SECURITY TIPS

GENERAL TIPS

• If you look at your home like criminal’s do, you will identify weak areas in your security.
• Try and break into your own home! What would be the easiest way to gain access to your premises/home?
• Walk past your house and look at it like a CRIMINAL would.
• Check your garden for hiding places that can conceal a criminal.
• Examine your current security measures (i.e. burglar bars, security doors, gates, fences, dogs, alarm systems, beams, anti-scaling devices, lighting, etc.). Are they adequate considering your neighbourhood and your lifestyle? How does it compare with the measures your neighbours have taken?
• Inspect the inside of your home for potentially weak areas, or have a professional assessment done.
• Carefully assess your family’s security disciplines (locking doors, assertiveness with strangers, awareness of dangers, alertness, key storage, etc.)
• Use this information to establish a security routine and train your family and others in the home to stick to it!
• Advertise the security measures you have taken (Alarm, Security doors, etc.) on your perimeter fence/wall with the 'protected by...' boards supplied (usually) by the company providing the service.
• If any of your exterior doors are hollow-core, replace them with solid wood, fibreglass or steel doors and fit a steel security gate. 
• While you have the choice, make sure exterior door hinges are on the inside rather than the outside (intruders can remove the pins and pull the door out of the frame). 
• To secure sliding glass doors, add a bolt lock and install an @Home Security trellis door with Slamlock.
• Invest in high-quality, name-brand deadbolt locks on all exterior doors. 
• If you have a double-cylinder deadbolt that is operated by a key both inside and out, keep the key in a safe place near the door where every family member can find it and exit quickly in case of fire. 
• Install motion-detection floodlights around your home, high enough so that intruders can’t disable them. 
• Some burglars scan newspapers for wedding and funeral announcements and special community and holiday events that might take you out of your home, so be especially careful on these occasions. 
• Keep your garage door locked at all times, preferably with a deadbolt lock. 
   

IDENTIFY POTENTIALLY WEAK AREAS

Physical Security Barriers

• Are all the openings in your home secured with barriers robust enough to deter a criminal? The best way of preventing a crime is to discourage the criminal from even considering breaking into your home in the first place. If a criminal has broken in once, he will more than likely try again.
• Have a look at the condition of the barriers. Poorly-maintained barriers will be easy to break through.

Windows

• Ensure that all your window openings are protected even when your windows are open. Do this with a combination of expandable/retractable and fixed security grills.
• Ensure that certain identified windows have expandable/retractable security grills that can easily be opened in the event of a fire or other threat. Hide the keys nearby and educate the family in escape procedures.

Perimeter Walls and Fences

• While walls and fences provide a small measure of security and degrees of privacy, they also shield intruders from outside observation and provide hiding places for an ambush or hijacker.
• Poorly constructed walls or fences could present an intruder with a 'ladder' into your property. Anti-scaling devices may be necessary. Any “landing and launching” feature on or near the wall or fence must also be removed!

Lighting

• Light up dark areas in the garden where intruders can hide.
• Motion detection lighting not only illuminates the intruder, but also alerts you to activity outside.

Alarm systems

• Establish procedures that the household will follow in the event of an alarm.
• Test the alarm system regularly to make sure that it is in good working order and your alarm company responds promptly.

Plants and Obstructions

• Plants, shrubs or trees that block the view of entrances from the house must be trimmed or removed.
• Plants, shrubs or trees on the sidewalk that could shield a car hijacker must be trimmed or removed.

SECURITY DISCIPLINES

• All the measures you take to protect your family is as good as the security disciplines you and your family have e.g. a security gate is useless unless it is locked and the key removed and secured! A series of small, but useful routines, correctly and conscientiously followed, will ensure that your overall security is the best it can be.
• Design a set of rules for the family. They should include key disciplines, escape procedures and routes, safe havens, etc.
• Have regular family security meetings at which these disciplines are re-enforced! 

Keys

• 'Key' disciplines are essential for preventing access to even the most conscientiously secured premises. Here are a few tips that will add to your security:
• 'Key' storage areas
• It is important to establish a specific Key Storage Place (e.g. key hooks behind a kitchen cupboard) for all household keys.
• Family members should be disciplined to always leave all keys in this place.
• The Key Storage Place must be inaccessible to outsiders, concealed from outsiders view, easily accessible to family members.
• Copies of all household keys should be kept in a central, well concealed Key Safe or secure storage place. Do not leave your spare keys in an obvious hiding place (Inside or outside).
• Family 'Key' Disciplines
• All keys must automatically be returned t their pre-determined storage places directly after use. This will prevent searching for keys when guests arrive or in the event of an emergency.
• All in the household should be trained to keep all security doors locked at all times
• Do not leave keys in the locks of any doors while they are open or closed.
• The Maxidor Slamlock will be ineffective in an emergency if keys are left in the lock.
• Never mark your key ring with your address or other personal particulars.
• File off any serial or code numbers on your keys - do not make it easy for someone to obtain a copy.
• When servicing your car, always remove your house keys from your key ring.
• When you go out, take only the most necessary keys with you. Leave any others safely stored at home.

Neighbours

• Your neighbours are an invaluable security resource. If possible, make an arrangement with them, for you to keep an eye on each other's homes, perhaps formally through a neighbourhood watch program or just informally.
• The assistance you could provide each other might include calling emergency services such as ambulance, police or your armed response company. Make sure that they have these numbers.
• You could ask that they simply be alert for anything suspicious, particularly when either of you are away at work or on holiday. Criminals are deterred if they know that the neighbourhood is on the lookout. Areas that have had a reduction in crime can usually cite some form of neighbourhood watch as a contributing factor.
• When you go away, arrange with a friend or neighbour to leave your curtains in the usual open or closed positions and mow your lawn for you.
• Leave a telephone number and contact address with neighbours or any other reliable person so that you can be contacted in an emergency.
• Ask your neighbour to switch on all your usual lights at night if you are not going to be back before dark.
• Ask them to collect your mail when you go away on holiday. A post box full of letters is an advertisement that you are away.
• Get to know your neighbours. 
• To a burglar, an empty trash can mean you're away. Keep some trash on hand, and consider asking a neighbour to set out trash for pick-up at your house. 

Employee screening

Many people have been deceived by a potential employee. They have employed a gardener or domestic worker in good faith only to find themselves 'cleaned out' a few weeks later, or worse, the victim of a vicious assault.

• When seeking a new employee, try asking around among those you know for any referrals they may have of persons that they know, who are looking for work.
• If you are forced to hire a stranger, never hire off the street. Use an employment agency.
• Be sure to check all references, remembering that these can easily be rigged by accomplices.
• Familiarise yourself with the Labour Relations Act and be sure to have a proper employment contract drawn up and duly signed by both parties. Make copies of all relevant identification documents, etc.
• Never leave money or valuables lying around. Even the most honest person could weaken in the face of constant temptation.

Escape route

Before a crisis arises, it is important to have an emergency plan.

• Put your plan down on paper and make sure that the whole household is familiar with it.
• Assess all entry and exit points. Decide on the best way out in the event of a criminal entering your home or of a fire. For example, if an intruder breaks into the house via a front entrance, or a fire breaks out, the family can escape through a window or opening at the back of the house. Certain windows and/or openings must be identified and expandable/retractable security barriers fitted to these. The keys for these barriers on these openings must be placed in a secret but accessible place.( Remember that a window is not an ideal escape route - broken glass is a hazard. A door is preferable...)

Holiday arrangements

• Try not to leave your home unoccupied. If possible get a friend or relative to house-sit for you.
• Do not get a stranger to house-sit. If necessary, use an agency that specialises in this.
• Your home must never look unoccupied. Arrange for a friend or neighbour to leave your curtains in the usual open or closed positions, and mow your lawn, etc., for you. Let them keep the curtains slightly parted so that your house doesn't have an empty look. 
• Leave a telephone number and contact address with neighbours or any other reliable person so that you can be contacted in an emergency.
• Inform your armed response/alarm company that you will be away.
• Inform the police of your absence.
• Never leave an answering machine message that you are not at home. Say something like: "We can't come to the phone right now..." 
• Use timers to turn lights, televisions and sound systems on and off at different times to give your home a "lived-in look" when you're away. 
• If there's a Neighbourhood Watch Program in your community, join it. 
• Report any suspicious persons or vehicles to your local police. 
• Be careful who you tell that you are going away! 
• Don't let mail, newspapers or flyers accumulate while you're away, tipping off criminals. Have the post office hold mail, have newspapers suspended, and have a neighbour or friend clear away flyers. 
• If possible (and safe), leave a car in your driveway or arrange for a neighbour to leave a car there from time to time.

Be alert

• When arriving at or departing from your home, look out for loiterers. Do not ignore such persons as they could be a danger to you and your household.
• Keep necessary emergency numbers clearly posted next to the telephone. These must be easily accessible when needed.
• Don't leave valuables where they are visible through windows, etc. They might tempt potential burglars. 
• Make an inventory of all the valuables in your household and store it somewhere other than your home.
• Mark valuables. (Etching, punching, etc.) 
• Do not ignore any unusual sounds or noises, barking dogs, alarms, breaking glass, etc. Be very cautious when investigating. Rather have the police or your armed response company investigate for you.
• If you do not have a response facility and you are going to check outside, keep your family safe by locking the door behind you. If necessary they will be able to summon help for you

Guard personal information

Identity theft is a real threat and poses a real danger for the victim. Supply personal information, to anyone that asks, with great caution.

Hijacking in your Driveway

One form of crime that is becoming increasingly popular is driveway hijacking.

• Be ready for the unexpected. The hijacker can strike at any time.
• Be very cautious when arriving at or departing from your home.
• Keep a lookout and be prepared to drive away quickly, if you must. (Be careful never to endanger anyone’s life). Have an emergency plan. Decide which is the best way to escape if there was an attempted hijacking in your driveway. Could you drive down the pavement, or over a concrete island for example?
• Make sure you are not followed to or from your home. If you are followed, go to the nearest police station or a place where there are many people. Avoid quiet streets or areas. Petrol stations all have security cameras that hijackers want to avoid. Go to a garage and stop in the middle of the courtyard somewhere.
• When approaching your home, look around for any suspicious loiterers or vehicles and report them to the authorities immediately.
• Try not to reverse out of your driveway. When leaving your premises, always try and face the road.
• If you do not already have a remote-controlled gate, you may want to consider installing one. (Consult the experts as automated gates can also present a security threat)
• Avoid establishing fixed patterns. This increases the risk of victimisation by observant, potential hijackers.
• If you arrive home and notice something suspicious, like the dogs not coming to welcome you, drive on! Go to the nearest police station or follow one of the other suggestions in this section.
• Always keep car doors locked and windows closed.
• Keep an eye on your neighbours' houses. Ask them to do the same for you. Report the presence of loiterers to the police.
• Remember, if you become a victim of carjacking, don't resist. Your life is more valuable than the most expensive car.
• Be aware that hijackers sometimes impersonate police or traffic officials. They use vehicles with flashing blue lights and some even have access to police uniforms.

Security in Phases

Recommended Physical Security Installation Phases

Your family’s security needs should be determined by your risk profile assesment.

Use this proven guideline to best secure your family and assets in phases, this will give you the peace of mind of knowing that you have done the best for your loved ones in the circumstance.

Phase 1: Passage/Staircase (entrance to bedroom area)

Protect your loved ones in the event of a break-in, Sleep peacefully in the knowledge that you are protected from intruders whilst in your bedrooms.

Phase 1 involves fitting a @Home Security trellis security door with a Slamlock somewhere in a suitable position that isolates the bedrooms from the living area.  This allows you to escape into a safe area out of harm’s way. This door will not only protect you whilst you are asleep but offers an escape from unwanted intruders any time of day or night.                                            

Phase 2: The Safety Cocoon

The Safety Cocoon is created by protecting all the windows, doors and other openings on the bedroom side of the passage security gate further enhancing your family’s security while sleeping at night.

Phase 3: All Entrance Doors

 Fit @Home Security trellis doors with Slamlocks to all entrance/exit doors thus allowing family members the opportunity to escape from an intruder or potential attacker by escaping into the house and slamming the door shut behind them. This is in addition to providing the added security against break-ins.

Phase 4: Full House Protection

Secure all other doors, windows and openings with a mixture of products from @Home Security’s comprehensive range of physical security barriers.

Phase 5: “Protected by @Home Security” Boards

Just like those used by security response companies  a couple of well placed “Protected by @Home Security” boards on your perimeter wall or fence acts as a deterrent or early warning to intruders or thieves. It is a well known fact that criminals go for easy targets. Therefore advertising the fact that your property is well secured is your first line of defense against criminals.

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