We hope that a burglary never happens to us, not in our private homes or in our places of business. Unfortunately, sometimes it does happen, and we are left to deal with the consequences of the things that have been stolen and the damage, both physical and emotional, that has been sustained. However, there are steps that you can take to prevent such events from ever occurring, not only alerting the law enforcement agencies to a burglary that is already taking place, but dissuading burglars in the first place, before they ever even make attempt.
It all comes down to the security systems that are in place at your home. Far too many people are too trusting of their neighborhoods, and never consider that a burglary might even ever be a real possibility where they live and with who they are surrounded by. However, burglars are all too aware of this and know how to take advantage of this. Because so many people leave their homes with the doors unlocked, very nearly thirty five percent of all burglars said that they entered the home directly through the front door. Not only does this seem far less suspicious than an instance of breaking and entering, knowing that there is a likelihood that the front door will be unlocked will make your home more of a target for burglary than ever before. And thirty percent more of all burglars here in the United States will be able to enter through a window that has been left unlocked. While not everyone considers an unlocked window to be equally as risky as an unlocked door, it can be nearly just as much.
However, many burglaries are still committed by forcible entry (as many as sixty one percent of them, in total). Forcible entry is likely to make more of a commotion and has a higher potential for attracting attention, but practiced burglars are aware of this, and will break into a home during typical work hours, usually between the hours of ten am and three pm, when the vast majority of people will be out of the home and at work. For a burglar who has canvassed the seen and kept track of the typical working hours of the inhabitants of the home as well as of the surrounding neighbors, this can make for a relatively risk free burglary.
And it goes without saying that the aftermath of a burglary can be devastating. Not only will your things be stolen, some of them with immense monetary or sentimental value – or both – but your home is even likely to be damaged in significant ways. In total, in the year of 2013 alone, the damages sustained across the entirety of the United States totaled as much as, if not more than, sixteen and a half billion dollars, a significant amount of money by any standards. Even more devastating can be the lack of resolution that victims of burglaries all too often feel, with less than fifteen percent of all burglaries ever solved, as the police often find that there is insufficient evidence to even narrow it down to just one suspect. And because burglars tend to target homes in the time of day when most people are away from the home and out at work, there are typically no witnesses to the vast majority of all crimes of such a nature.
Fortunately, there are steps that each and every home owner can take, such as installing a security system like a video surveillance system. Video surveillance systems are just one type of home security systems, but video surveillance systems are also one of the most effective types of home security systems. And video surveillance systems and other types of home security systems have been clearly shown to work, with more than eighty percent of police believe that they make a positive impact. In fact, video surveillance systems can dissuade as many as ninety percent of all burglars, and if they are not stopped, video surveillance systems can help to identify the culprit of the burglary. Video surveillance systems are becoming ever more popular as time goes on as they provide a great deal of security.