Securing a home starts with a good quality security system, but does not end there. Since even the dumbest of criminals know that a system is only as good as the response time of the police department, the point of a security system is to limit the amount of time that a criminal can spend in a home. If you have a system in place, you could be giving a good burglar several minutes to ransack your home looking for goodies. That is plenty of time. The true protection of valuables comes from locking down on the inside as well as the outside.
Jewelry is the obvious target of burglars. People have a tendency to lay jewelry all over the house. Wedding rings at the kitchen sink, watches on the endtable next to your favorite seat, and necklaces on the bedside table. Do not do this. Instead, take the extra time each chance you get (usually as you take it off) to place it in a safe and lock the safe. Get each member of the household a small safe to put in the closet of their bedrooms and teach kids to do this religiously.
Paintings can be a big ticket item for some households. Your typical thief may not know much about art, but may be able to spot something that would be worth a buck or two. Do not let your fabulous art collection - or that great one-time purchase - sell at the local flea market for $100 because you did not take precautions. For the price of a couple of proverbial cups of joe, you could purchase locks for your paintings and high-class artwork that mount unseen behind the frames that add security from theft and, as an added advantage, keep them level on the wall.
Your banking and personal records, if in the wrong hands, is the hurt that keeps on hurting. A file cabinet full of information can get a thief on Easy Street for weeks, months, or even years. Many people, myself included, have credit cards that have never been activated. These can be a crippling loss because it may be months before you even realize that they are being used. Social security numbers and birth certificates can get new accounts opened and used for many years to come, even after a credit freeze is put in place. Instead of a traditional file cabinet, purchase one that has extra security locks in place and is either big enough to not be carried off or can be bolted down.
Collectibles come in two flavors: ones that are shown off to everyone everyday in a display case (such as ceramic figurines) and those that are brought out on special occasion to gaze upon (like baseball cards). The latter is easy enough to secure with a locked safe or, if they are larger items, a lockable closet. Make sure that if you are using a closet, that the door is not a stock hollow-core door and that the lock is a deadbolt. The shown collectibles are far more difficult to secure. Use your judgement on how badly you want to keep them. If the money is justified or not a concern, use a sturdy framed display case mounted securely to the wall and using a shatter-proof glass film such as this. You cannot enjoy the items that may represent years (or generations) of work if they are being sold on eBay.
Who here has keys to someone else's house? Show of hands. 1, 2, 3 ... a lot of us. Now, who here wants to explain to Fred and Freida, down the street, that you may have just handed a burglar the keys to their home. I have been in peoples' homes that have a key holder by the door with keys labeled as follows: Wilson - 4659. If those people were broken into, next week a burglar, armed with a key and the probable security code, would be listening to the Wilson's stereo while they used their laptop to sell the rest of their stuff on Craig's List. Using a simple keybox next to the door would solve that problem totally and completely.
Whatever vessel you choose to lock down the items in your home, make sure that several important steps are taken. Use them correctly. Do not place all your jewelry or documents in a safe and leave it opened or put the key on the kitchen counter labeled "Becka's safe." I know that it may seem like a pain, but better to spend a few seconds here and there to avoid the months it would take to replace it all. Bolt down safes and smaller file cabinets while you are bolting your paintings to the wall. Nothing says oops like giving someone a lifetime to crack a safe because it is sitting on their workbench instead of in your closet. When bolting things to the wall, always, always, always (ad infinitum) use a stud and do not ever rely on drywall anchors of ANY kind, because a four dollar prybar will pull right out. The right security tools are nothing without using them the right way.
Photo by Salvatore Vuono
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