skieur
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- May 14, 2007
- Messages
- 5,071
- Reaction score
- 204
- Location
- Canada
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
When I was a latch-key kid (as in I got home before my parents got home from work), I constantly forgot my keys and had to get into the house without keys. I found that it was easy to find a partially-opened storm window that could be further opened to get in. I never had to break a window to get in.
Later when I was looking after the home of my wife's parents, I discovered a break-in. The approach was interesting. They got in, the same way, I did, through a window without breaking it. They then opened all the doors from the inside for a quick escape and one of the thieves watched the front driveway area. If anyone had returned unexpectedly, they would have escaped through the back door and over the back fence and through a former schoolyard.
So your first defence is to secure the doors. It is simple. If a guy is seen carrying something out the front door, he MAY appear to be legitimate but if the same guy is carrying it out through a broken window, then he is obviously a burglar. Now the internet pictures a young teen on a busy sidewalk in the afternoon going up to the front door of a house, using a "bump key" available from the net, and bumping it with a small rubber mallet to get into the house almost immediately. What seems scary for the owner is that there is NO evidence of burglary for insurance purposes and stolen jewellery for other valuables might not be immediately noticed, which makes claims even more difficult and hard to prove.
On further research on the net, you would find, that there are several different "bump keys" for each brand of lock, which means that the video was somewhat misleading. Yes, if you were in a "cookie-cutter" new subdivision with all doors having the same locks, it would indeed be possible. NO, however, if you have different houses with different locks in an older subdivision. Imagine a thief going up to your front door, reading the name of the lock and then taking 20 keys out of his pocket to try and figure out which model key with the help of a mallet will open the particular door, and remember he would need to have several keys for each brand of lock.
To slow down the thief even further is a "bump proof lock"...hard to get but they are available, or a further lock higher or lower on the door to prevent opening even with a bump key or making it hard to even kick in the door. A double cylinder lock will prevent opening the door EVEN FRON THE INSIDE without a key. The idea here is to eliminate escape routes and limit the time that a thief is going to spend inside. Carrying a large screen tv for example, out through the door is impossible if the door cannot be opened from the inside without a key that is not available.
Security film can also be put on windows making them almost impossible to be broken in. This would be ideal on a window near a door. Imagine a thief spending half and hour to break the window above the door. He reaches in to unlock the door, but it is a double cylinder lock and still requires a key. He can't get in.
On the outside area, the best approach is motion-activated lights that turn on when movement is detected over a large area and the lights turn on with a video camera/recorder that records onto a digital camera card.
Inside there are available cheap motion activated camera/recorders in normal items such as clocks, kleenex boxes, etc. even in HD quality video for good identification of the criminals.
As the saying goes, you cannot prevent someone from breaking in, if they are determined and/or professional, BUT most often you are dealing with teens/twenty year olds and if you get an image, even a pro can be caught.
Of course, it is necessary to also recognize the positives or negatives in your location. If you are on a busy corner or near a wealthy area with a strong neighbourhood watch program, then you are less likely to be victimized than if you are near a drug area, backing on a ravine, or hidden from your neighbours in terms of view.
A dog by the way, is also a major security plus, particularly a large dog that barks when he hears things closeby.
skieur
Later when I was looking after the home of my wife's parents, I discovered a break-in. The approach was interesting. They got in, the same way, I did, through a window without breaking it. They then opened all the doors from the inside for a quick escape and one of the thieves watched the front driveway area. If anyone had returned unexpectedly, they would have escaped through the back door and over the back fence and through a former schoolyard.
So your first defence is to secure the doors. It is simple. If a guy is seen carrying something out the front door, he MAY appear to be legitimate but if the same guy is carrying it out through a broken window, then he is obviously a burglar. Now the internet pictures a young teen on a busy sidewalk in the afternoon going up to the front door of a house, using a "bump key" available from the net, and bumping it with a small rubber mallet to get into the house almost immediately. What seems scary for the owner is that there is NO evidence of burglary for insurance purposes and stolen jewellery for other valuables might not be immediately noticed, which makes claims even more difficult and hard to prove.
On further research on the net, you would find, that there are several different "bump keys" for each brand of lock, which means that the video was somewhat misleading. Yes, if you were in a "cookie-cutter" new subdivision with all doors having the same locks, it would indeed be possible. NO, however, if you have different houses with different locks in an older subdivision. Imagine a thief going up to your front door, reading the name of the lock and then taking 20 keys out of his pocket to try and figure out which model key with the help of a mallet will open the particular door, and remember he would need to have several keys for each brand of lock.
To slow down the thief even further is a "bump proof lock"...hard to get but they are available, or a further lock higher or lower on the door to prevent opening even with a bump key or making it hard to even kick in the door. A double cylinder lock will prevent opening the door EVEN FRON THE INSIDE without a key. The idea here is to eliminate escape routes and limit the time that a thief is going to spend inside. Carrying a large screen tv for example, out through the door is impossible if the door cannot be opened from the inside without a key that is not available.
Security film can also be put on windows making them almost impossible to be broken in. This would be ideal on a window near a door. Imagine a thief spending half and hour to break the window above the door. He reaches in to unlock the door, but it is a double cylinder lock and still requires a key. He can't get in.
On the outside area, the best approach is motion-activated lights that turn on when movement is detected over a large area and the lights turn on with a video camera/recorder that records onto a digital camera card.
Inside there are available cheap motion activated camera/recorders in normal items such as clocks, kleenex boxes, etc. even in HD quality video for good identification of the criminals.
As the saying goes, you cannot prevent someone from breaking in, if they are determined and/or professional, BUT most often you are dealing with teens/twenty year olds and if you get an image, even a pro can be caught.
Of course, it is necessary to also recognize the positives or negatives in your location. If you are on a busy corner or near a wealthy area with a strong neighbourhood watch program, then you are less likely to be victimized than if you are near a drug area, backing on a ravine, or hidden from your neighbours in terms of view.
A dog by the way, is also a major security plus, particularly a large dog that barks when he hears things closeby.
skieur
