Home Security Tips

• Engrave your goods. Note down the serial numbers of electronic appliances (many police departments can provide you with an engraving tool).
• According to US survey of housebreakers in custody, the best dissuasion is a security system linked to a recognized company.
  
• Reinforce your doors and windows. Metal doors with inside hinges are recommended, so are double locks (one third of housebreakers enter through a basement window).
  
• Make sure the air conditioner located in your window cannot be removed from the outside.
  
• Fences and bushes could make your home more accessible to burglars (this is often forgotten when landscaping or when snow piles up).
• Do not keep cash at home.
• Leaving the lights on when you are not home is as sure a sign of your absence as when they are off (rather a timer controlling the lights at strategic locations is recommended).
• Leave your radio on an AM station on, to simulate a conversation.
• During a long stay away from home, ask a neighbor to park his car in your driveway. .
  
• Ask someone you trust to pick up your mail, to mow the lawn or remove snow, and leave him/her a key so she/he can check your home.

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