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THINK LIKE A BURGLAR By Robert Hessel To prevent a break-in at your home and increase your safety, you need to think like a burglar. Knowing when and where burglaries occur is the best place to start. Seventy-four percent of burglaries are at a residence during the day when people are away at work. According to the FBI, in 2014 only 28 percent of the almost 1.9 million residential burglaries in the United States occurred at night. In most cases, the burglar forced their way into the home, but 35 percent of the time, they simply entered through an unlocked door or window and, more often than not, they entered through the front door. Companies such as Source 1 Solutions in Clearwater are on a mission to help make homes and neighborhoods safer, starting with the front door. Emerging technologies, such as video doorbells, are helping homeowners prevent these home breakins. The SkyBell HD, for example, is a proven way to help achieve more safety around your home, as this video doorbell enables users to bolster their security in other ways as well. To fortify your home, you should beef up your locks and your windows. Make sure they lock securely. You also can upgrade to a “smart” lock that can be operated by remote control and add window sensors that alert you if they are opened. However, one of the best lines of defense is for a home to look occupied, as this makes it uninviting to a potential burglar. Having a car in the driveway (that doesn’t look dirty and abandoned) is a start. Timed lights, radios or TV sets also make a home look and sound occupied. Additionally, exterior lights with motion detectors will often startle a would-be intruder and deter a break-in. Of course, when you’re away, you should stop newspaper and mail delivery and have neighbors watch your home. A barking guard dog, or at least a warning sign, can also help. ADVERTORIAL 108 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 To further protect your home, you need to go beyond these recommendations and know your burglar. It is unlikely that the person who breaks into your home will be a professional thief. Statistically, the intruder will be an amateur or a teenager who lives within walking distance of your home. Given that profile, they probably won’t show up with a belt filled with tools to aid them. So, don’t leave any laying around, and be sure to lock your tool shed and secure anything that can be used to break a window or pry open a door. Burglars want to get in quick and get out fast, usually only spending 10 minutes in your home. According to FBI statistics, the back door (22 percent) and a first-floor window (23 percent) were popular entry points, while 34 percent came through the front door. Knowing that many burglars break in via the front door, it is a good place to let a burglar know that your house is being watched and video recorded. With a SkyBell HD video doorbell, that is now compatible with Honeywell smart home security systems located in your entryway, you’ll let a burglar know loud and clear that they are about to get caught. Even if you’re away from home, you can answer the door and record live video of the person at your doorstep. While the SkyBell video doorbell is a fantastic new way to increase your home security and to notify the police if necessary, you should still upgrade your security systems to 360-degree, 24/7 professionally smart home security systems that provide home automation and  mobile system access. In addition to improving home security, these systems will improve your quality of life in ways that you couldn’t imagine. 9 EDITOR’S NOTE: Robert Hessel at Source 1 Solutions can be contacted at (727) 538-4114 or www.source1security.com.


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