subject: 10 Tips for Improving Your Home Security in Charleston [print this page] Crime rates are going up all over the countryCrime rates are going up all over the country. This is just as true in Charleston, South Carolina, as it is in any other city. If you are a resident of Charleston and worried about your home security, follow the following 10 tips to make your home a safe place for you and your loved ones to be.
1. Invest in a home security system. There are a lot of other safety precautions you can take to protect yourself, but this one is the most sure thing. Nothing else can quite compare to the level of you will achieve by recruiting the professional help of a security company. Maximize security by picking security company that offers alarm systems with 24 hour monitoring services.
2. Make sure you have adequate locks on all your doors. If your front door only has a door knob lock, that is not enough. All exterior doors should have deadbolt locks. If you do not have a peephole, a safety chain can be a good way to identify visitors when they come to your door before letting them in (intercoms are another good way to do this).
3. Get locks for your windows. Windows are the second most common way in which burglars enter your home. Make it harder for them to get your windows open by installing locks on all your windows as well as on the doors.
4. Teach your children not to answer the door to strangers and to report strangers that they see loitering around the house. Having your kids well aware of the potential danger of strangers can make a big difference in terms of home security.
5. Install ample outdoor lighting. Increase visibility around your house to make it harder for burglars to approach your property without being detected. Lights with motion sensors are a good way to alert you to an unexpected presence (even if sometimes this presence turns out to be the neighbor's dog).
6. Put together a system of dummy home security cameras and display them prominently. You might not want to spend money on fancy surveillance cameras, but dummy cameras can be an effective and budget friendly way to scare away burglars.
7. Get a guard dog. A guard dog will bark even if your home security system is not activated at the moment. Plus, guard dogs can attack, whereas alarm systems can not.
8. Make it look like you are home even when you are not. Most break ins happen when no one is home, since a vacant homes are easier targets. Scare away burglars by making it look like you are home at all times. One good way to do this is to use lights with timers on them.
9. Do not leave spare keys hidden near your door or anywhere on your property, for that matter. Instead of hiding keys around the house, where they can easily be found by burglars, entrust one to a neighbor.
10. Put yourself in the burglar's shoes. Ask yourself, "Is my house easy to break into?" If the answer is no, then you have probably done a good job of protecting yourself.
10 Tips for Improving Your Home Security in Charleston
