In Edmonton we had a pretty big snow storm on December 4th. The City of Edmonton police were busy handling all kinds of traffic related issues, but that wasn't the only issue they were handling. B and E's ("break and entering" for those of you less familiar with the term than I), were up significantly during the storm as well. It seems that the bad guys know when response times are going to be slower than normal as we found out that Friday when we became a statistic.
Last year the Edmonton police Service investigated 5,200 break and enters. It made me thing of home inspections, and what is usually considered during an inspection – homes are looked over fairly thoroughly. Very seldom do I see inspectors look at a home from a security perspective and I have never seen them look at the doors.
When I say "are you screwed?" I am actually referring to the fact that we were less than screwed. The screws the builder had put into the hinges of our front door were were about half an inch long or less. Yup those measly little screws were our first line of defense. Now I'm not saying that 3.5 inch screws would have made the difference, but it might of at least made the bastards have to work for it.
So after all this and having talked to a number of people regarding our break in, here's what I would do to make your home more safe:
- Check your door screws and if they're not 2.5 – 3.5 inches then replace them.
- Make sure your hinges have screws in them to prevent the bad guys from popping the pins out.
- Make sure you have adequate timers and lighting for when you step out.
- Get an alarm. A very loud alarm that goes off almost instantly. According to my source with the EPS he's seen these guys get in, get what they want and get out in less than 90 seconds, so if it takes your alarm 1 minute to go off then according to him its pretty much useless.
- When you are away have someone check in on your home and let your neighbours know you are going away.
- If you have a garage have a good garage door opener that has security features on it. Don't leave your garage door opener in your car if it's parked in the driveway or on the street.
- If you have a sliding door or patio door use a bar to block it from sliding open.
- Properly store your personal information and serial numbers so that if you do get hit that you can make a claim.
Don't become a statistic like we did. For more information check out this security quiz on the Edmonton city police website: http://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CrimePrevention/HomePropertySafety/~/media/EPS%20External/Files/Worksheet/HomeSecurityQuizFINAL.ashx
P.S. If you are the MF that broke into our place you have a very valuable laptop that has years of personal photos on it. My wife has instructed me to reward your sorry ass handsomely if you'll return it.
My sympathies to you both – that sucks! We had our rear car window smashed in this fall. Nothing was taken from the car (nothing, really, to take), so it just seemed like a random act of vandalism. It was too small an amount ($500) to bother taking to insurance, and yet a pain none the less.
Sorry to hear! I fear of this happening to me all the time. Last year, on December 23, my car was stolen and used to break into someone else’s house. My car was found, but wrote off and we were able to return some of the stuff in the car to the owner. About 6 months later they found the guy and he plead guilty (I guess some of the items I returned to the police helped with the case). The most frustrating thing is though, that he probably just got a slap on the wrist from our criminal system.
People don’t understand how easy it is for these guys to be doing this. I could go on forever grrrr
Surely a terrible experience to live through after someone breaks into your home, invades your personal home and takes your valuables. I don’t know what motivates these people to do such things.
On the flip side, very good advice offered with respect to making a home more secure.
You had 2 really good points that were helpful for me.
1) Not keeping your garage door opener in your car while it is parked on your driveway, is a good strategy to practice.
2) Placing a bar in you sliding door, or even a sliding window, helps to secure your home further.
I hope that Karma bites the MF that broke into your home right in the A$$.
You can thank the Canadian justice system for this.
You won’t find this kind of stuff happening in Iran or Cuba. If it does, and the person is caught, the it won’t happen again because the person will not be “available” to do it again.
I’d don’t think I’ll move to any of those places anytime soon.
Canada is one of the best Countries to live in, in the World!