Professional Security For Your Home
Everyone worries about crime and implementing professional security measures may be just the thing to stop you having this worry. Depending on location, some may be more at risk than others, but that does not mean everyone should not be careful. Home Owner’s Associations routinely compromise security, but here are some ways to protect yourself and amp up the security measures around your home:
1) Never assume that crime will not happen to you
While certain areas may be considered safer than others, there is still the risk of crime and it is best to take as much action as you can to prevent becoming a victim of crime.
2) Conduct a security assessment
A security assessment will tell you where your home and neighborhood is weak when it comes to implementing security measures. Security assessments first look at what must be protected and then looks at vulnerabilities. Once you know your strengths and weaknesses, you can begin to implement measures to improve your security. Security must detect weaknesses, deter criminals, delay a crime occurring and deny criminal entry into our homes to harm us.
3) Implementing changes
After a security survey, you can choose what to implement to protect your home. Sometimes the wrong things are implemented because the choice seems obvious. Some may hire more security guards or install more cameras. However, putting guards or cameras in the wrong places will not help with security and wastes money.
- Guards: Security guards need to be posted where physical action may be needed to solve a problem, such as posted outside a building with high foot traffic. Guards are next to useless in places without much foot traffic.
- Cameras: These can cover the ground that security guards cannot. They are useful both in high traffic and low traffic places to allow guards to check for suspicious activity. However, having only cameras and few guards will not allow the guards to adequately monitor all of the cameras efficiently.
- Alarms: Can warn guards of impending danger and allows them to call the police and take appropriate action.
- Some homeowner’s associations implement devices such as dummy cameras to scare of potential criminals, but this does not help if there is a problem. Make sure you know your HOA policies and the money that they have put into your security.
4) Know the liability laws
HOAs are legally bound to create a safe environment for you to live in and are legally responsible if their measures do not prevent injuries and crime. They must also take steps if the actions of property owners endanger others. Upholding liability laws not only allows the homeowners to be safe, but also increases property value.
5) Depend on others measures beside cameras
Cameras are great for police officers to solve crime after the fact, but unless there are guards monitoring the cameras and ready to take appropriate action, they are not useful for preventing crime.
6) Watch out for HOA members providing security
This is a conflict of interest. Members of the HOA can get themselves in serious trouble if a homeowner holds them or their company liable for a burglary or breach of security.
7) Have a service contract
Service contracts last from one to three years, but do not include the labor required to replace security technology. Therefore, it is important to strike an agreement with the security installer to make sure that they have a stake in making sure the product works.
8) Protect property through environmental design
Environmental design has four key pints that make the system work.
- Community–People want to protect their property and trust their neighbors to help them. Building community through activities is important for trust and preventing crime.
- Open space–arranging public spaces and buildings in such a way that there is a lot of open spaces and not many places to hide. Criminals do not want to be seen.
- Guest Approval—Do not hold doors open for any strangers and make sure that guests have gained approval before entering the building.
- Education—Makes sure everyone living in the community is trained on how to recognize potential dangers and make sure that they know safety is always the first priority.
