Our homes are very important to us, but they represent our families and who we are, and you need to do everything you can to protect it. Following our home safety tips can help reduce the risk to your home, belongings and family.

You can help by becoming involved in your neighbourhood crime prevention programs and developing your own awareness on how to prevent or deter crime on your property.

Below are several ideas to help make your home more safe and secure.

Security Check- Think like a thief!
Most homes may generally have a weak link when it comes to residential security. They can either be a window, bad lock, broken door or faulty garage doors. To increase the security to your building, all you have to do is conduct a simple survey by asking yourself the following questions:

What are the weak points?

• Try to break in yourself


• What is the access from the ground, porch, roof, tree, garage?


• Is the glass shatter resistant?


• Are the doors and windows locking mechanism functional and are they engaged?


• Is the surrounding area well lit at night?


While you are away


• If you are going on vacation or are going to be away from your home or apartment for several days, create the illusion that someone is occuppying your residence.


• If you are going on vacation, leave your home in the care of someone you trust and let them know where you can be reached in case of emergency.


• Never leave a note or a voicemail message indicating you are not at home.


• Do not share your vacation plans in social media, like Facebook and Twitter.


Lighting


• Have lights on timers in different rooms that turn on and off at different times as if someone was home. If you do not have timers, leave some lights on when you go out


• Put motion-activated lights on the exterior of your home near doors and windows


• Install good quality locks and a peep hole


• Keep landscaping trimmed. Large bushes and trees can give a place for criminals to hide and block neighbours from seeing suspicious activities


Alarms and Security Systems


• Ask for recommendations from friends that have alarm systems or from your insurance agent


• If your neighbour has security cameras, ask them if they can point one at your home and you can do the same


• Use a surveillance system that you can remotely monitor on your smart phone or tablet


• Pay attention to unusual activities of pets, such as a dog barking that is normally quiet


If your home has been broken into while you were away, do not enter. If you have already entered, do not touch anything. Call 919 or 911 from your cell phone or from a neighbour's house.