This
checklist was designed to assist you in making a security survey
of your own home. The purpose of the survey is to identify security
weaknesses of your home and daily routines around your home. These
are things that make your home look inviting to the criminal. It
should begin at the curb and end with the interior of the home.
It should include house numbers, landscaping, doors, locks, strike
plates, windows, indoor-outdoor lighting and its use, the garage
and driveways.
From
the Curb
-
Are
your house numbers visible from the street for emergency service
such as police, fire, and ambulance?
-
Does
the overall appearance of your home give criminals information
about you and your family that would assist them in victimizing
you--things such as a full mailbox, outdoor lighting on during
the day, or the garage doors open with no cars present?
-
Are all
fence gates padlocked to make it more difficult for strangers
to enter your yard?
Landscaping
-
Are
your shrubs and trees trimmed to "open up the line of
sight" of your home for your neighbors from several directions?
-
Are
shrubs and trees trimmed to prohibit concealment of an intruder?
Outdoor
Lighting
-
Do you
have only decorative lighting such as used in flower beds?
-
Do you
have only entrance/exit lighting such as front/rear door type
lights?
-
Do you
have true security lighting operated by an electric eye or
timer, every night, all night, giving your home a perimeter
of light around it?
External
Doors
-
Are
all external doors either metal, solid wood, solid wood frame,
or at least solid core construction?
-
Are door
frames strong and tight enough to withstand some degree of
force?
-
Are doors
with outside exposed hinges pinned to prevent easy removal
from outside?
-
Are all
external doors equipped with "good" dead bolt locks
which have at least a one-inch throw?
-
Are the
strike plates installed with three-to-four inch screws which
are anchored well into the two-by-four inch stud behind the
door frame?
-
Are glass
sliding doors pinned to prevent being forced open? Is the
upper track secured with large pan head screws to prevent
lifting?
-
Are French
or double doors fitted with flush bolts at the top and bottom
edge of the inactive or secondary door?
-
Is there
a door leading from the garage to the interior of the home,
and if so, is it equally secure as an external door?
Windows
-
Are
wooden windows "pinned" on both sides, from the
inside?
-
Are aluminum
windows fitted with secondary locking devices, easily removed,
in case of fire?
-
Is shrubbery
trimmed away from the outside of the windows to prohibit concealment
of an intruder?
Garage
Doors
-
Are
overhead garage doors fitted with an interior locking device,
blocking the track, as well as an outside locking device?
-
Do windows
in the garage door prohibit viewing the interior of the garage
from the outside by use of curtains or film?
-
Is the
garage door kept down and locked at all times?
Alarms
offer additional security, but should never be substituted for good
locks. When considering an alarm, you should have several companies
appraise your needs. Insist on a written proposal and a copy of
the contract you will need to sign. Before signing, check the company's
reputation through the Better Business Bureau. Employees of the
police department are prohibited from making any recommendations
for any specific alarm company.
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