depends entirely on the small details of the installation. Burglar bars, window bars, security bars, different names same meaning are available over the counter or custom built in many shapes and sizes. Window bars are probably the best single investment of barrier security and because burglar bars have been used in the security system for thousands of years many examples of good design are readily available. Security bars are especially useful for protecting basement windows or for protecting windows in warehouses as they provide visual deterrence as well as providing barrier security. A visual display of security is very useful when planning a security system as opportunistic thieves can be easily persuaded to move elsewhere by carefully planned barrier security.

As risk increases the security system becomes layered so that thieves are forced to spend valuable time after detection but before penetrating the barrier security to get to the reward.

Planning and designing an effective security system is as much art as science, but more than anything else involves common sense and while there is temptation to rely on high technology the opposite is true. The best system is simple and relies heavily on barrier security with electronic systems as back up.

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