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Prevent Burglaries - How To Protect Your Home

NCJ Number
73620
Date Published
Unknown
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The booklet offers advice on home burglary prevention through deterrence, delay, and detection techniques, and includes a burglary prevention checklist for home security inspections.
Abstract
Sound residential security practices and good locks are deterrents, because they eliminate the opportunity or an easy burglary. Delaying a burglar for four minutes is generally considered sufficient to prevent entry into a house. It is relatively easy and inexpensive to make forced entry difficult. Any activity which will increase the chances of detection will also serve to prevent burglaries in the home. Door security devices which can delay or prevent burglaries include deadbolts, nonremovable hinge pins, security screening, and deadlocks for sliding glass doors. Window devices include key-locking security sash locks, grilles, sash locking pins, dowels and screws, inside tracks for sliding windows, and storm windows. Other burglary prevention techniques include metal clad or solid core wood doors, locked windows and garage doors, yard lights, timed interior lights, landscaping which leaves doorways, windows and porches clear, and neighborliness for mutual crime prevention. The burglary prevention checklist identifies security weaknesses or hazards in the home through a series of 35 questions on doors, entrances, windows, basement doors and windows, and garage doors and windows.