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Proper Planning
Can Ease Your Worries
Maintaining a
Secure Home While You're Away
Jeff Lester
Senior Vice
President, Research and Development
THE AGOS GROUP, LLC
It's fairly easy
to maintain a reasonable level of home security by making it a part
of your daily routine-keeping an eye on things when leaving and
returning-and maintaining the physical integrity of your residence.
However, whether it's an overnight trip or an extended vacation, your
absence makes the process of securing your home a little more
complicated. Still, some careful thinking and a little planning can
go a long way toward minimizing the risk to your home security while
you're away.
Below are some
common physical characteristics that may betray the fact that you
aren't at home. Along with each characteristic are some suggestions
for minimizing the factors that betray your absence.
Problem:
Accumulating newspapers, mail, and other outside deliveries
If you see several
days' worth of newspapers in someone's driveway and their mailbox is
overflowing, it's a good bet that they are on vacation. You may not
give it a second thought, but a burglar will assume that the resident
is out of town and will begin to look for other signs to indicate
that the resident is not present.
Solution:
Prior to your trip, ask your newspaper carrier and mail delivery
person to hold your newspaper and/or mail for the specific dates that
you intend to be gone. And, make arrangements to retrieve the
deliveries after you return. In case you are detained beyond your
expected return date, you don't want the mail carrier to leave a
week's worth of mail in your mailbox before you return. This is much
less of a risk than having a friend or neighbor show up and your
residence daily-usually at the same time of day and in a car that
isn't normally at your home-which broadcasts your absence to your
entire neighborhood.
Problem:
Unusual patterns in the use of lighting-both indoor and outdoor lighting
If a potential
burglar sees the telltale overabundance of newspapers and mail, the
next thing he or she will look for is an unusual pattern in the use
of lighting, which includes indoor and outdoor lighting. A porch
light that is "on" during daylight hours is a red flag that
the resident is probably away from home. Often people will leave home
during the day-planning to return after dark-and will turn on the
porch light so they can "see" properly upon their return.
But, if someone were really at home, they would never turn on the
porch light before dark.
The same is true
with indoor lighting. In most homes, very little indoor lighting is
required on a bright, sunny day. However, lights that are already on
and visible at dusk and remain on throughout the night are an
indication that nobody is home. After all, most of us turn out our
lights when we retire to bed.
So, porch lights
during the day combined with interior lights that stay on all night-and
don't change during the night-are high probability indicators that
the resident is not at home.
Solution:
The lighting dilemma is among the most simple to solve. And the
solution is very inexpensive. Most home supply stores sell
inexpensive timers that you can place on lamps throughout your house.
The timer plugs into the electrical outlet and the lamp plugs into
the timer. But don't randomly select "good" times for the
lamps to turn on and off. Instead, observe your own
"routine" behavior and write it down. Do this well in
advance of your next overnight trip. Get a timer for every lamp you
use on a nightly basis. Note the specific times that you routinely
turn each lamp on and off. Most timers can be programmed for multiple
events, so program each lamp for when it is normally used during the
evening and when it is normally used during the early morning. To
make sure you've properly programmed each timer, I suggest using the
programmed timers for a couple of days prior to your next overnight
trip. This will allow you to adjust the programming to make sure all
the lamps go on and off at approximately the right times. Generally,
you'll have some lamps going on and off at different times than other
lamps. From the outside, this gives the impression that someone is
home and is turning lights on and off inside the house. Most timers
sell for about $10 each.
The outdoor
solution is even easier. If you own your home, I recommend replacing
your outdoor lighting with photosensitive light fixtures. Once the
lighting is installed, you simply turn the light switch on and leave
it on. The photosensitive element causes the light to turn on at dusk
and off at sunrise. Once these fixtures are installed, the "on
at dusk" and "off at sunrise" pattern will take care
of itself-regardless of whether you are home. Hence, a potential
burglar wouldn't be able to easily discern whether you were present.
This also takes care of an issue I raised in a previous article. A
well lit home is much less likely to be targeted by a burglar.
Criminals like to work in the shadows or the dark. They don't want to
commit their crimes under the illumination of a spotlight. So,
outdoor lighting that stays on throughout the night, is a good
deterrent to nighttime break-ins. Photosensitive outdoor light
fixtures begin at around $25 and go up from there.
Problem:
Your vehicles are absent or, if present, aren't being moved and other
unusual vehicles are showing up for short periods of time
If your vehicle is
normally visible when you are home, it becomes a huge invitation to
burglars anytime it is present 24 hours a day. Sure, on a weekend you
may park your car and not move it for 12, 18, or even 24 hours. But,
if your primary vehicle remains at the same spot in your driveway or
parking lot for several days in a row, everyone in your neighborhood
will know that you are out of town.
Here's another
problem. Generally speaking, a sun visor in a car that is parked
overnight-especially for more than one night-is an indication that
the owner doesn't intend to move the car. And, that's a signal to a
criminal that you may not be at home.
Another dead
giveaway is when different vehicle shows up at your home at roughly
the same time each day, is there only briefly, and is gone again
until the next day. To anyone who is "watching" your
residence, this is a sign that a friend or neighbor is visiting your
house once a day to pick up your newspaper and/or mail, to check on
things inside your house, to feed your pets (if you have pets) and to
take care of anything else that needs daily attention.
Solution:
This problem is greatly reduced if you live at an apartment complex
where you rarely park in the same location. This "routine"
lack of a "routine" parking habit makes it difficult for a
criminal to identify you as a specific target.
The problem is a
little more complicated in a house. If you have a garage, park inside
the garage all or most of the time. This habit will make it difficult
for a criminal to determine whether you are at home. However, if you
leave your car inside your garage during an extended trip, make sure
you "back" into your garage. That way, if you return home
to a dead battery, you'll be pre-positioning your vehicle to make it
as easy as possible for someone to give your car a "jump"
using jumper cables. If your car is pulled in "forward,"
there may not be room to use the jumper cables.
If you normally
park in your driveway, consider having a friend "housesit"
for you while you are away. Whether your car is in the driveway, or
their car is in the driveway, a vehicle that is "coming and
going" during your absence will at least create the impression
that someone is home. That impression, alone, will greatly reduce
your home's level of attraction to a criminal.
If you leave your
car parked anywhere for an extended period of time, make sure you
don't leave a sun visor in position inside your windshield. Again, a
sun visor in a car that is parked overnight-especially for more than
one night-is an indication that the owner doesn't intend to move the
car. And, that's a signal to a criminal that you may not be at home.
Also, if you leave
your car parked anywhere for an extended period of time, remove all
valuables from your car, including spare keys, garage door opener,
and anything that lists your address. If, for example, a criminal
breaks into your car at an airport, the criminal will assume that you
are away from home. If the criminal finds a document-a check stub, a
bill, or insurance verification-that lists your home address, the
criminal will assume that your home is unoccupied. So, if you travel
and leave your car behind, leave only the bare necessities inside
your car.
Problem:
Your lawn isn't being mowed consistent with your normal schedule
For some people,
yard work (or the lack of timely yard work) is a dead giveaway
regarding whether you are out of town. For several weeks in a row,
your lawn is mowed on a regular schedule. Then, suddenly it grows out
of control for two weeks. Again, a criminal looks for multiple signs
that your home is unoccupied. An unkempt lawn, by itself, doesn't
necessarily mean that your home is unoccupied. But, a seasoned
criminal will look for multiple signs and a wildly growing lawn is a
great place to start.
Solution:
If you intend to be away from home for an extended period of time
during the "growing season," make sure your lawn is mowed
immediately before you leave. If your absence will last longer than
the number of days in your mowing cycle, consider hiring a lawn
service to mow your lawn while you are away. But, play it safe and
DON'T tell the lawn service that you're going out of town. Instead,
prepay for their services, and tell them you'll evaluate their
performance for a few days, and call them back to let them know
whether you'll need them again. By limiting the number of people who
know you're out of town, you'll reduce the odds of a criminal
"hearing" that your home is temporarily unoccupied.
Other issues to consider:
Problem:
Don't hide your house key under the doormat or a flowerpot. People
within cultures are generally quite predictable. In the typical
American home, the kitchen trash is underneath the kitchen sink. This
is obviously not always the case, but, if you are a guest in
someone's home and don't see the kitchen trash can, the first place
to look is underneath the sink. The same is true with hidden door
keys. If you have a door key hidden outside your home, there's a
pretty good chance it's in one of these "typical" locations:
- Under a doormat
- Under a flower pot
- Under an obvious
rock (one that's easy to reach) in a flower bed
- On top of the
door facing (the board above the doorway)
- On top of (or
inside) the fixture of the porch light
- Inside the
mailbox (sometimes taped inside the roof of the mailbox)
- Underneath or
taped to the underside of a piece of lawn furniture
Solution:
You may have identified a genuinely unique area to hide a door key.
Odds are that a seasoned criminal will know where to look. So, play
it safe and DON'T leave a hidden door key if you're planning to be
gone for an extended period of time. If a friend or relative is
attending to your home, loan them a key, but DON'T have them using a
hidden key. Even if a criminal doesn't come looking for hidden key, a
friend or relative won't be discreet when they retrieve and return
the key to it's hiding place. Hence, anyone who's watching will
quickly know how to get inside your house.
Problem:
Make sure your relatives, close friends, and co-workers know that
they should never tell anyone when you are out of town. An inquiring
con artist can spend a few seconds on the phone with a receptionist
or a friend and quickly learn when you left, where you went, who
you're with, and when you're expected to return. All of this creates
a huge risk.
Solution:
You can limit this risk by limiting the number of people who know
about your travel plans. When one of these people is contacted-even
by someone they know-the correct response is: "He (or she) is
not currently available, but I'll be happy to give him (or her) a
message." After all, it's not your relatives and friends that
you're worried about. It's the friend of a friend of a friend who
needs some quick cash to buy drugs or pay off a gambling debt. Loose
lips sink ships. So, limit the number of people who know about your
travel plans.
However, someone
should always be your designated point of contact. If anyone close to
you receives an inquiry or message, all such messages should be
funneled through one or two key people who remain in contact with you
during your trip. This gives you the power to choose how and when to
respond to all inquiries. Choose someone who is reliable-someone you
REALLY trust-and make sure they know how to reach you in the event of
an emergency. Plus, you should check in with them periodically to
make sure all is well on the home front. |
