common sense security (rev 2.5) - rob roy macgregor · 2019. 2. 16. · common sense security...

Common Sense

Security Recommendations

For Your Home

Larry Niemann served for 38 years as legal counsel for the Texas Apartment Association and for many years as legal counsel for the Texas Chapter of Community Associations Institute. Although retired, he is “of counsel” in the Austin, Texas law fi rm of Niemann & Heyer.

Common Sense Security Recommendations for Your Home 2

Table of Contents

Overview 4

Essential Security Devices 4

1. Keyless deadbolt on each exterior door; and chain latch addition 42. Single-cylinder deadbolt on each exterior door 53. Sliding glass door security pins on each sliding glass door 54. Sliding glass door security bar on each sliding glass door 65. Peephole (doorviewer) on each exterior door 66. Peephole on door from garage into the house 77. Window latch on each window 78. Doorframe pins for any exterior door swinging out 79. Backplates and strikeplates for any exterior door swinging out 710. AVOID double-cylinder deadbolts on exterior entry doors 811. AVOID lockable doorknobs on exterior entry doors 9

Additional Security Devices to Help Keep the Burglars Away 9

12. Non-monitored security alarms 913. Monitored security alarms (fake) 914. Monitored security alarms (real) 1015. Glass break alarms 1016. Exterior security cameras (real or fake) 1017. Security system yard signs and decals (real or fake) 1118. Security system “arm/disarm” notices (real or fake) above door locks 1119. Exterior gate locks 1120. Nighttime lighting operated by photocells 1121. Motion sensors for exterior and interior lighting 1222. Barking dog alarms 1223. Security bars and threshold surface-bolts for swinging (hinged) doors 1224. Protect against entry via ventilation windows 1325. Protect against entry via dog-and-cat doors 1326. Overhead garage door openers 1327. Lake or river adjacent to your property 1328. House keys 1429. “No Solicitors” sign 1430. Protecting outside telephone cables 14

A Variety of Safes 15

31. Small key safes mounted outside 1532. Key cabinet mounted inside the house for storage of multiple or spare keys 1533. High-security safes 1534. Minimum-security safes 1635. Pistol safes 1636. Diversion safes 16

Additional Security Protection for Small Children 16

37. “Grandparent” door lock protection for toddlers 1638. Keyed locks for cabinets and drawers 1739. Non-keyed childproof latches for cabinets and drawers 17

Other Important Safety Protections for You & Your Family 17

40. Statutorily-required safety standards for homeowner association swimming and wading pools 1741. Common law or city-required safety standards for any pool (including home pools) 17

NOTE: At the end of this article beginning on page 27 is an index to all subjects covered throughout the article. The index refers to paragraph numbers rather than page numbers.

section/paragraph number page number


42. “Turtle” wrist-band alarm system for toddlers near private home pools 1843. Smoke alarms and “rate-of-rise” heat detectors. You need to have both in your home 1844. Beware of burglar bars on windows 1945. When renting out your dwelling 1946. If you have a home or rental dwelling in another state 1947. Knox-Boxes: A really good idea for fi re, police, and medical emergencies 20

Creating the Illusion that Someone is at Home 22

48. Have the mail, newspapers, fl yers and packages brought in while you’re gone 2249. Have your garbage cans brought in while you are gone 2250. Leave a spare car in the driveway. 2251. Leave the curtains open or closed? 2252. Use timers for lamps, radios and TVs 2253. Avoid mistakes when utilizing answering machines and call forwarding 22

Security Procedures While You’re at Home 23

54. Keep entry doors secure day and night 2355. Use caution when answering the door 2356. Keep house windows latched or install security nails 2357. Keep vehicles locked, with windows rolled up 2358. Don’t leave valuables visible in vehicles or carports 2359. Keep garage overhead doors closed as much as possible 2360. Protect the remote control(s) for your garage overhead door from theft 2361. Keep it out of sight 2462. Keep vegetation trimmed back from windows 2463. Be wary of putting your name on mailboxes, doormats or gates 2464. Re-key if necessary 2465. Keep a personal alarm and cell phone handy at night 24

Crime-related Communication 25

66. Report to police 2567. Communicate with neighbors 2568. Sign up for SpotCrime.com 25

Some Final Thoughts 25

69. Priority if funds are limited 2570. Smart burglars who case your home from the inside 2571. Illusions as second line of defense 2672. Vacation or second homes 2673. Home improvement stores and the Internet 2674. Homeowner and condominium associations 2675. Insurance premium savings 2676. Insurance claims after a burglary 2677. Gift to your children and grandchildren 2678. You are your primary protector 27

SUBJECT INDEX 28

section/paragraph number page number


Overview

Many, if not most, thieves and burglars have scoped their target homes from the outside to determine how quickly they can overcome any security protections and get in and out without being caught. Some of them may have even been inside the home as repair-men, service personnel, construction workers, delivery people, former household help, etc. If they observe that your home is a tougher case than normal, they are more likely to go elsewhere to a less-protected home. Therefore, the more crime prevention measures you implement, the greater likelihood the criminals will steer clear of your home.

This memo recommends a number of SECURITY DEVICES, most of which can be purchased at home improvement stores. Some devices, however, are available only via the Internet. Key phrases for fi nding them on the Internet are in the memo. Nearly all are easy to install, and most are quite inexpensive, with their typical costs being shown in parentheses through-out the memo. The memo also recommends SECU-RITY PROCEDURES, those creating an illusion that someone is at home when no one is. The recommen-dations are based on the author’s years of experience in the residential security arena.1 All of the security recommendations in the memo are logical extensions of the axiom that anything making it harder, longer, noisier, or more worrisome for the burglar to enter will better protect you. The fi rst eleven recommendations, plus the smoke alarm and pool yard recommendations, are by far the most important ones for security and safety. Many of the devices are required by law—either by statute or the common law of due care. The memo has many more recommenda-tions; and the more you utilize, the safer your home and family will be…and the more peace of mind you will have.

1 Copyright 2012, Larry Niemann. The author served for 38 years as legal counsel for the Texas Apartment Association and for many years as legal counsel for the Texas Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (the national association of homeowner associations, condomin-ium associations, and other property owner associations). During those years, he taught classes on residential security to owners and managers in those associations all across the state. He has no relationship with any manufacturer, retailer, or security company, anywhere. Although retired, he is “of counsel” in the Austin, Texas law fi rm of Niemann & Heyer. This article may be reproduced or distributed electronically or via hard copy without permission from the author if it is given away unchanged and without charge or profi t.

The extensive detail in the memo has proven helpful for homeowners: (i) to save a lot of time and money in maximizing security, (ii) to avoid making big mistakes or purchasing inferior products, (iii) to understand the reasons behind the recommendations on what to do and what not to do, and (iv) to arm homeowners with information to avoid falling prey to bad advice from many uninformed workmen and quasi-experts on secu-rity. Quite often, small details are often the difference between success and tragedy.

Each homeowner is primarily responsible for assuring that appropriate security/safety devices and proce-dures have been implemented is his own home. The security of everyone’s home in a neighborhood can be increased if all the homeowners become more security and safety conscious and implement the most critical recommendations in the memo. The Internet is a pow-erful tool to help accomplish those purposes.

The recommendations in the memo apply equally as well to apartments, condos, duplexes, and homes that are rented to tenants. Landlords of those dwellings have a statutory duty to install certain security devices, smoke alarms, and pool yard enclosures under Texas law; and tenants have a right to require compliance. Such mandates are very important to protect against human tragedy and property loss. A landlord’s compli-ance with such requirements will go far to protect him from potential high-dollar lawsuit liability if the worst were to happen and the tenants claim insuffi cient secu-rity or safety measures were the cause.

Essential Security Devices

1. Keyless deadbolt on each exterior door; and chain latch addition You need to have a keyless deadbolt lock on every hinged exterior door of your home.

HOW THEY WORK: A keyless deadbolt is one that is operated by a lever on the inside of a hinged (swing-ing) door, with nothing visible from the outside ($25.00). The “deadbolt” is the blunt-ended bolt that moves into the doorjamb when you turn the lever. The bolt penetrates one inch deep into the doorjamb to help protect the door from being bashed in. The deadbolt cannot be jimmied open from the outside with a knife or credit card. A


keyless deadbolt should be installed 36 to 48 inches above the fl oor. No law prevents installation of a second keyless deadbolt at a lower height.

IMPORTANCE: When a keyless deadbolt is engaged, the only way to get through the door is to bust it down with strong kicks or a hand-held battering ram. There-fore, a keyless deadbolt is always the best lock to use at night when sleeping—with one important exception: If a person will be at home alone and is vulnerable to heart attacks, falling, or mobility limitations, consider also installing an old-fashioned chain latch ($5.00) that such person can use in lieu of a keyless deadbolt. A chain latch allows the door to be partially opened with a key by EMS, fi re fi ghters, family, or neighbors…and they can then cut the chain to rescue a person inside who has become helpless. Otherwise, they’ll be de-layed and will have to bust through the door or window. Chain latches allow you to securely open the door part way to easily talk to whoever has come to your door. Seldom-used chain latches can be unobtrusively installed near the bottom of the door. The Achilles heel of a chain latch is often the short screws used to attach the male (chain) part of the chain latch to the doorframe. Typical screws coming with store-bought chain latches don’t grab deep enough to slow down a strong kick or hand-held battering ram. So you may want to consider using screws long enough to reach the stud behind the doorframe. Chain latches are available at all home improvement stores.

2. Single-cylinder deadbolt on each exterior door You need to have a single-cylinder deadbolt lock on every exterior door of your home.

HOW THEY WORK: A single-cylinder deadbolt lock has a deadbolt that is operated by a key on the exterior side of a hinged door and by a lever on the interior side the door ($35.00). It has a “deadbolt” that moves into the door-jamb by turning the lever on the inside of the house. It cannot be jimmied open from the outside with a knife or credit card. A single-cylinder deadbolt should be installed 36 to 48 inches

above the fl oor. No law prevents a second single-cylin-der deadbolt from being installed at a lower level if the door has glass windowpanes. The second deadbolt can prevent the door from being vulnerable to a burglar breaking the glass and reaching in to unlock the door.

IMPORTANCE: A single-cylinder deadbolt and a keyless deadbolt, together, make a door even more resistant to being bashed in by burglars or police. This is because the deadbolt protrudes one inch in the doorframe (unlike the half-inch latchbolt of a lockable doorknob). They are available at all home improve-ment stores.

3. Sliding glass door security pins on each sliding glass door On each set of sliding glass doors, you need to have a sliding door security pin ($2.00).

HOW THEY WORK: A “sliding door security pin” is a short rod on a chain, attached to the sliding panel where it overlaps the fi xed panel. The pin goes through

the frame of the sliding panel and into the frame of the fi xed panel, preventing the slider from opening. A security pin should be installed no higher than 48 inches above the fl oor; but it may be installed lower. Some people install a second security pin higher to get them out of reach of 3-or-4-year-olds in order to keep them corralled during the day when adults are around. There is no statutory prohibition against a second, higher security pin; but care should be taken to disen-gage the higher pin at nigh time so a child of that age could escape from a fi re at night.

IMPORTANCE: The pin prevents a burglar from prying the sliding glass door up and off its track with a crowbar. A pinlock is especially important in keep-ing toddlers and small children from escaping, day or night. When installing a pinlock, consider cutting off


the pin short enough so that the head of the pin is fl ush with the doorframe of the sliding glass door. The enables you to easily see from a distance that it is fully engaged. Some sliding glass doors come with footlatches that serve the same function as a security pin, but footlatches are usually more cumbersome to operate and more diffi cult to verify from a distance that they are engaged. A sliding door security pin should be installed four feet up from the fl oor.2

Caveat: If you use a big nail in lieu of a security pin chained to the door, it is nearly certain that the nail will eventually be misplaced by someone…possibly resulting in serious impairment or total lack of security until another nail is found. Brand new sliding glass doors usually come with a non-keyed doorhandle latch but never with a security pin. A doorhandle latch offers only minimal protection against forced entry because the latch doesn’t always prevent the door from being pried up and off the track with a crowbar. This is true regardless of whether the latch is lockable with a key. Sliding door security pins are available at all home improvement stores.

4. Sliding glass door security bar on each sliding glass door On all sliding glass doors, you need to install a sliding glass door security bar ($10.00). HOW THEY WORK: A “sliding door security bar” is an aluminum tube, one end of which is on a swivel that is permanently attached to the doorframe next to the fi xed glass panel. The bar rotates down into a horizontal position to act like a broomstick to keep a burglar from opening the sliding panel. The security bar should be installed no higher than 48 inches above the fl oor; but it may be installed lower.

IMPORTANCE: If a broomstick is used instead of a security bar, you run the risk of the broomstick getting misplaced. Sliding door security bars are typically used only at night, whereas sliding door security pins

2 When installing a sliding glass door security pin, consider drilling the hole into the overlapping aluminum doorframes at a slightly downward angle to lessen the risk that the pin could be jiggled out by shaking the door from outside. Avoid drilling into the glass. Shorten the pin by cutting off the bottom of the pin just enough so that that the head is fl ush with the frame when it is fully engaged. That will make it easy for you to verify from a distance that the security pin is all the way in.

are typically used both day and night. Installing the security bar the near the bottom of the door seems to be a more aesthetic placement. All home improvement stores have them.

Caveat: If a sliding glass door is locked with only a security bar, the door can sometimes be lifted off the track from the outside with a crowbar and removed. If a sliding door is locked with only a security pin, the pin can sometimes be jiggled out by shaking the door repeatedly from the outside. Therefore, it is important to install both for maximum protection. A state statute requires both to be installed on every rental dwelling, including a home, condo, or duplex rented out by the owner. (See paragraph 45). All home improvement stores have sliding glass door security bars.

5. Peephole (doorviewer) on each exterior door You need to have a peephole on every exterior door ($5.00) that doesn’t have a clear windowpane in it.

HOW THEY WORK: A peephole is a small tube in-stalled in a hinged door at eye level to see who is outside without opening the door. They are used when there is no transparent glass in the door for that pur-pose. It has a wide-angle lens and can be installed in minutes. Peepholes are sometimes called “doorviewers”. There is no statutorily-mandated height for installation of a doorviewer, but common sense would seem to indicate that 60 inches should suffi ce for both tall and short adults. There is no law preventing installation of a second lower peephole for children or persons in a wheelchair.

IMPORTANCE: Obviously, they enable you to protect yourself against possible forced entry by a stranger if you were to open the door. In many cases, a clever criminal can hide far enough away from a glass panel beside the door to not be detected by someone in-side the house looking out. The panoramic fi eld of a peephole solves that problem. Don’t forget to put a peephole in any door from the garage into the house. To use them, your eye needs to be within a few inches of the door. All home improvement stores have peep-holes.

Much larger, high-quality peepholes are available over the Internet, and they allow you to see who’s outside while your are standing 5 or 6 feet back from the door


and without having to bend down or get on your tiptoes ($23.00). The viewing lens is 2 3/8” wide instead of the typical 1/4” and is much easier to use. Surf “New-vueTrading.com” on the Internet. Even larger, battery-powered ones provide an image nearly the size and clarity as the screen on an Iphone camera ($130.00). Surf “Brinno.com.”

6. Peephole on door from garage into the house On any pedestrian door going from your garage into your house, you need to have the same set of security devices that you have on all other exterior doors.

IMPORTANCE: If the garage door into your house doesn’t have a single-cylinder deadbolt, keyless deadbolt, non-lockable doorknob, and peephole, your security may be in jeopardy if an intruder gets past an open or malfunctioning overhead garage door. The same holds true if the house door opens out into the garage and doesn’t have doorframe security pins. (See paragraph 8).

7. Window latch on each window You need to have operable latches on every exterior window that slides open. HOW THEY WORK: Most windows have built-in latches when fi rst installed. But time and breakage take their toll. If a window latch is missing or broken, generic replacements are cheap ($2.00). Latches may not be needed for crank-operated windows.

IMPORTANCE: Obviously, a sliding window is an easy entry for a burglar if the window isn’t latched. Caveat: If the window is the only window exit from a room and if the window were to be permanently nailed or painted shut for any reason, you may be setting yourself up for a huge liability lawsuit if someone gets trapped in the room in a fi re. After-market window latches are avail-able at all home improvement stores.

8. Doorframe pins for any exterior door swinging out If an exterior door opens away from the house, you need to have two doorframe pins on the doorframe on

the hinge side of the door ($2.00).

HOW THEY WORK: When a door opens away from the house rather than into the house, a burglar can

remove the door’s hinge pins (which are on the outside of the door) and pull the hinge side of the door out. A doorframe pin should not be confused with a door hinge pin). A doorframe pin is screwed into the door-frame just deep enough so it will stick out about a half-inch, which is enough to penetrate into a small hole that you drill into the butt of the door. When you close the door, the doorframe pin goes into the hole...and stops the burglar from removing the door by knocking the hinge pins out of the door hinges. One doorframe pin should be installed above the top door hinge and other one below the bottom door hinge.

IMPORTANCE: All deadbolts and latchbolts on the doorknob side of a hinged door become absolutely useless if the door can be pulled off in the manner described above. Doorframe pins are carried by only a few locksmiths; so an equally effective substitute is to screw a couple of large, long screws through the door-frame into the 2x4 studs behind the doorframe, leaving about a half-inch sticking out. The screw heads are then sawed off. (As a last resort, a large, long nail will do in lieu of a screw). If you’re trying to secure items in a locked closet inside the house, doorframe pins will be needed if the closet door opens away from the closet. As an alternative to doorframe pins, you can install “security” door hinges that are manufactured with non-removable hinge pins.

9. Backplates and strikeplates for any exterior door swinging out Have your carpenter check every exterior wooden door in your home to make sure that there is a backplate in-stalled behind every strike-plate and that it is installed with the proper kind of long screws.

HOW THEY WORK: A strikeplate is the small metal plate with a curved front that is countersunk into the wooden doorjamb and into which the deadbolt or latchbolt penetrates. A backplate is stronger than a strikeplate plate but has the same size hole for the deadbolt. The backplate should be installed fi rst and should be screwed into the 2x4 stud behind the door-jamb with at least two 3-inch-long #3 Phillips screws (which are special screws made for this purpose). Then the strikeplate is attached to the backplate with small, ¼-inch machine screws. Backplates on metal

Backplate

Strikeplate Installed


doorframes are not necessary because of the strength of the metal frame.

IMPORTANCE: Virtually all wooden doors can be busted in with strong kicks or blows from a hand-held battering ram if the carpenter who installed the door was lazy and just installed the strikeplate with ¾-inch screws that do not penetrate deep enough to withstand a strong kick. Quite often those carpenters (i) fail to install a backplate behind the strikeplate or (ii) fail to use long screws to install the backplate. A backplate that is installed with long screws into the studs is what gives the door its strength to help withstand a bash-in. If the installation is not done with a backplate and long screws, it is much easier for burglars and police gain entry. A second backplate may be necessary if there is a wide gap between the edge of the door and the doorjamb, keeping the bolts of those locks from pen-etrating deep enough into the backplate. A strikeplate and backplate together cost $4.00 and the long screws cost pennies.

If strikeplates and backplates are correctly installed for all three locks (keyless deadbolt, single-cylinder dead-bolt, and doorknob latchbolt), the overall security of the door should be quite good; and whoever tries to bust through it will have to work hard and long to break the door down. If you are still worried about strength, you could always add another single-cylinder deadbolt near the bottom of the door or use a swinging-door security bar or a slidebolt into the threshold. (See paragraph 23). Each of those will make the intruder work harder and longer before the door fi nally breaks, and it will take so much time and make so much noise that the burglar will nearly always call it quits. 10. AVOID double-cylinder deadbolts on exterior entry doors If at all possible, you need to remove all double-cylinder deadbolt locks from exterior entry doors in your home.

HOW THEY WORK: A dou-ble-cylinder deadbolt lock has a deadbolt that is oper-ated by key on both sides of the lock. It cannot be locked or unlocked without a key. Many cities outlaw double-cylinder deadbolts on all residential entry doors of rent houses, condos, du-plexes, apartments, hotels, motels, dormitories, and rest homes because of the “fi re-trap” risks that are inherent in them.

WHY THEY SHOULD BE REMOVED: Double-cylinder deadbolts are dangerous for two reasons: (1) children and adults can be trapped if they can’t fi nd or engage the key in the panic to get out in a fi re or smoke-fi lled room, and (2) all persons staying inside the house are less likely to lock the door during the day because of the time and inconvenience of fi nding the key to lock and unlock the door. Some homeowners make the bad choice of leaving the key in the lock all the time during day, which invites theft of the key by others and which can lead to costly or tragic consequences. If the door already has a single-cylinder deadbolt and a keyless deadbolt, you can easily “remove” the double-cylinder deadbolt danger by simply plugging up both double-cylinder keyholes with chewing gum.

Glass pane worry: If a double-cylinder deadbolt was put on the door in years past because of concern over someone breaking the glass and reaching in and unlocking a single-cylinder deadbolt, there are two pos-sible solutions for overcoming this concern:

• First solution. Remove the double-cylinder dead-bolt, making sure you install or retain a keyless deadbolt and a single-cylinder deadbolt at their normal height. Then install another single-cylinder deadbolt down low, out of reach of any burglar. The primary single-cylinder deadbolt should be at normal height for easy use during the day or night. The additional (lower) single-cylinder dead-bolt would be engaged at night or when everyone is gone. When both single-cylinder deadbolts are locked, the family members inside are secure; but others can still get in from the outside with a key, assuming of course that the keyless deadbolt has not yet been locked.

• Second solution. Remove the double-cylinder deadbolt, making sure you install or retain a key-less deadbolt and a single-cylinder deadbolt at their normal height. Then have your carpenter cut some 1/8-inch thick clear plastic pieces to install over the glass (or replace the glass with it) in order to minimize the risk of entry by glass breakage. This more-costly solution should probably be considered only if the glass is extends so low that the “second-single-cylinder-deadbolt” solution above would be ineffective.

If neither of the above solutions works for you, there is only one other scenario for keeping the double-cylinder deadbolt on the door, which is fraught with danger. That scenario is to leave the double-cylinder deadbolt in place, hide a key close by, and educate your family and overnight guests on its location, hoping that they will never forget to put the key back and that they will be able to fi nd it in a fi re or smoke-fi lled room. Even though no Texas statute prohibits double-cylinder dead-


bolts, they are still risky to have. A few Texas cities outlaw them because of the fi re-trap danger.

A key should never be continuously left in a double-cyl-inder deadbolt because of the danger of it being stolen (resulting in a burglary danger) or being accidentally misplaced or mistakenly removed (resulting in an in-ability to lock the door or get out through a locked door in a fi re).

11. AVOID lockable doorknobs on exterior entry doors If an exterior entry door has a lockable doorknob, you need to replace it with a non-lockable doorknob and rely solely on a single-cylinder deadbolt to lock up when leaving. A lock-able doorknob is locked by pushing a button or twisting a knob on the doorknob. A lockable doorknob has a “latchbolt” that protrudes into the doorjamb only one-half-inch deep—about half as much as a “dead-bolt”. Consequently, there is less doorframe wood that must be broken away to get inside. Police and burglars are often able to kick in wooden doors that are only locked with a lockable doorknob (especially when the backplates were not installed with 3-inch screws that will reach the stud behind the doorframe.

WHY THEY SHOULD BE REMOVED: There are three good reasons to remove lockable doorknobs:

• First, lockable doorknobs can be dangerous be-cause the latchbolt can often be jimmied open with a credit card or pocketknife from outside the door—unlike the bolt of a single-cylinder deadbolt.

• Second, lockable doorknobs tempt family members to lock the door with only the doorknob lock—and not the single-cylinder deadbolt—when leaving the house. A door’s resistance to being bashed in by a burglar is reduced considerably when locked only with a doorknob lock.

• Third, you can lock yourself out if you go outside in your PJs to get the newspaper and shut the door behind you through habit…and then you suddenly

realize the door’s push-button or twist-button lock was still engaged…you don’t have your key.3

To save money while still increasing security inside the house, consider swapping the lockable doorknob on the exterior door with an existing non-lockable doorknob on a closet door. Another way minimize the lockable doorknob danger is to leave the lockable doorknob in place and have your carpenter remove the locking mechanism from inside the doorknob and glue the push button back at its pushed-in position. In either case, you need to install a single-cylinder deadbolt on the door.

Additional Security Devices

to Help Keep the Burglars

Away

12. Non-monitored security alarms Consider installing an inexpensive alarm system if you can’t afford a monitored system. It consists of battery-powered door and window alarms that attach very quickly with double-edged tape or Velcro. If a door or window is opened, a magnet activates a loud alarm that is designed to thwart any entry when the perpe-trator hears the noise. It also gives any occupants a warning about the security breach and gives them time to call police, fl ee, or arm themselves. The kits typi-cally sell for under $30.00 at home improvement stores and contain several battery-powered door and window alarms. With two kits, an entire home can usually be well protected. It’s obviously a localized alarm with limitations, but it’s better than no alarm at all.

13. Monitored security alarms (fake)Equipping your home with fake external trappings of a monitored security system is by itself a formidable deterrent to burglary, i.e., fake security cameras visible from the outside, fake surveillance decals on some windows, a fake security system sign in the yard (and waterfront), and a fake “Don’t Forget to Arm or Disarm the Security Alarm” above the lock on one or more entry doors. (See paragraphs 16, 17, and 18). To mislead a professional burglar who has had access to your home to scope it out, fi nd a house that’s being torn down and see if it has a monitoring system control panel you could obtain to put in your home as a “fake” panel in your home.

3 There is no law that prevents the use of a lockable door-knob as a supplement to a single-cylinder deadbolt; but it would seem wise to not have a lockable doorknob under any circumstances in view of the three reasons stated above.


14. Monitored security alarms (real) Security systems monitored by third-party companies can be very benefi cial; but in this author’s opinion, they should be viewed as supplemental to all other items dealing solely with security in this article (in contrast to fi re detection and emergency help protection).

Burglar deterrent function. For sure, the sophisticated alarm systems are a deterrent to burglars (just like fake security alarm systems are). The “bad guys” know that the police can seldom arrive quickly enough to stop a snatch-and-fl ee burglar or an experienced burglar who has cased your home and knows how to get in and out quickly. The initial delay will consist of (1) the time it takes for the monitoring company to call your home to see if it is a false alarm, (2) the time it takes for them to call the local police or fi re department if it is not a false alarm, and (3) the time for police/fi re response. The average response time for the best of police and fi re department’s is 4 to 5 minutes. Add those three times together and you have 6 to 8 minutes...or maybe lon-ger. Therefore, when a burglar feels he can get in and out in that amount of time, he will have minimal fear of the police arriving in time to catch him. Installing a monitored security system should be viewed as icing on the cake after you have installed or utilized other security devices and procedures in this memo to deter the burglar from entering in the fi rst place.

Video function. This feature of a real (not fake) system is relatively easy for a burglar to circumvent. He simply wears a “hoodie” on his head and a long-sleeve shirt to hide any tattoos.

Smoke detector function. One of the biggest benefi ts of a real (rather than fake) monitored security system is its function as a smoke detector. When there is smoke from a fi re, the system will automatically by phone alert the private monitoring service that will then immediately call your home to see if it’s a false alarm. If a false alarm can’t be confi rmed, they immediately call the fi re department or 911 in your area. The same procedure applies when the alarm system is triggered by (i) a forced entry by a burglar or (ii) an unforced entry by friend or family who fails to timely disarm the system. In such situations, the monitoring company calls the police or 911 in your area if they can’t quickly confi rm it’s a false alarm.

Emergency help function. Monitored systems can be especially important if you’re gone a lot or if someone is living alone with a health or mobility problem that might need emergency attention. The systems usually come equipped with panic buttons to summon emergency help. Be sure to post the security company’s sign in your front yard or on your front fence as a deterrent.

A monitored security system and any cell phone built into the system for alerting purposes are operated by a battery onsite that is continually kept charged by the home’s a/c current. This allows the system to continue to operate, for a limited period of time, when there is an electrical power outage. Even though the control panel for arming/disarming the system needs to be quickly accessible upon entering and leaving, consider install-ing the system “brains” and battery backup in a locked closet. Retrofi tting old houses with monitored systems is easy since all companies offer wireless sensors for security/fi re/smoke detection.

Bells and whistles function. A monitored system can provide all the bells and whistles of using your cell phone to control lights and view what’s going inside while you’re away --if you’re in to that kind of sophisti-cation. A monitored system also gives you the peace of mind that the burglar cannot afford to linger long inside the house. But a fake monitored system will likely limit the burglar’s stay just as well if he sees the external trappings of what appears to be a real system.

Warning function. These are essential. A real moni-tored security system has only a fraction of its potential value as a burglary deterrent if it doesn’t have all the external trappings to put a potential burglar on notice that the home has a security system, i.e., security cameras visible from the outside, surveillance warning decals on some windows, a security system sign in the yard (and waterfront), and “arm/disarm” notice above an entry door lock. (See paragraphs 16, 17 and 18).

15. Glass break alarmsIf you don’t have a monitored system with a glass-break sensor, you can buy small, battery-operated glass-break alarms that stick to the corner of a glass window and will trigger a deafening, continuous siren when the window is broken to alert you and to hope-fully scare the burglar away ($8.00). Surf the Internet for “glass break alarms”. Some are ultra thin so they can fi t behind window blinds. See “HomeDepot.com”. All home improvement stores have them. A security monitoring service is not necessary for the foregoing.

16. Exterior security cameras (real or fake) Install real video security cameras ($$$) or fake ones ($10.00) under the soffi ts (roof overhangs) at visible places all around your house so that potential burglars will think you have a video surveillance system. A fake video camera usually has the same deterrent power as


19. Exterior gate locks On all exterior gates into your patios and yards, install a double-cylinder deadbolt ($45.00). That’s the deadbolt that operates by a key on both sides. They are okay to use on outside gates since they won’t trap people inside in a fi re. If your gates are locked with double-cylinder deadbolt, a key is required to go in or out—so it will be harder and longer for a burglar to gain entry into the house…and they’ll have to haul their loot over the gate when leaving. If you have a wrought iron gate, a weld-ing company can send someone out to weld a prefabri-cated deadbolt housing onto the gate. Then the welder or any locksmith can install in the housing a double-cylinder deadbolt. Also consider asking your locksmith to key the gate lock to the same key that opens your front door.

If you have a conventional wooden gate or chainlink gate with a gravity latch, it should be kept locked with a padlock while you’re gone. Certain types of padlocks can be keyed by a locksmith to open with the same key that opens your front door ($20.00). Those types of padlocks are usually available only at locksmith shops. If the security risk is high and you don’t mind handling an extra key, buy instead a “disk” padlock ($15.00) since a disclock, unlike typical padlocks, can’t be cut with a bolt cutter, can’t be broken open with a hammer, and can’t be easily picked.

Did you know that the majority of break-ins take place in the daytime while the occupants are away at work or school and that such entries are usually gained through doors and windows in back yards where others can’t easily see the intruder? Hence, keeping any side yard gates locked while still creating the illusion that occu-pants are at home (when they’re actually gone) is more important than you may think. See paragraphs 48 through 53 regarding the creation of such illusions.

20. Nighttime lighting operated by photocellsIf you want continuous light-ing at night from a porch light or fl oodlight but don’t want to have to remember to turn the light off during the day, buy a small photo-cell that screws into the socket of a protected light fi xture ($10.00). The light bulb then screws into the photocell. Thereafter, when you leave the light switch permanently

Interior Photocell

a real one. The more aesthetic style of cameras (real or fake) look like small smoked-glass domes, i.e., fully-enclosed half spheres about 4 or 5 inches wide. They don’t have exposed wires or cables and don’t look like movie cameras. Fake dome-shaped cam-eras are readily available online. When they are installed fl ush to the under-side of the roof soffi t, they go relatively unnoticed by normal folks and won’t distract from the aesthetics of your home; but burglars will know what they are, instantly. The domes that are solid black with a smoked-glass surface seem to be less noticeable by normal guests—except the criminals will for sure see them. Surf the Internet for “dome type security cam-eras” and “HughesSecuritySolutions.com”. A security monitoring service is not necessary for the foregoing.

17. Security system yard signs and decals (real or fake) Utilize the window decals and yard signs provided by the company monitoring your electronic security system. Or you can fake decals (like “Warning--Video Surveillance”) for your windows ($2.00 each) and fake security company signs for your yard or boathouse ($10.00) to fool poten-tial burglars into thinking that you have a monitored security system. Fake window surveillance decals and signs, alone, will be a substantial deterrent to burglary. A window decal should be put on at least one window on each side of the house. Surf the Internet for “security signs and decals” and “HughesSecuritySolutions.com”.

18. Security system “arm/disarm” notices (real or fake) above door locksConsider attaching a small 2”x3” sign right above the single-cylinder deadbolt on the door from the garage

into the house (or other door) that reads: “Don’t Forget to Arm or Disarm the Security Alarm”. Most fast-sign shops make these small all-weather signs ($10.00) that easily stick to the door. A potential burglar

will notice the sign, and he’ll have to assume the notice is for real.


on, the light comes on every night from dusk until dawn and shuts off during the day. Outside fl oodlights need a weatherproof photocell ($10.00). The electricity savings will soon pay for the cost of the photocell.

21. Motion sensors for exterior and interior lightingInstall motion sensors (detectors) that automatically turn outside lights on for entry sidewalks, porches,

carports, and yards when someone approaches at night ($75.00). If a light suddenly comes on as a burglar approaches, there’s a good chance he’ll think that he’s been detected or he’ll worry that a neighbor might have seen him and he’ll run away. As an extra benefi t, the sensors will

help light the entry or exit pathways for your family and guests. All exterior motion sensors that are connected to outside lights have built-in photocells to keep the lights from coming on in the daytime.

Attractive designer-type light fi xtures for interior use are now being made with motion sensors innocuously built into the fi xture’s design. The sensor turns the light fi xture on only if it senses motion by anyone coming into the room (including a burglar!). The sensor can be place inside the house, facing outside through a window, to pick up movement on the outside of the house. Small 180° motion sensors can be purchase to screw into a light socket, and the light bulb then screws into the motion sensor ($20.00). They are also available to pick up motion 360° ($25.00). All of them automatically turn off if no motion is sensed for 5 minutes or so. They are great for closets and laundry rooms where you often have your hands full. All motion sensors for lights save money because the lights don’t stay on all night long. Entering into a contract with a security monitoring company is not necessary for you to install your own system of lighting or alarms triggered by motion detectors.

If you plan on allowing pets to roam the house at night, you may have to install small shields on the sensors so they pick up motion only above a designated height.

Be sure to have override switches so the sensors are activated only after everyone retires for the night.

22. Barking dog alarmsConsider installing a “barking dog” alarm that sounds like a vicious barking dog inside the house when trig-gered by a built-in motion sensor or by a bedside re-mote control that comes with the alarm ($80.00). They allegedly can sense motion through glass windows. The barking stops after a specifi ed time if no motion is sensed. The length, intervals, speed, and loudness of the barks varies, just as a real dog’s bark would. The alarms have an “off” switch to keep the alarm from triggering while your family or guests are at the house. They can also be manually turned on and off with a bedside remote control. Surf the Internet for “barking dog alarms”. Be sure to install and test it before expira-tion of the warranty since the quality of these foreign-made alarms may not be the best.

23. Security bars and threshold surface-bolts for swinging (hinged) doors A security bar for a hinged door that swings into the house is a portable, adjustable bar that signifi cantly increases the door’s resistance to being bashed in ($20.00). It works somewhat like leaning a chair under the doorknob to prevent the door from being opened. The bar has a fork at the top to fi t under the doorknob and has a skid-proof rubber foot at the bottom to grab the carpet or tile fl oor. The security bar is portable and works extremely well—even if a hand-held battering ram is used by a burglar or the police.

A foot-operated surface bolt can serve the same purpose ($7.00). A permanent alternative to a security bar is a heavy-duty surface bolt ($10.00) that can be installed at the bottom of the door and that slides down into the thresh-old. All home improve-ment stores have the inexpen-sive surface-bolts.

Exterior Photocell


24. Protect against entry via ventilation windows When you open windows for ventilation, it is easy to forget and leave the windows open or unlocked, making entry into your home a cake walk for the burglar…with no breakage from forced entry, no delay, no door-bashing sound, no broken glass, and no telltale sign of entry. The solution is to: (1) drill a hole into the window track about 8 or so inches above the top of the window, and (2) insert a double-headed nail into the hole so it’ll be easy to pull the nail out (from the inside only). That will keep you or your family from inadvertently raising the window above that height. The nail can be easily removed to raise the window higher if necessary. Eight inches is not a magical number. You just need to make sure the window is not open enough for a burglar to squeeze through the opening or reach inside and remove the nail. Would it be better to put a non-removable screw or nail at that point instead of just having a hole for a removable nail? Probably not. What if there’s a fi re and the only route of escape from the room is through that particular window?

25. Protect against entry via dog-and-cat doors If a “come-and-go trap door” has been installed in any of your exterior doors for your dog or cat, be sure that

a burglar can’t reach in through the door and unlock the deadbolts. The solu-tion may be to install your single-cylinder deadbolt (or a second one) much higher on the door, beyond the intruder’s reach. Caveat: Are there any raccoons or

skunks in your neighborhood that could crawl through the trap door in search of food?

26. Overhead garage door openers Theft of the actual remote control for your overhead garage door is not the only danger associated with overhead garage doors. It’s easy for a potential burglar working in your house to steal the electronic code for your garage door remote control while you’re not look-ing. That can be done by holding a compatible remote control up near the motor of your overhead door and pressing the “learn” button on the motor housing, which then transmits the motor’s code to the hand-held remote control. After capturing your code, the potential burglar can then open your garage door when you are gone. The whole process of stealing the code takes

about 2 minutes. There are two solutions to the forego-ing risk:

1. The fi rst solution is to engage the “lock” button on the wall-mounted garage door switch inside your ga-rage or home. The “lock” button prevents any wire-less signal from any source from opening the garage door. Typically the same button will electronically unlock the overhead door when you push it again. Some people even engage the garage-door lock but-ton when they retire for the night. If your wall switch doesn’t have a “lock” button, one can usually be retrofi tted. Some people avoid that expense by trip-ping the circuit breaker for the overhead garage door motor when leaving for long periods. If you put the garage overhead door in the “lock” mode when you leave, you will obviously have to re-enter through a regular door that opens with a key when you return. You could fi nd yourself in a real fi x if you don’t have your door key to gain entry—all the more reason to keep a spare door key outside in a key safe. Using the “lock” mode on a continual basis while you are at home may be impractical; but it would seem worth the trouble when you leave for long periods.

2. The second solution is to attach a metal plate over the “learn” button on the motor housing. This should cause enough con-fusion and delay to keep the potential burglar from stealing your code via the “learn” button when you’re not around. Obviously, utilizing both solutions is bet-ter than just one.

27. Lake or river adjacent to your property If your home has easy access from an abutting lake or river, it is susceptible to burglars coming by boat after dark. Police or security patrols traveling the street side of your home are much less likely to see burglars com-ing and going from the water side. To discourage such burglars, consider adding double-cylinder deadbolt locks to any gates between your house and the water to make it harder and longer for the criminal to gain entry into your home. Engage those locks whenever you’re gone for extended periods.

Also consider installing fl oodlights on the water side of your house that automatically turn on at night via motion sensors whenever humans come ashore. Be forewarned that sensors that are advertised as “infra-


red” are misleading because non-heat sources such as swaying tree branches or waves on a body of water can still trigger them. If a motion sensor directly faces the water or is near swaying tree branches, it might be wise to temporarily mount them and “hot wire” them without doing any expensive conduit work to make sure the sensors are not be triggered by waves or limbs at the location you fi rst selected. Photocells, which keep the fl oodlights or alarms from coming on in the daytime, are normally built into such motion sensors; but if not, photocells can be separately installed upstream of the sensor.

If you have a monitored security system, consider installing your security company’s yard sign on your dock or boathouse (facing the water) so potential criminals who are scoping you out for a nighttime water approach by boat will see it. Or in lieu thereof, attach a fake yard sign to the dock or boat-house. (See paragraph 17). Surf the Internet for “security signs and decals”.

28. House keysNever hide a house key under a mat or fl owerpot. Instead, keep a spare key in a key safe that is mounted on the outside of the house (preferably out of sight of any door). Purchase the type that unlocks by punching buttons rather than turning dials. (See paragraph 31).

29. “No Solicitors” signA tasteful “No Solicitors” sign mounted near your door-bell will help prevent solicitors from leaving fl yers that,

if not timely picked up by you (or your neighbor when you’re gone), may lead potential burglars to suspect you are out of town. Additionally, a common ruse used by potential burglars is to go in person or send a “scout” to the front door, ring the doorbell, and wait to see if anyone is at home. If no one answers, they’ll quickly look into the windows for potential opportunities. If someone answers the door, the potential burglar or scout claims to be a magazine salesman, charity solici-tor, etc.

One way to somewhat thwart that ruse is to mount a “No Solicitors” sign near the front doorbell. If a solici-tor rings the doorbell and you come to the door, politely inform him that he has wasted your time and that you

consider him to be a trespasser in violation of the sign and that if he continues to solicit any of your neighbors who have similar signs, the police will be called. (If you have installed a chain latch on your door, you can pen he door a bit in relative safety to deliver that mes-sage). If most of your neighbors would do likewise, the criminals pretending to solicit would probably decide to visit another neighborhood that is not so wary.4 A “No Solicitors” sign might even save you some unnecessary trips to answer the doorbell in the future. For a variety of “No Solicitation” signs, surf the Internet at: atlassignsandplaques.com.

If solicitation after sundown is a serious concern in your area, organize an effort to get your city council to adopt an ordinance prohibiting all door-to-door solicitations after 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. Of course, the ordinance should have an exception for Halloween night. The foregoing standard can be legally justifi ed on community safety grounds.

30. Protecting outside telephone cablesCheck the telephone cable for your landline coming to your house from the street to see if the cable can be

better protected against someone cutting it. Your telephone line is sometimes an integral part of a moni-tored security system and is used for alerting the monitoring service about an intrusion or fi re and for allowing the monitoring service to immediately call back to house to see whether it’s a false alarm. If the telephone cable approaches the house from

underground and travels up an outside wall before entering the house, con-sider encapsulating the line with galvanized pipe and putting a padlocked electri-cal box over the telephone box mounted on the out-side wall. That will add to

vandalism protection, as well. To avoid the risks of (i) the telephone landline being down for any reason or (ii) a burglar cutting the overhead or underground landline to your telephone, many monitored systems build a cell phone into the alarm system to call the monitoring service when a fi re or intrusion occurs. The cell phone will have a battery backup.

4 Entering someone’s property where a posted “No Trespassing” sign is reasonably likely to be seen is a viola-tion of Texas Penal Code, Section 30.05, with a maximum fi ne of $2,000 or 180 days in jail. A “No Solicitors” sign is probably not equivalent under the law to a “No Trespassing” sign; but bluffi ng the solicitor should work most of the time.


A Variety of Safes

31. Small key safes mounted outsideFor sure, a house key hidden under a doormat or pot plant is the fi rst place burglars will look for a key. It’s much safer to install a small, lockable “key safe” somewhere outside the house ($30.00) to keep a spare key handy. The best kind has a combination lock that opens by pushing buttons and can be quickly unlocked--even with poor eyesight and even with your eyes closed! The ones that unlock by turning dials are useless at night if you don’t have a fl ashlight handy, and they are slower and more diffi cult to operate at all times, day or night. A key safe is also a handy way to safely make a key available for a neighbor, relative, guest, or trusted worker when needed because of a security breach, health emergency, broken water pipe, etc.

Keeping a house key in a key safe means: (1) less chance that your spare key will get into the wrong hands, (2) less worry about having to rekey all doors because your key hidden is suddenly missing, and (3) less likelihood of having to call a locksmith because you’ve locked yourself out. The combination to a key safe can be easily changed. You can even order over the Internet larger key safes that hold 7 or 8 keys and a garage door remote control ($40.00). They, too, are available with button-type combinations. Rubberized “covers” for all sizes are available for better weather protection for the safe. Surf the Internet for “[email protected]”.

If you really want to maximize safety, install two key safes: one whose combination will never be given to anyone but trusted family or neighbors, and one whose combination you can periodically change after you have provided access via the key in the safe to a work-man, service person, guest, etc. in your absence. The combination to these key safes can be changed in less than 30 seconds.

32. Key cabinet mounted inside the house for storage of multiple or spare keysNever hang a bunch of spare keys in a place where dishonest workers or service personnel, fi red employ-ees, or curious kids can walk off with them. If you need to store lots of different or duplicate keys, install a lockable key cabinet on the inside of a closet door

inside the house ($40.00). Key cabinets come in a range of sizes to hold differing numbers of keys. The cabinets that have a push-button combination to unlock them are far superior to ones that have a dial-type combination or that open with a key. Label all multiple keys with small key tags to avoid inevitable mix-ups or forgetfulness...but putting your name or street address tags on your house keys would seem rather foolish. It’s

okay to put a third party’s phone number on your key ring so whoever fi nds your lost keys can call that number

(assuming there’s no key on the key ring to the third party’s home!) Surf the Internet for “GE key cabinets”. If you have a Minimum or high-security safe, you may want to store such keys in the safe in lieu of a separate key cabinet.

33. High-security safesBuy a burglar proof safe ($$$) and bolt it to a concrete fl oor. If a potential burglar observes that guns and ex-pensive jewelry are left in plain sight, you become a tempting target. On the other hand, if he sees a substan-tial safe and no guns or jewelry, he is much less likely to put you down for a future burglary. To encourage frequent usage of the safe by your family, buy one that unlocks easily and quickly with a punch-button pad rather than a dial—preferably a tall safe that doesn’t require you to bend over or squat down to open it or see what’s in it. Not all safes have a high burglar proof rating, particularly the ones in the discount and home improvement stores. For expensive jewelry, coins, guns, and valuable documents, check the “burglar proof” and “fi reproof” ratings before buying any safe. Steel thickness and hardness and fi re-resistant insulation can vary greatly. The top brands come in a variety of sizes and décor colors, and some even have multi-drawer inserts as an option. Surf the Internet for “DeanSafe.com” for quality, choices, and wholesale prices. Many old safes with dial-type locks can be retrofi tted to a punch-button pad by a local locksmith ($250.00).


34. Minimum-security safesA small, Minimum-security safe is better than no safe at all. If an inexpensive safe is bolted to the wall or at-

tached by cable to a perma-nent fi xture or heavy piece of furniture, most burglars will forget about it because of the time and diffi culty of opening or removing it. You, however, can open your minimum-security safe in 5 or 6 seconds if it has

a punch-button pad rather than a dial for unlocking. They are priced reasonably, and they usually come with a small steel cable for securing the safe to heavy or permanent objects ($40.00). All home improvements stores have them.

35. Pistol safesIf your pistol is not stored in a high-security or mini-mum-security safe, consider storing it in a small “pistol

safe”. There are several kinds of pistol safes that can be locked and opened by (i) key, (ii) built-in combination dials, (iii) fi ngers pressed in a certain sequence, or (iv) fi ngerprint detection. It would seem best to buy one that can be opened in the dark, and the best one for that purpose appears to be the kind that opens by pressing your fi ngers on a fi nger pad in a certain se-quence. It can be opened in three seconds by punching in a 4-digit code with four of

your fi ngers placed fl at on the case ($150.00). Another type opens by sliding your forefi nger over a built-in fi ngerprint detector ($200.00); but that type is prone to diffi culties in reading your authorized fi ngerprint(s). All types of pistol safes can be opened with a special key as a backup for any malfunction of the primary method of opening the safe. To protect against unauthorized removal of the safe, all pistol safes come with a steel cable to secure them to a bed frame, heavy piece of furniture, etc. Storing pistols in a secure high-security or minimum-security safe or a pistol safe or using key-operated trigger guards would seem absolutely es-sential to protect curious children. Surf the Internet for “pistol safes”.

36. Diversion safesSmall “diversion” safes are a keen idea for keeping some everyday jewelry like watches or rings quickly

accessible in the bathroom or dressing area. A typical “diversion” safe ($22.00) is a fake “Barbasol” shaving cream can, fake “Suave” hair spray can, fake sprinkler head. They have no lock. They usually open by unscrewing the bottom of the canister, etc. Of course, really valuable jewelry and watches should probably be kept in a more substantial safe…in case someone inadvertently or accidentally discards the fake Barbasol can, etc. There are many clever types of diversion safes. Surf the Internet for “diversion safes.”

Additional Security

Protection for Small

Children

37. “Grandparent” door lock protection for toddlersOne particular security device is always of interest to grandparents (and parents too) because it removes a lot of worry over the safety of very young children. The inventor dubbed them “grandparent” locks since grandparents need them the most, i.e., they are not as speedy as the parents in catching up with toddlers who are escaping through a door. The lock allows any adult to freely go in or out of an exterior door, locking and unlocking it without needing a key—but the lock cannot be reached or operated by toddlers.

Here’s how they work: You purchase two keyless deadbolts and have your carpenter use the parts to install a deadbolt 5½ feet high, operated by levers on both sides of the door (in contrast to a regular keyless deadbolt that operates by lever on only one side of the door). When the “grandparent” lock is engaged, toddlers can’t reach it to escape out into the dangers of drowning, traffi c, or wandering away. Unfortunately, you can’t buy locks like this off the shelf since no manu-facturer makes them. Once you install them, you’ll be hooked for life. Instead of using parts from two keyless deadbolt kits, you could also do the same thing cheap-er by using parts from two “cabinet thumb locks”.


38. Keyed locks for cabinets and drawersInstall small key-operated locks on drawers or cabinets containing sterling silver fl atware, binoculars, ammuni-

tion, valuable papers, etc. ($15.00). The locks are fl ush-mounted and relatively innocuous. Lock them as needed, especially when gone for long periods. Re-member, any kind of sterling silver is coveted by bur-glars since it can be melted

down and sold without trace. Having locks on multiple cabinets and drawers will befuddle most burglars since they won’t know which ones have the valuable stuff. All home improvement stores have them.

39. Non-keyed childproof latches for cabinets and drawersPlastic, press-down latches ($3.50 for several) can be installed inside a drawer or cabinet to keep toddlers from opening them more than 3 or 4 inches, and the latches can be easily swiveled to permanently disen-gage them. But older children can soon learn the trick for opening drawers and cabinets with these kinds of latches.

A more protective and aesthetic alternative is a Tot-Lok lock, which will keep toddlers and children of all ages out of drawers and cabinets. A Tot-Lok is not visible from outside the cabinet or drawer and requires a special magnet (that comes with the lock) to unlock it. The magnet can be stored up high or out of sight. A cabinet door or drawer won’t open even a little bit when the lock is engaged. The lock is engaged manually while the cabinet or drawer is open. If the lock has not been engaged, the cabinet or drawer works normally as if there were no lock. The lock works regardless of whether the cabinet or drawer has handles. Again, having the locks on many different cabinets and drawers will discourage and confound the burglars.

The Tot-Lok and other childproof latches work well to: (i) keep cleaning fl uids, prescription medicines,

and potential poisons away from toddlers, (ii) keep liquor beyond anyone’s easy grasp, and (iii) thwart a snatch-and-fl ee burglar from easily stealing silverware and jewelry from your cabinets and drawers. Surf the Internet for “childproof cabinet locks”, and check with the home improvement stores. The websites and stores have many other ingenious devices to keep toddlers from opening refrigerators, dishwashers, and doorknobs.

Other Important Safety

Protections for You & Your

Family

40. Statutorily-required safety standards for homeowner association swimming and wading poolsIn most states, every swimming pool or wading pool owned or operated by a homeowners association or condominium association is statutorily required to comply with statutory pool yard requirements. In Texas, those statutory standards include a pool yard fence, self-closing gate, self-latching gate, throw ring, reach-ing pole, safety drain cover on the main drain at the bottom of the pool, and more.5 The statute applies to all public, commercial, and multi-dwelling pools. Inci-dentally, your association’s liability insurance carrier will be tempted to cancel your association’s policy if they were to discover that your association has ignored the statutory requirements for pool yard safety.

41. Common law or city-required safety standards for any pool (including home pools)Every homeowner who has a swimming pool must comply with any local city ordinance that may require the pool owner to have: (1) a fence around the pool yard to protect small children in the neighborhood from wandering into the pool yard, unnoticed, (2) a self-clos-ing, self-latching gate for the fence, and (3) proper life-saving equipment at the pool, i.e., a fl oatable life-ring on a rope ($65.00) and a reaching pole ($15.00), which are available from all swimming pool supply stores. It is this author’s opinion that Texas negligence case law (tort law) imposes the above duties on a homeowner who has a private pool at his home. That is probably the case law in other states as well.

5 Section 757.001 et seq of the Texas Health and Safety Code requires owners of apartments, condominiums, home-owner associations, hotels, motels, rest homes, dormitories and all other non-single-family homes to enclose their swim-ming pool


Potential liability exposure. Failure to take these steps can obviously lead to tragedy, in which event you could be exposed to multi-million-dollar lawsuit liability. Don’t assume that you’re free of pool yard safety duties because your home is located out in the county or your city has no ordinance on the subject. The plaintiff at-torneys have successfully argued that all homeowners everywhere have the above-listed duties under tort law if they have a swimming pool, i.e., the homeowner has a common law duty to not be negligent. A reliable test for legal suffi ciency for a homeowner’s pool yard safety measures is whether those measures refl ect the safety measures in the pool yard statute.

Homes next to natural water. Although no statute requires life-saving equipment just because a home is located next to a river or lake, it would seem prudent to have a life-ring and reaching pole nearby, within sight, if the water’s edge is deep enough to cause concern.

42. “Turtle” wrist-band alarm system for toddlers near private home poolsRegardless whether the potential danger is a swim-ming pool, river, or lake, consider purchasing a “Turtle Wristband Alarm System” ($265.00) to protect young-sters who cannot swim. The wristbands look like a wristwatch shaped like a small turtle that an adult can strap on a child’s wrist or leg and lock it so the child cannot remove it. If the “turtle” gets wet, it sets off an ear-piercing alarm inside the house that can be heard a 100 or more feet away. They are not only good protec-tion for the kids, the “turtle” can also be permanently attached to a dog’s collar to sound the alarm if the dog falls into the pool and falls off the boat dock into the lake while you’re not looking. They give considerable peace of mind to the adults who are responsible for the children and pets. The system can be purchased at lesliespool.com. Additional wristbands cost about $45.00 each.

43. Smoke alarms and “rate-of-rise” heat detectors. You need to have both in your homeSmoke alarms. You need to have smoke alarms throughout your home—either the battery-operated kind ($20.00) or the kind incorporated into a monitored security system ($$$). The recommended locations for smoke alarms in all dwell-ings are: (i) one in each bedroom, (ii) one in any upstairs hallway(s) to a bedroom if any fl oor level beneath the bedroom has a kitchen, and (iii) one on

every fl oor that has no bedrooms if there are multiple fl oors. Those are the places where the smoke alarm statute requires every residential landlord to install them.6 The statute is a safe yardstick for placing smoke alarms in a homeowner’s own home—unless local city ordinances require more.

“Rate-of-rise” heat detectors. Installing smoke alarm in a kitchen is a problem because it will inevitably be triggered by smoke that occurs when toast is burned, etc. Nevertheless, protection is still needed because fi res commonly start in the kitchen. There-fore, the experts recom-mend for kitchens that you install a “rate-of-rise” heat detector that triggers an alarm only if there is a rapid rise in heat. Such detectors are not triggered by smoke.

Installing a smoke alarm in an enclosed garage is not a good idea either. This is because vehicle exhaust fumes and workbench dust can trigger smoke alarms. But installing a “rate-of-rise” heat detector in a garage is a good idea since fi res that start in a garage usually have time to grow to big fi res before smoke alarms inside the house can detect them. With monitored se-curity systems, a home can be retrofi tted with wireless rate-of-rise detectors. Smoke alarms and rate-of-rise detectors (battery or hard-wired) are available at home improvement stores. Surf the Internet for “rate of rise heat detectors” (110 volt type) and “wireless rate of rise heat detectors” (battery operated).

6 Section 92.251 et seq of the Texas Property Code re-quires smoke alarms for rental dwellings. (The statutes now refer to them as smoke “alarms” and not smoke “de-tectors”.) Most city ordinances on smoke alarms apply to both owner-occupied dwellings and rental dwellings. They generally require all dwellings to have what the state statute requires for rental dwellings, as a minimum. The statute says that smoke alarms must be installed as outlined in paragraph 36 and that they must be installed no closer than 6 inches to a wall if installed on a ceiling. If installed on a wall, they must be installed no closer than 6 inches and no farther than 12 inches from the ceiling. If you don’t follow those dimen-sions, the smoke alarm could be rendered useless to timely detect smoke. The reason is that smoke from a fi re seldom gets in the 6-inch triangle where the walls meet the ceiling. Local city ordinances may impose additional requirements, to a limited extent, for smoke alarms in all dwellings. The Texas Smoke Alarm Statute that is applicable to residential landlords is online at “statutes.legis.state.tx.us”.


44. Beware of burglar bars on windowsFixed burglar bars on windows can be a death trap in a fi re. That’s why most cities outlaw fi xed burglar bars. Therefore, it would seen foolhardy to install or keep them. If you feel you must have them, at least make sure they are (i) hinged to open to the inside of the room and (ii) locked with a key from the inside. Be sure to hide the key on a nearby hook and tell your family and guests so they can fi nd the key in a room full of smoke and escape through the window if necessary.

45. When renting out your dwellingIf you ever rent out your home, condo, or duplex, you become a landlord subject to certain duties under state statutes and the common law. If your rental dwelling is in Texas, you need to comply with the statute that requires the dwelling to have all the security devices described in paragraphs 1 through 7 at the time the tenant moves in.7 You have those duties even if you use a rental agent or put your dwelling into a rental pool and don’t directly lease the dwelling yourself. The negligence of the agent or rental pool operator in not complying with your landlord duties will be imputed to you; so you won’t be protected from liability. The precautions in paragraph 8 regarding doorframe pins and paragraph 9 regarding backplates/strikeplates may or may not be implied by common law if the worst were to happen; but they would seem smart things to do. Removing double-cylinder deadbolts and lock-able doorknobs as discussed in paragraphs 10 and 11 probably won’t be a violation of your landlord duties, but it would seem smart to remove them. Even though a chain latch is not required by statute or the common law, it would seem helpful and considerate to install one on the main entry door if the tenant is living alone and is vulnerable to heart attack or falling or has mobil-ity limitations. For strength, use longer screws to install the chain latch.

As a Texas landlord, you will also need to comply with the statute that mandates installation of smoke alarms at specifi ed places in all rental dwellings (including homes that are rented) at the time the tenant moves

7 Section 92.151 et seq of the Texas Property Code re-quires certain security devices for all rental dwellings. The Texas Security Device Statute is online at “statutes.legis.state.tx.us”. The statutory language does not actually use the term “keyless deadbolt”. Instead it requires a “key-less bolting device” (which includes a keyless deadbolt) on all exterior doors. But, the statute then says: “The term ‘keyless bolting device’ does not include a chain latch, fl ip latch, surface-mounted slide bolt, mortise door bolt, surface-mounted barrel bolt, surface-mounted swing bar door guard, spring-loaded nightlatch, foot bolt, or other lock or latch.” Therefore a chain latch is not a legal substitute for a keyless deadbolt.

in. (See paragraph 43). Most cities have ordinances requiring smoke alarms in all types of dwellings, includ-ing single-family homes that are owner-occupied or rented out.

Additionally as a Texas landlord, you will need to com-ply with the statute that mandates pool yard enclosure if the home you rent to others has a swimming pool. (See paragraph 40). Every time you rent to a new ten-ant, the statutes require you to re-key all exterior door locks and make sure all statutorily-required security de-vices and smoke alarms are in good working condition at the time the tenant moves in. Many city ordinances mandate security devices, smoke alarms, and pool yard safeguards for dwellings of every kind, regardless of whether they are rented or owner-occupied.

If you have a monitored security system, as a land-lord, you would be wise to make it clear to the tenant in a written lease whether the system is or is not in a working condition. If you have such a system and don’t intend to fi x it, make sure the written lease so states. Otherwise, you’re setting yourself up for a lawsuit if the worst happens and the tenant blames the non-working security system. If it is a working system, give the ten-ant written instructions—not oral instructions—on how to operate it. A plaintiff’s memory of oral instructions tends to fail big time in big dollar lawsuits.

Furthermore, if you fail to comply with the statutes by not installing the required security devices, smoke alarms, and pool yard safeguards and if the worst happens to your guests or your tenants or their family due to your failure, your exposure to personal injury lawsuits can go sky high. The good news is that you are far better protected from lawsuit liability if you have complied with the statutes and there is a fi re or drown-ing accident or a criminal entry that results in personal assault or property theft.

46. If you have a home or rental dwelling in another state It is relatively easy to fi nd the statutes in other states that require homeowners or rental dwelling owners to install security devices, smoke alarms, or pool yard enclosures and safety equipment.8 Regardless of

8 You shouldn’t have to spend the money on lawyers to determine the security measures you need to follow in other states. Just use the Internet. Input the following key phras-es: “[the state’s name] landlord tenant statutes” and “[the state’s name] smoke alarm requirements” and you should instantly reach the laws of that state that contain the security device and smoke alarm duties of landlords. It is 99% cer-tain that a homeowner who complies with a state’s landlord duties on these subjects will satisfy any separate statutory requirements that apply only to homeowners.


whether such other state has statutes or state regula-tions on these subjects, it is quite likely that the state’s tort law (court decisions) will impose a duty on all residential property owners to protect their guests and tenants with smoke alarms, pool yard enclosure/safety equipment, and the more important security devices.

47. Knox-Boxes: A really good idea for fi re, police, and medical emergenciesIndividual homeowners and, for sure, all gated commu-nities across the country should consider participating in the nationwide Knox-Box program. It involves install-ing a special “Knox-Box” near the entry gate of a gat-ed community or near the entry gate or front door or a home. The weatherproof Knox-Box securely holds a key to the gate or door for quick, reliable entry into the gated community, home, condo, or apartment complex by emergency personnel. Only local fi re fi ghters, EMS, and/or police personnel have the key for Knox-Boxes in their jurisdiction.

A Knox-Box for a home can especially important when there might be a greater need to rescue a lone oc-cupant from a fall, fi re, or heart attack without having to break down the front door and front gate. In this

Using the phrase “[the state’s name] swimming pool safety laws” will lead you directly to that state’s poolyard enclosure statutes and pool safety regulations applicable to owner-occupied homes and rental dwellings. Finding city ordinances on these subjects, however, can be a nightmare because city websites are often poorly organized. The easy and painless solution is to telephone the city clerk’s offi ce and ask them to give you the Internet address of the ordi-nances on required security devices and smoke alarms for homes and rental dwellings and the ordinances on required poolyard fences and safety equipment for swimming pools in owner-occupied homes and rental dwellings.

Short of such research, implementing the recommenda-tions in this memo should give you protection and peace of mind—with the caveat that another state’s laws may be even require more and you will need to comply with such addi-tional requirements. Conversely, the recommendations in this memo may actually be more comprehensive than another state’s requirements. Another way to painlessly accomplish such research is to join the local apartment association, which can inform you about all laws relating to the above subjects for rental housing. The apartment association in most states can also provide you with comprehensive single-family-dwelling lease and related forms to better protect yourself and minimize leasing hassles.

respect, a Knox-Box really provides a lot of peace of mind for an occupant and his family. Installation of a Knox-Box for a home is at the total discretion of the homeowner.

Additionally, Knox-Boxes can signifi cantly increase the speed by which emergency personnel can put out a fi re or reach a person in a medical or personal safety emer-gency. Therefore, they can not only save the cost of replacing a bashed-in door or gate for emergency entry, they can also save lives. Knox-Boxes don’t interfere with existing or future entry of homeowners via codes, keys, or remote controls. Knox-Boxes are in common use by thousands of cities all over the nation.

(a) How the Knox-Box system works. The home-owner, homeowner or condominium association, or apartment owner buys a small, lockable box from the Knox-Box company over the Internet. It is a weatherproof, tamperproof box about 4”x5” in size, with a refl ective strip to easily fi nd it at night. You securely mount the box on a wall or fence in plain sight near the entry gate (or homeowner’s front door) so that fi re fi ghters, EMS, or police can readily see it. The boxes come in a variety of col-ors. The fi nal step is to ask the fi re department to come out and lock the box with their special Knox-Box key after you’ve put your own gate key, gate combination, or house key in it. No one else can legally have a key that opens the Knox-Box…not even you as the homeowner, apartment owner, or homeowner/condominium association manager. Knox-Box keys are individualized by the manufac-turer for each separate fi re department throughout the country, and a fi re department’s key will open only the Knox-Boxes in their particular city or jurisdiction. EMS and police departments can be provided with the fi re department’s key. Military installations and other government facilities use Knox-Boxes extensively. The cost of a Knox-Box for the property owner or gated community is about $300.00.

(b) Response time accelerated. A Knox-Box can avoid crucial access delays for emergency re-sponders. Speed of response is paramount. Few people are aware that the size of a fi re doubles every minute. A one-or two-minute delay can cause substantially greater loss from a fi re—and in some instances can avoid a fi re getting so out of control that that the entire building is lost or adjacent buildings are put at risk. When a fi re occurs or when a person has a heart attack or stroke, a one-minute delay can sometimes be the difference between life or death…or a lifetime of disability. In burglary situations, a one-minute delay can many times be the difference between


preventing a crime or having someone badly hurt or injured by criminals because of late arrival of the police due to gated-community gates that are locked.

Some cities have opted to put Knox-Box keys in their police cars to enable the police to quickly get through locked gates of gated communities. This can be very helpful when a crime is in process or when fi re or EMS personnel are occasionally overwhelmed by an avalanche of calls during the same time period…and the police have to cover for them. The Knox-Boxes can even be confi g-ured to have a switch inside that can electronically open the gate, making entry even faster.

(c) Drawbacks of not having a Knox-Box system. Sometimes homeowner and condominium asso-ciations (and others) change their gate codes and fail to inform the city. Through human error, emer-gency vehicles occasionally don’t have the latest combination on their list. Each of those scenarios can stop the emergency vehicles dead in their tracks. Also, there’s the worry that a list could be misplaced from one of the many emergency vehicles that have to carry the list. That would not only be embarrassing for the city, it could impose fi nancial liability on the city if really bad things resulted from the list falling into the wrong hand or from a crucial delay in reaching a person in des-perate need of EMS services or protection against a crime in progress. Lastly, it would seem to be asking a lot for a fi re, EMS, or police department to (i) keep up with the combinations to hundreds or thousands of gates or house doors, (ii) keep an absolutely current list of all gate codes in every emergency vehicle, and (iii) protect multiple cop-ies of that list from accidental misplacement…or even worse, theft of the list.

(d) Knox-Box key security. Keys to a Knox-Box are unique; and local locksmiths do not have the materials or technology to reproduce them. As an additional safeguard, the Knox-Box Company makes a computer-controlled storage box to protect the security of the Knox-Box key inside each fi re truck, EMS vehicle, or patrol car. The box, called a “retention box”, is permanently af-fi xed to the vehicle by weld or bolts. Each indi-vidual fi re, EMS, or police person is given his own separate pin number that will open the box, and the box keeps an audit trail of who opened it and when. An individual’s pin number is deleted if the individual leaves the city employ or is no longer allowed access to the Knox-box key for any rea-son. When opened, the box starts a strobe light on the box to alert the responders that it has been

opened. The Knox-Box website states that con-struction and security standards for Knox-Boxes comply with all applicable national codes

Therefore, the safety and security of the Knox-Box system is far, far superior to keeping a list of gate codes in a fi re truck, EMC vehicle, or patrol car that might not be current or that could be used by city personnel without suffi cient account-ability. Moreover, if a list of all gate or door codes were to fall into the wrong hands, it could be very bad news for all concerned.

(e) Knox-Boxes in your city. Knox-Boxes signifi cantly increase the speed by which emergency person-nel can put out a fi re or reach a person in a medi-cal or security emergency inside a gated commu-nity or inside a home that utilizes a Knox-Box…and it saves the cost of replacing a bashed-in gate or door. A Knox-Box system can also be very benefi cial for commercial buildings or fenced busi-nesses (for example, self-storage facilities, lumber yards, etc).. A Knox-Box system is infi nitely more secure than requiring emergency responders to carry code lists. If your city doesn’t require Knox-Boxes for all gated communities and apartment complexes, talk to them about it. For the city, the Knox-Box program involves only the one-time cost of a Knox-Box key and a “retention-box” for the key in each emergency vehicle.

(f) The Knox-Box website. A lot more information is available over the Internet at “Knox-Box.com”. The website has a comprehensive video on the system and even has sample city ordinances to use as a starting point for cities governments. The sample ordinance contemplates that Knox-Boxes would be mandatory for apartment com-plexes and gated communities and voluntary for individual homeowners. When adopting an ordi-nance, many cities delay the mandate for a year or so to enable owners, associations, and the city to budget for it. But if a city has already equipped its vehicles with Knox-Box keys and the citizens are informed about the Knox-Box system, early voluntary utilization often occurs because the Knox-Box system is so superior to lists of codes and combinations.


Creating the Illusion that

Someone is at Home

48. Have the mail, newspapers, fl yers and packages brought in while you’re gone Unretrieved mail, newspapers, doorknob fl yers, and packages left on the front porch send a message to burglars that you’re gone. So when you go out of town, ask a trusted neighbor or friend to pick up such items daily--even if you’re gone for just one day. Alterna-tively, you can stop the newspaper from being delivered while you’re gone, but you still need to have the neigh-bor or friend pick up the mail. OR you can sign Form 8076 to have the U.S. Postal Service hold your mail for not less than 3 days or more than 30 days. The Postal Service will deliver the accumulated mail to you on the return date that you specify on the form. It is advisable to forewarn nearby neighbor(s) if others will be using or entering the house while you’re gone.

If solicitors or doorknob fl yers seems to be a problem in your neighborhood, consider installing a tasteful “No Solicitors” sign near your front door in order to minimize those problems. (See paragraph 29).

49. Have your garbage cans brought in while you are goneA garbage can that is taken out to the street on pick-up day leads burglars to believe that you are probably in town. A garbage can that is left out in the street for longer than a day or two tells burglars that you are probably out of town. Therefore, if you leave town and the risk of crime is abnormally high in your area, con-sider asking a neighbor to take out your garbage cans on garbage pick-up days…even if they’re empty. After the garbage trucks have come and gone, have your neighbor bring the garbage cans back in to their normal resting place.

50. Leave a spare car in the driveway.When you’re out of town, leave your spare car or ask your neighbor to leave their spare care in your drive-way to enhance the illusion that you’re at home.

51. Leave the curtains open or closed? There are both advantages and disadvantages of leaving the curtains open or closed when you’re gone. Whether they should be left open or closed may be handled differently in different situations, depending on the facts and personal preferences.

If you leave all curtains open all the time, the sight of any valuable objects through the windows can tempt the snatch-and-fl ee burglars, especially if it appears

that the occupants are gone and unlikely to return any time soon. On the other hand, if you leave all curtains closed all the time, it may also lead some criminals to assume no one is there since 24 hours of continuous closed curtains usually means that the occupants have gone out of town. If you close all the living room and dining room curtains but fail to close the downstairs bedroom curtains, it will add to the burglars belief that you’re gone if he looks through the bedroom window and sees no signs of life.

One hybrid idea is to close the bedroom curtains when you will be gone for long periods but leave the non-bedroom curtains open and purposely do things to give those areas a “lived-in” look—like leaving a lamp or two on timers, a newspaper open on a table, a sweater on the back of a chair, glasses on end tables, or radios or TVs on. Consider activating a bedroom lamp timer or two before you leave. All of the foregoing will leave the impression that someone is at home or may not be gone for long.

52. Use timers for lamps, radios and TVsPut a mechanical timer on a table lamp somewhere in your home ($10.00). Set it to come on automatically for several hours each evening after dark. This will likely fool the burglar into thinking someone is home when in fact everyone is gone. Two or three different lamps in different rooms with timers set at slightly different hours may fool him even more. Connecting a radio or TV to a timer also gives the illusion that someone is at home. Some people even leave a TV on continuously when they are gone to help mislead a potential burglar. Timers that are set by manually pulling small tabs around clock-type dial are best. The electronic ones are diffi cult to operate and the batteries can run down. Timers that randomly turn a lamp on at different times at night are also available ($10.00).

53. Avoid mistakes when utilizing answering machines and call forwardingIf an experienced burglar wants to know whether anyone is staying at your home, all he has to do is get your phone number and call it. If he has your street ad-dress, it’s a simple matter for him to fi nd your name and home telephone number—unless your phone number is unlisted. When the burglar calls your number, if the phone continues to ring without being answered by a person or by an answering machine (or voice mail), he’ll know the coast is clear if he acts quickly. But if an answering machine answers, he worries that you might be in the shower or talking on another line or taking


a nap after turning off the ringer. Obviously, then, an answering machine or voice mail is a good thing to have. However, you may want to avoid answering ma-chine greetings that include phrases implying that no one is at home, like “We’re gone right now” or “No one is available to answer the phone right now.” It would seem safer to say something like “We can’t get to the phone right now, so please leave a message”.

One alternative to an answering machine is to utilize the call-forwarding capability on your home phone. It effectively intercepts the call to your home phone number and seamlessly forwards it to your cell phone number or any other number you choose. Most phone companies offer that service.

Security Procedures While

You’re at Home

54. Keep entry doors secure day and nightTo the extent practical, keep all entry doors secured with your single-cylinder deadbolts and sliding door security pins at all times, day and night, while you’re at home. At night and when you leave home, engage the sliding glass door security bar. It will soon become a habit and second nature for you and your family to follow these procedures. If dishonest workers notice that you leave your car keys on the counter or table top near an entry door, they can be tempted to come back late at night when you are asleep, check to see if the door is unlocked, quickly enter if it is, take the car keys, and steal your car.

55. Use caution when answering the doorDon’t answer the door without fi rst looking through the peephole or window pane to see who is there. (See paragraph 5 on peepholes). Don’t ever open the door for strangers. Train your children and grandchildren accordingly. If you feel a need to open the door to talk to non-uniformed strangers in order to be polite or sign a receipt for a package or certifi ed mail, install a chain latch so the door can open only part way to talk and/or sign. The door will then be secure from a surprise forced entry by the stranger, but you’ll still be able to talk to him and pass paper and pens back and forth to sign for packages, etc.

56. Keep house windows latched or install security nailsOne of the common entry points for burglars is an unlatched window or partially open window. Therefore, you need to keep your windows latched at all times when you are gone; or if they need to be partially open for ventilation, follow the recommendations for installing window security nails in the window tracts to prevent

the windows from opening enough for a person to crawl in. (See paragraph 24).

57. Keep vehicles locked, with windows rolled upKeep your vehicle doors and trunks locked and the windows rolled up—except for small breather spaces in the window if the vehicle is in the sun. Small breather spaces will keep your vehicle from heating up, keep the rain from getting in, and prevent the burglars from reaching in to unlock the vehicle door. Keep your ve-hicles locked even in the daytime.

58. Don’t leave valuables visible in vehicles or carportsDid you know that most theft from homes is from un-locked vehicles, open garages, and carports? Never leave anything visible inside your vehicle or truck bed overnight that might be considered valuable to a bur-glar. Power equipment, bicycles, golf clubs, and other items that can be easily pawned are favorite targets for burglars to steal from an open garage or carport. If suf-fi ciently tempted by pawnable items he sees, there is a much greater chance that the burglar might steal it right then and there.

59. Keep garage overhead doors closed as much as possibleKeep your garage doors closed except when neces-sary. Keeping them closed makes it more diffi cult for thieves to see and quickly snatch stuff. Additionally, your neighbors will appreciate how much nicer your home and the neighborhood looks with the garage doors closed. Another idea is to have a lockable closet or cabinet in the garage for storage of valuable power tools, thereby posing another barrier for the potential thief.

60. Protect the remote control(s) for your garage overhead door from theftThe security of your home is in jeopardy if your garage door opener (remote control) is stolen. If you are not at home and a smart criminal has stolen your opener from your vehicle when it is unlocked or has a window rolled down too far, he can fi nd out your address by what’s in your glove compartment or by following you home or by obtaining your address from the Texas Department of Transportation, using your vehicle license number. If he gets inside your garage while you’re gone, he can then close the garage door and take his time about breaking past a well-locked pedestrian door into the house.


Therefore:

• Protect your garage door remote controls as if they were keys to the front door of your home.

• Store your spare remotes in a lockable key cabinet, just like storing your extra keys.

• Be sure the door from the garage into the house has the same set of locks that your front door has.

• If you leave for long periods, put the wall switch for the overhead garage door in the “lock” mode.

• If your car has been stolen, put the wall switch in the “lock” mode until you have a service person come out and reprogram the motor and all remotes with a new code.

• When you sell your vehicle, be sure to retrieve your portable garage door openers from the sun visor and/or glove box; and if your overhead door code was programmed into your sun visor, delete the code from the visor before giving possession of the vehicle to the buyer.

Don’t try to secure the overhead door with the manual slidebolt on the door. Most overhead garage doors have a permanently-attached slidebolt installed on the right or left side of the overhead door so the door can be locked if the motor fails. The slidebolt can be manu-ally slid sideways into an opening in the stationary roller tract to keep the door from being opened by anyone’s remote control.

Caveat: If you engage the slidebolt and then try to open the overhead door at the wall switch, get ready for a big bill from the overhead door repairman. Because of this potential motor damage, most overhead door installers purposely rig the slidebolt so it can’t be used without going to a bit of trouble with wrenches; but the slidebolts can still be made operational if the overhead motor ever fails.

61. Keep it out of sightKeep guns and jewelry out of sight of construction workers, repairmen, delivery persons, or service per-sonnel who come into your home. As stated before, don’t leave easily pawnable items such a laptops, iPods, iPads, cell phones, portable CD players, etc. in plain view through downstairs windows when every-one’s gone. If you do, it tells the burglar that it may be worth the risk of breaking into your home and stealing them right then or coming back later to steal them.

62. Keep vegetation trimmed back from windowsKeep hedges next to windows trimmed low so a burglar can’t get behind them and hide while he is breaking

through your windows. Trim nearby trees high for the same purpose. The foregoing applies to windows on all sides of your home.

63. Be wary of putting your name on mailboxes, doormats or gatesIf you disclose your name by putting it on mailboxes, doormats, or gates, the burglar can write your name down, look in the telephone directory to see what ad-dress matches your name, and call your phone num-ber to see if anyone is at home…and then he knows whether the coast is clear for a possible burglary.

Even worse, now there is a free Internet service that will tell him the name and phone number of the person(s) living at your address. The website acts just like a criss-cross directory. A sophisticated criminal can input any street address into the website and nearly every time he will be able to fi nd out who lives there and what their home phone number is (unless it’s an unlisted number). He can then call it to see if anyone is at home—all the more reason to implement the security recommendations in this memo.

64. Re-key if necessaryIf you lose your purse or billfold that had your house key in it or if your keys are missing and you suspect they were stolen by someone who knows the keys belong to you, you need to bite the bullet and re-key all exterior door locks pronto. Until you re-key, be sure to use the keyless deadbolts when feasible while you are inside the house, day and night.

65. Keep a personal alarm and cell phone handy at nightA personal alarm ($15.00) is a matchbook size alarm that has a shrill and deafening noise that will scare off most nearby intruders when you pull the pin on the alarm. It is reassuring to have one handy on your bedside table at night, as well as whenever you take a stroll by yourself outside at anytime, day or night. Surf the Internet for personal alarms at “HughesSecuritySolutions.com”. Charge your cell phone at your bedside table at night in order to have it quickly available to call 911 in emergency. If you have a remote control for your barking dog alarm (if any), it should be kept handy at your bedside table well.


Crime-related

Communication

66. Report to policeImmediately report criminal acts and suspicious activi-ties to the police and to your neighborhood crime-watch captain if you have one. License numbers, vehicle types and colors, physical descriptions, and tattoos are especially helpful to the police. The police departments really need the eyes and ears of the entire community to keep them informed.

67. Communicate with neighborsVolunteer to help your neighbors when they are out of town. Consider giving trusted neighbors your house key or the combination to your outside key safe. Attend any crime prevention seminars of your homeowners or condominium association. Some neighborhoods have developed their own neighborhood watch or email list to quickly alert others of suspicious activities.

68. Sign up for SpotCrime.com“SpotCrime.com” is a free Internet service that reports on recent crimes in all neighborhoods of every city that reports crimes to SpotCrime. Any city of any size can provide their crime-occurrence information to Spot-Crime. Most all large and many small cities participate.

Here’s how it works: You (or any other members of the public) sign up on SpotCrime’s website, for no cost. Then SpotCrime automatically notifi es you by email of any crimes recently occurring within the radius you have chosen, such as 1, 2, or 5 miles from your home. SpotCrime’s emails to you are as frequent as your local police department reports the crimes to SpotCrime, which normally is only a day or two after the occur-rence of the crime(s). So the emails you receive from SpotCrime are current data, assuming prompt report-ing by the police department. Each email report to you includes a street map of the area you’ve chosen, pinpointing the block but not the exact address where the crime(s) occurred. No victim names are included. In the emails, SpotCrime categorizes the crimes as: “Arrest”, “Arson”, “Assault”, “Burglary”, “Robbery”, “Shooting”, “Theft”, “Vandalism”, or “Other.”

When a homeowner signs up for SpotCrime, the free email reports from SpotCrime thereafter serve as periodic reminders about the need for crime preven-tion measures in the homeowner’s own home and in his neighborhood. That increased attention to crime prevention then spreads to other neighbors and their friends in other parts of the city with whom they talk...which should lead to better security devices and proce-

dures in more homes in the neighborhood and in other areas of the city.

Email reports from SpotCrime to participating citizens appear to be an excellent tool for a police department of any size to: (1) raise crime prevention awareness and encourage individuals to increase security mea-sures in their own homes and apartments, and (2) get the attention of the younger set who may be unin-formed or naively confi dent that they are bulletproof from the criminal elements of society. (We were all there once!)

Participation in SpotCrime involves no cost to the local police department, which can easily report the crime occurrences in their city to SpotCrime by (i) email, (ii) administrative access, which means direct computer input into SpotCrime’s system by the police depart-ment, or (iii) FTP, which means “File Transfer Proto-col” in geek language. SpotCrime has indicated that virtually all large and small police departments in the central Texas counties of Travis and Hays forward their crime-occurrence information to SpotCrime.

Some Final Thoughts

69. Priority if funds are limitedIf cost is a limiting factor in your security measures, the less-expensive ideas in this memo are probably more important and a better investment of your time and money than a monitored security system. Install all of the other protections in the memo fi rst…then graduate to a monitored system when you can afford it. If you already have a monitored system, you will be better protected if you also implement other security recom-mendations in the memo.

70. Smart burglars who case your home from the insideAn experienced burglar who cases homes in advance will observe many of the security devices in your home and decide how prepared you are. The person actu-ally observing the extent of your security may even be a scout for the burglar rather than the burglar himself. They can observe a lot during construction work, repair work, carpet cleaning, window washing, housework, deliveries, appliance servicing, pest control, yard main-tenance, etc.

If your home appears well equipped from a security standpoint, the potential burglar or his “scout” will likely decide to tackle some other house whose owner is much less prepared. As discussed earlier, those appearances can include: keyless and single-cylinder deadbolts, sliding door security pins and security bars,


window latches, exterior gate locks, keyed locks on some cabinets and drawers, a visible security system control panel (real or fake), visible outside security cameras (real or fake), multiple window decals (real or fake), security company signs in the front yard and at the waterfront (real or fake), and a high-security safe or security-security safe.

71. Illusions as second line of defenseDespite your preparedness, if your home is still a tempting target in the burglar’s mind, your next de-fenses are the illusions that someone is home. As discussed earlier, those illusions can include: (1) no accumulation of mail, newspapers, fl yers, or packages, (2) use of timers for lamps, radios, or TVs, (3) motion sensors for outside lighting and waterfront fl oodlights, (4) motion sensors for barking dog alarms, (5) spare car in the driveway, (6) telephone answering machines, voice mail, or call forwarding for your home’s landline, (7) careful language in your answering machine greet-ing, (8) taking garbage cans out to the street when you’re gone, (9) not leaving garbage cans on the street too long, (10) hiding or disguising things that can easily seen through the windows, and (11) paying proper at-tention to curtains when you are gone for long periods.

72. Vacation or second homesWhen many people know that your home is a second home or vacation home, it would seem even more important to have suffi cient security devices and to implement the security illusions mentioned above—in addition to locking up tight and engaging the “lock” switch on your overhead garage door when you leave.

73. Home improvement stores and the InternetBefore you buy security products through the Internet, fi rst explore what’s available at your local home im-provement stores. Exploring those stores over their websites is a quick and inexpensive way to do it. After checking out the home improvement stores, surf the Internet with the key phrases referred to in this memo. Home security websites on the Internet contain many interesting security devices not even mentioned in this memo.

74. Homeowner and condominium associationsIf you are a member of a homeowner or condominium association, encourage the association to get heavily involved in security awareness, education, and com-munication. Spread the word about SpotCrime.com. If you have no association, recruit a few other motivated neighbors to join you in making your neighborhood more savvy on security.

75. Insurance premium savingsConsider giving a list of all the security devices on your home to your insurance agent so he can forward the list to the underwriter (the insurance carrier). If your insurance agent and underwriter know how thorough the security and fi re protections are in your home, you will likely obtain some signifi cant premium reductions.

76. Insurance claims after a burglaryIt’s not enough to simply have theft insurance. After a massive burglary or big fi re, it is nearly impossible to remember every single item you’ve lost. You need to be prepared in advance to prove to your insurance car-rier what was taken and to show evidence of its qual-ity and value. A little forethought goes a long way on insurance claims.

The easiest, simplest way to do this is to use a video camera to walk through every room in your house and garage and take a continuous panoramic video of everything you can see. Don’t forget to video the items of signifi cant value in your drawers, cabinets, closets, and safes. Store the video to an off-site location to protect against possible computer crash or fi re loss of the video.

Some cameras even allow you to annotate the video with oral commentary as you are taking the video so you can simultaneously describe things, talk about where and when you purchased them, what you paid for them, and what special or sentimental value they may have. Some newer cell phones have video ca-pability, but most can’t email anything but a very short video because so much of the phone’s limited memory is used up in recording a video.

The credibility of your “loss” list and your statement of values can be easily disputed by the insurance com-pany—but not if you have videos or still photos of the property you claim was destroyed or stolen.

77. Gift to your children and grandchildrenTeaching the youngsters in your family to always think ahead and focus on consequences of doing and not doing things is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. Consider the idea of training them, bit by bit on a daily basis when the time is right, on personal safety and property protection at home. Giving the children the “reasons” why you have certain security devices and follow certain safety procedures seems to be es-sential for the training to really stick, in this author’s experience.


78. You are your primary protectorObviously, the police cannot be expected to protect ev-eryone’s home at every moment. Because of budget, manpower, and distance limitations, as well as frequent emergencies elsewhere, it is impossible for the police and fi re departments to be as protective as you can be for your home and your family.

You are the one primarily responsible for protection against theft, burglary, personal assault, and fi re by us-ing good security devices and preventive procedures. Hopefully, the memo can be used as a guide for you to implement, over a period of time, the ideas you believe are best for you, your family, and your home.


SUBJECT INDEX

Paragraph Subject NumberAnswering machines ............................................................53Answering the door ..............................................................55Arm/disarm notices (for real or fake security systems) .......18Avoid double-cylinder deadbolts .........................................10Avoid lockable doorknobs ...................................................11Backplates .......................................................................8, 11Barking dog alarms ..............................................................22Battering rams (handheld) ......................................................1Burglar bars on windows .....................................................44Burglar-proof safes ..............................................................33Cabinet latches .....................................................................39Cabinet locks ........................................................................38Call forwarding ....................................................................53Cameras (security) ...............................................................16Cell phones ...........................................................................65Chain latches ..........................................................................1Chainlink fences ...................................................................19Childproof latches ................................................................39Common law or city safety standards for pools ...................41Communicate with neighbors ..............................................68Condominium associations ..................................................74Curtains open? or closed? ....................................................51Dangers of double-cylinder deadbolts .................................10Dangers of lockable doorknobs ...........................................11Deadbolt .................................................................................1Decals ...................................................................................17Diversion safes .....................................................................36Dog and cat doors ................................................................25Door hinge pins ......................................................................8Doorframe nails (in lieu of pins) ............................................8Doorframe pins ......................................................................8Doorhandle latch for sliding glass doors ...............................3Doorviewers ...........................................................................5Double-cylinder deadbolts ...................................................10 Drawer latches .....................................................................39Drawer locks ........................................................................38Exterior gate locks. .......................................................12, 14Flyers....................................................................................48Garage door (hinged door into house), security devices ........6Garage doors (overhead), “lock” mode ...............................26Garage doors (overhead), keep closed .................................59Garbage cans brought in while you are gone .......................49Gates locks ...........................................................................19Glass break alarms. ........................................................12, 14Glass door panels .............................................................2, 10Grandparent doorlock protection for toddlers ......................37High-security safes ...............................................................33Home improvement stores and the Internet .........................73Homeowner association pools .............................................40Homeowner associations .....................................................74House key safe (outside) ......................................................31House keys, precautions .......................................................28If you have a home or rental dwelling in another state ........46

If your home backs up to a lake or river. .............................27Illusions as second line of defense .......................................71Insurance claims after a burglary .........................................76Insurance premium savings ..................................................75Keep a personal alarm and cell phone handy at night .........65Keep entry doors secure day and night ................................54Keep garage overhead doors closed as much as possible ....59Keep house windows latched or install security nails .........56Keep valuables out of sight ............................................58, 61Keep vegetation trimmed back from windows ....................62Keep vehicles locked, with windows rolled up ...................57Key cabinet for storage of multiple or spare keys ...............32Keyless deadbolts ...................................................................1Key safes (outside) ...............................................................31Kicking in doors .....................................................................1Knox Boxes ..........................................................................47Lakes and rivers ...................................................................27Landlord obligations regarding locks ..................................45Latchbolt ................................................................................2Leave the curtains open? or closed? ....................................51Lockable doorknobs .............................................................11Mail ......................................................................................48Minimum-security safes .......................................................34Monitored security alarms (fake) .........................................13Monitored security alarms (real), bells and whistles ...........14Monitored security alarms (real), burglar deterrence...........14Monitored security alarms (real), emergency help function 14Monitored security alarms (real), smoke detector function .14Motion sensors for exterior and interior lighting .................21Multiple key storage ............................................................32Names on mailboxes, doormats, or gates .............................63Neighbor watch ....................................................................68Newspapers ..........................................................................48Nighttime lighting operated by photocells ...........................20No Solicitors (sign) ..............................................................29Non-monitored security alarm systems ...............................12Overhead garage doors, “lock” mode ..................................26Packages ...............................................................................48Padlocks ...............................................................................19Peepholes ...............................................................................5Personal alarms ....................................................................65Pet doors...............................................................................25Photo cells ............................................................................20Pistol safes ...........................................................................35Police ....................................................................................66Pools ...............................................................................40. 41Poolyard enclosures (fences) ...............................................41Precautions with house keys ................................................28Priority if funds are limited ..................................................69Rate-of-rise heat detectors ...................................................43Rekey if necessary ...............................................................64Rekeying ..............................................................................64Remote control,garage overhead door .................................31Remote control, garage overhead door, protect from theft ..60Rent houses in another state .................................................46Renting your dwelling ......................................................4, 45Report to police ....................................................................66


Safes .....................................................................................16Safes, diversion ....................................................................36Safes, high security ..............................................................33Safes, key (outside) ..............................................................31Safes, minimum security ......................................................34Safes, pistol ..........................................................................35Safety standards for swimming pools and wading pools .....41Screws for backplates ............................................................9Screws for chain latches .........................................................1Second homes ......................................................................72Secyrity bars for sliding glass doors ......................................4Security bars for swinging (hinged) doors .......................4, 23Security cameras (real or fake). ...........................................16Security pins for sliding glass doors ......................................3Security procedures while you‘re home ..............................54Sideyard gates ......................................................................19Single-cylinder deadbolts .................................................2, 10Sliding glass door security bars .............................................4Sliding glass door security pins .............................................3Small key safes mounted outside .........................................31Smoke alarms .......................................................................43Solicitors ..............................................................................29Spare car in driveway ...........................................................50Spare key storage, key cabinet .............................................32SpotCrime.com ....................................................................68Strikeplates .............................................................................9Surface bolts .........................................................................23Swimming pools ..................................................................40Telephone cables ..................................................................30Texas Health and Safety Code .............................................40Texas Poolyard Enclosure Statute ........................................40Texas Property Code ............................................................45Threshold surface bolts for swinging (hinged) doors ..........23Timers for lamps, radios, and TVs .......................................52Turtle wristband alarm for toddlers near home pools ..........42Vacation homes ....................................................................72Valuables, visible in vehicles or carports ............................61Vegetation trimming .............................................................62Vehicles, keep locked and windows up ................................57Ventilation windows .............................................................24Wading pools........................................................................40Window alarms ....................................................................12Window latches ......................................................................7Window security nails ..........................................................24Windows ..............................................................................24Yard signs .............................................................................17You are your primary protector ............................................78

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common sense security (rev 2.5) - rob roy macgregor · 2019. 2. 16. · common sense security...

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