[The Reaper]

We have a lot of glass in our house, and I think the double throws are GTG, especially if you keep a key nearby at all times when people are home.

If they have to smash a window in a door to get in, that should inhibit their ability to get out easily while carrying my property.

The kids have all been instructed that in the event of a fire (with blocked exits) or armed intruder (after locking the door to their rooms), to throw a heavy object through the window, clear it quickly by breaking out remaining glass with a chair, lamp, etc., and throw a pillow over the windowsill and glass to crawl out over.

Walk down the street past your house in daylight and darkness. Does it look relatively easy to access without being seen? How does it compare to the neighbors? Your home needs to be tougher than the others. Make the potential intruder choose another home. Walk around the perimeter of your property, again in daytime and night conditions. How does it look? Good coverage by lights and cameras? Bad guys do not like to be seen. Any easy approaches with cover or concealment that you could use to approach the access points without being seen or exposing yourself for very long? Any piles of wood, shrubs, etc. to hide behind? Any ladders stored outside that would allow access to windows? Walk around the exterior walls of your home and study it intently. Any unsecured doors, windows, sliding doors (a favorite for easy access), access panels, basement or cellar doors or windows, etc.? Any smash and grab tools handy, like axes, bats, shovels, rakes, prybars, etc. to make access easier? Anywhere to hide in a darkened area and ambush you when you are coming or leaving your home? Look through every point of visual access to your house. How much of your wealth can be seen from outside your home? Flat panel TVs, laptops, cameras, jewelry, guns, power tools, anything easy to pawn would be a potential target. Enter every door of your home and look around. Try and think like the bad guys. Can you easily grab items and get away quickly? Can you get to the master, kids' or guest bedrooms quickly? How can you deter, detect, defeat, and delay a would be intruder?

Exterior doors would have no glass, or adjacent glass in a perfect world. All should be steel or fiberglass with deadbolts, strikeboxes, kickplates, and 3" screws throughout. Door jambs should be reinforced by doubling or tripling studs on both sides. All doors should be heavily shimmed and properly installed. Do not use pet doors. All blind entry doors should have peeps installed, and the entry area have good outside lighting. Replace blown bulbs promptly. Do not answer the door if you are home alone without thinking it through and having a plan. When I answer my door, day or night, I have a phone, a powerful flashlight, and a firearm on me, and I am not a small or weak looking guy.

Bedroom and bathroom doors should be solid core. Bedroom doors should have heavy duty locking hardware (privacy minimum, entry lockset better, if you can stand the strange looks) and 3" screws into doubled studs on either side of the doorframe (if you are building the house). Garage doors should lock or be drilled for a pin to prevent them from being jacked open in your absence. Turn off or pull the power cords to the openers when going on vacation.

Casement windows are much better and more secure than double hung. The higher off the ground they are, the better. If you have double hungs and are using window AC units, they need to be screwed into place, and understand that that is one of the easiest ways to get into the house. Pull the AC out, use it as a step to climb into the house, pick it up and throw it into the back of the truck on the way out with the rest of the loot.

Vegetation should provide little or no cover and preferably be of a variety that discourages contact, like prickly pear, holly, etc.

"Vicious Dog" signs might be a good idea as well, even if Fifi isn't. A few of the extra large water or food bowls and chew toys near the entrance might help.

Exterior lights should cover doors as a minimum, and preferably the entire perimeter of the home as well. If there is a corner, you probably need a light. I like motion detectors and automatic lighting, but my electrician discouraged me by presenting the false alarm issue. Ideally, as a minimum you should be able to turn all exterior floods on from the master bedroom, and the main entrance.

Alarms should have pin/contact/magnetic sensors on all doors, motion detectors, and glass breaks where necessary, and the smoke detector should be wired in as well. Install a keypad within easy access of the entrance (at least one, consider others for back door or garage access, etc., especially if they are far apart and get another for the master bedroom as a monitor or panic device). Get a monitoring service if you like. Get some alarm company signs regardless and display them prominently. Think about getting a good driveway annunciator. Consider a locking gate if you live in a rural area.

Security cameras should cover vehicular entry points (driveway) and exterior doors. Military guys should place them like you would crew-served weapons. Good low light or IR illuminated cameras are the way to go. Don't scrimp. You can set the system up to display the monitored cameras in a picture in picture on your TV screens throughout the house. You can also set them up so that you can log on to an IP view the cameras remotely on a computer.

Minimize unnecessary public access to your home. Watch workmen and maintenance personnel who visit your home. Consider taking a photo of them working, make sure that you get the license number of the vehicles they use. If they are on tape, burn a copy and save it, especially if they are transients or illegals. As already stated, many robberies are people who have visited a home for work. Do not let workers see valuables lying around your home. Put purses, laptops, meds, jewelry, etc. away and secure them before people arrive.

Limit the number of keys you have and give them only the people who really need them. Do not pass them to workers, or give them alarm codes, unless you are going to change them immediately afterwards.

Unused firearms, keepsakes, small heirlooms, cash, and jewelry should be stored in a "fireproof" safe which is bolted to the floor or wall.

If you leave home, you need to secure all of the entrances every time and set the alarm. If you are going to be out overnight, make sure that some interior lights are on, and the exterior entrances are well-lit. Valuables are returned to the safe. Do not let mail, packages, papers, etc. stack up, or the lawn look forgotten if it is going to be more than a few days. Get a neighbor to drop by daily and clear the mail, packages, papers, etc., and hold them for your return.

Some of this is expensive, most is just common sense. You don't have to do any, or all of this. Like the joke goes, you don't have to be perfect, you just have to be a little harder than your neighbors.

TR