50 Home Security Tips:

1. Don't rely on alarms for your first line of defence.

Deadbolt locks with reinforcements offer a visual deterance that can make the difference between a burglar breaking in or moving on to an easier unprotected home. Burglars want to be in and out of a residence as fast as possible. An alarm won't slow them down. Alarms can only complement a good physical defence. My locksmith services to Ottawa residents include Security packages to reinforce entrances.



2. Have your locks rekeyed after you move in or after you lent your keys to someone. While the previous owner is honest, the keys may have circulated in the wrong hands.

Many people had access to your keys during the construction and selling phase and a Builder's masterkey may have gone astray. I can disable the Builder's masterkey during the rekeying process. You will get new keys for your house locks.



3. Reinforce your door and door frame. Your Deadbolt locks are only as good as the frame and door in which they are installed.

More explanations on this inside in the section called "B & E methods."



4. This tip may seem obvious but: "Use your locks and turn on the alarm."
Some thieves are opportunistic. They will try to open your door. If it's locked, they will simply go to another house and try until they find an unlocked house.



5. Use a Patio Bar and install screws in the upper track to make it more difficult for a burglar to pry up your patio door.


6. Don't leave crow bars, axes, sledgehammers in your garage. Burglars will use these to open your connecting door like opening a can of sardines.



7. Don't label your key ring with your address.



8. When leaving for more than a day, lock your garage door by placing padlocks in the track. I show my clients the best spot to place their padlocks. If the current holes aren't in the right place, I can drill a hole in the right spot so that my client can place padlocks in each garage door track. Remember to unplug the electric garage door opener before placing the padlocks.

It is important to secure your garage because once inside, burglars are able to work at breaking the connecting house door without impidement. As well, as shown on Crime Stoppers, burglars have been known to back up their van in a home's garage, close the door and load it up with the homeowners valuables without being seen.



9. Trim bushes that obstruct the view of your entrances and windows.



10. Use timers for your indoor house lights to make it look lived in.

Your bedroom area lights that are on timers should be set to go off last to give the impression that you are home. Also vary the timers and their on-off times.
Change the on-off times and move the timers occasionally so as to not make it look more natural.



11. Keep your entrances and other entry points lit at night.

Burglars feel uncomfortable working in a lit entry point.
Use timers, photocell lights or motion sensor lights.
The simplest is to buy a photocell socket at the hardware store
and intall it if there is room for one in your outdoor lamp.



12. When going away on Summer holidays: be sure to cancel your newspaper delivery, and mail. Put your lights on timers, have your lawn cut while you are away. Ask a trusted friend or neighbour to keep an eye out, pick up flyers, and to place one of their garbage bags at the end of your driveway on garbage collection eve.



13. When going away on Winter holidays: have your laneway shoveled to give it a lived in look. As well, ask your trusted neighbour, to drive in your laneway so as to leave tire tracks in the snow. Give permission to your trusted neighbour to park their car in your driveway while you will be away.



14. Keep your jewlery and important papers in a safety deposit box at the bank. Use costume jewlery as a decoy.
If you use a home safe, make sure it is bolted down.



15. Engrave your valuables (back of the TV, DVD player, tools, etc) with your identification because it makes it harder for thieves to sell engraved goods while making it easier for the police to use as evidence and for the police to return the stolen goods.

Police recommend that you use your driver's license number but I feel that doing so will put you at risk for identity theft. Therefore I recommend engraving your email address so that you can be contacted if police ever find recover your items. (Note that the solvancy rate for burglaries in the Ottawa region is only 11% - so be proactive by using these tips and my locksmith services)



16.Take photos of your valuables and keep a copy of your photo-inventory off your premises such as at a relative's house. A photo CD or DVD is a great way to keep an inventory record. Don't forget to list the serial numbers.



17. Home invasion prevention tips:

Reinforce your entrances, then...

Don't open the door to strangers. Use a peephole/doorviewer to identify the person at the door. I can install doorviewers for you. One method home invaders use is to simply knock or ring your doorbell and count on you to open the door to them. They may be disguised as utility workers, water meter checker, even as a police officer. Or use a lost child as a decoy.

If an uninvited utility worker comes to your door for work or an inspection, do not open the door until you have verified his-her identity with the company he or she represents. Do not use the phone number that they give you as they will have an accomplice on the other end of the phone.

In Quebec, some homes were invaded by a group of homeinvaders disguised as police in uniform with badges, caps, radios and bullet proof vests.

To see how anyone can be fooled by fake police wearing a uniform watch
CBC's "Just for laughs - Gags." Pranksters regularly dress as police officers to pull pranks on the public. It seems easy to borrow a police uniform. Therefore don't be fooled by a homeinvader dressed in police uniform.

If an uninvited police officer shows up at your door, call your police department to find out if they have any business coming into your home before you open the door.

Once you open your door, your locks can't do their job of protecting you.

It's your house; you don't have to let uninvited visitors in if you don't want to!



18. When going away on a holiday, fold your address card that is in your clear luggage tag so that your home address is not visible. Or use your workplace address. Professional burglar rings will note addresses of travellers at the departing airport or when travallers arrive at tourist destinations and then relay that information back to their associates in your home city.



19. If you are going to use a taxi or a limousine to take you the airport, or to a train or to a bus station for your holidays, go to a friend's house with your luggage to be picked up so as to avoid it being known that you will be away.



20. Don't brag and tell everyone about your upcoming out of town vacation.



21. If a marketing company phones you about getting an alarm system installed, tell them that you already have one that is monitored.
Don`t tell them over the phone that you don`t have an alarm.
They will ask: "Is your alarm monitored?"
Career criminals will call with this ruse to find out if you have a monitored alarm system.



22. Don't give out your personal banking information to a so called "Bank Inspectors" that comes to your door or who phones you.

Thank them for the information then phone your Bank to check if there really is a problem. (Don't use the phone number that the Bank inspector gave you during the call, they have that planned too).



23. When handing over your auto keys to parking attendants or to anyone,
do not leave your house keys on the same key ring. Don't leave a copy of your house keys in your vehicle. Nor should you leave information with your address in your car.



24. Plant thorny bushes below windows.



25. Keep ladders garbage cans and garden tool locked up. They can be used to gain access to upper level windows.



26. Keep tree branches trimmed if they give access to a window.



27. When absent from your home, don't leave the balcony's patio door or upstairs windows open. Some burglars are quite agile climbers and will enter through openings. These are refered to as Cat Burglars.



28. It will be much more difficult for a burglar who entered your dwelling through a window, to leave through doors with large objects such as a TV if you have double cylinder locks installed as the doors will also be locked from the inside.

I can install these double cylinder locks. Details on the next page.



29. If you get a phone call that a family member was taken to the hospital, call the hospital before leaving as it could be a ruse from a burglar to get you out of the house.



30. When you buy a new TV or computer or tools, cut up the box before putting it in the recycling box so that you won't be advertising to burglars who scout your neighbourhood.



31. Help the police find your home easily by having large easy to read house numbers. Use a contrasting background. Check your house number at night. Can you see it from the road?



32. Don't place a spare house key in the mailbox or under the doormat.
(some people actually do this!)

33. Don't leave a note on your door to say that you will be away.



34. If you are thinking of putting a hedge or a solid fence on your front lawn, consider that a chain link fence will not hide burglars.



35. Close your curtains so the burglar won't see what you have or if you are at home.



36. Keep your car in the garage, that way the burglar won't know if you are at home or if you are absent. Your patterns will be harder to figure out.



37. Don't put your name on your mailbox. A burglar can use this information to phone your home to see if you are out.



38. If you are a gun collector, consider renting a P.O. box to receive your gun or hunting magazines. Organised crime rings have been know to find out where to get guns through magazine subscription information.



39. Don't leave a message on your voice mail that say that you will be on holidays.



40. Avoid answering marketing surveys (by phone or by mail) that ask details about appliances and home entertainment items, their brand, their age, etc.



41. Don't leave your purse unattended, such as in a grocery store cart.
It only takes a moment for a someone to take your keys and your address out of your purse, while leaving your purse in the cart. While you are finishing your groceries unaware that your keys are missing, the burglar can be in your home. Some such scams, a nice lady chats about the weather or the produce to distract you, while her accomplice takes your keys out of your purse.



42. Men: you too are vulnerable to pick pockets. Someone will distract you, while the accomplice will take your wallet and keys. They may do this while you are in line at airport. By the time you notice, you will be on the plane and they will be gone in your car and robbing your home.
Pickpockets prefer people with glasses because their field of vision is more limited.



43. For older folk especially: Avoid going to the bank or grocery store on the same day of the week at the same time. Vary your pattern for your outings.



44. If you have a cellphone, keep it in your bedroom at night. If a burglar cuts your landline telephone wire before breaking in, you will still be able to call police from your bedroom.



45. Padlock your backyard gate and have a fence. This will make it a bit more difficult for prowlers to wander in your backyard.



46. If you have keys that have the key code printed on the key, have a copy made without the key codes being printed on the key to prevent exposing your key codes to thieves.



47. About 1500 bicycles per year are stolen in Ottawa. Install a steel loop on your garage wall or on the floor and lock your bike to it. Many bicycles are stolen from garages when the door was left open while the owner was in the backyard.



48. If you can't afford an alarm, lean a stepstool or place a cooking pot attached by a piece of string in a manner that it will fall and make noise. Be creative. This will startle the burglar and wake you up.



49. Don't leave your garage door opener in plain view such as clipped on your visor. A burglar can steal it from your car and using an address left in your car, go to your home and open the garage door. Keep your garage door opener hidden in a crumpled up grocery bag or under a towel. Lock the door that connects to your home when you leave through the garage.



50 th tip: Hire mi-locksmith services !

View the next page about:

- Break and enter methods explained. Your weak links analysed.
- Explanations about Deadbolt locks.
- My Services and Pricing.
- My Security packages.
- Sample photos of my work.

Come on in to learn more about how to protect your home and your family.

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mi-locksmith.com serves the Ottawa region: Nepean Barrhaven Kanata South Keys Ottawa in home security and Locksmith Services.
Deadbolts locks are installed. Locks are rekeyed. Broken and stuck keys are removed. Deadbolt locks get re keyed after you moved in. Doors, frames and entrances are reinforced. Rekeying is provided to Ottawa residents. Home security tips are listed on the web site. Patio bars are installed. Burglary damage is repaired.