The purpose of this guide is to inform you of a number of preventive measures that can be undertaken by you to help protect your home and reduce the amount of loss suffered by a burglary.

These are only suggestions and while they may reduce the risk of future break-ins they may not stop all attempts, especially those of a professional.     

MONEY STORAGE

• Any money that must be stored over night should be kept in a good money safe.
• Types of safes. There are two types of safes: a money safe and a fire safe.

1. The first is designed to protect money and valuables from theft and burglary.
2. The second is to protect important documents and records from destruction by fire.

A good money or fire safe will be U.L. listed. This U.L. listing will indicate, in the case of a fire safe, how long and at what temperature the safe will protect the contents, and in the case of a money safe the ratings are based on how much time it may take a professional to break into the safe using tools, tools and torched, or tools, torches, and explosives. 

When these rating tests are conducted by lab technicians they have on hand the blue prints to the safes, all the necessary tools, torches, and explosives and attempt to open the safes. These tests appear to be very accurate.

A well constructed money safe should be made of at least ½ inch steel, be very heavy, and can be bolted to the floor. The hinges should be inaccessible, have a combination lock, and have more than one locking point.

A fire safe may have a locking system that is or appears to be very secure but in actuality it is not the lock that is vulnerable. These safes are very heavy and give the illusion of being secure. Actually these safe are constructed of a thin metal (when compared to a money safe), and are so heavy because of what's between the layers of steel. This substance appears to be concrete but actually is a dry chemical that turns to a liquid at extreme temperatures to dissipate the heat and protect the contents of the fire safe.

Security experts and insurance industry experts estimate that "95% of all safe burglaries are against fire safes."

Currently there are no dual purpose Money/Fire safes on the market.
     

ALARMS

Do you know how well alarmed your home is? If all our efforts to secure our home fails, will the alarm system perform as expected?

Following are some things to look for when purchasing an alarm system or updating an existing system.

• Audible alarms & sirens - If the home owners intent is to scare away the suspects or attract attention, a very loud alarm is recommended. Society has become so used to the sounds of alarms (especially car alarms), it is common for these alarms to be ignored. An alarm that is so loud that it is aggravating will often times prompt a call to the police before any alarm company calls.
• Use both motion and sound detectors in the building.
• Alarm walls as well as ceilings.
• Alarm all windows and doors, as well as cellar bulkheads.
• Use a monitored or supervised alarm system. This would mean that the alarm is being monitored by an alarm company.
• Most alarm companies offer a system that will indicate trouble in the phone lines should they become disabled, this may be called a pulse system. Most alarms send a signal through the phone lines. Often burglars cut the phone lines at the utility pole disabling the ability of the alarm of sent a signal. Having the monitored system would prevent this.
• Cellular or radio back up. This type of system does not always send a signal in the event the phone wires are tempered with. Often times these systems sent the signal only when the break in has occurred.
• Secure your alarm panel. This panel should not be easily accessible and should be out of sight. Often times burglars have been able to get to and disable alarm systems before a signal is sent. These panels are often located in the back room near an exit door. This was done by the alarm company for ease in installation. Remember, your paying for it, tell them where you want the alarm panel. 
• Alarm delays: a delay in your alarm will allow time to enter the home and turn off the alarm without a signal being sent. Burglars often use this delay to their advantage, giving them time to enter the home and destroy the alarm system. If no one should be entering the home at night, set the alarm to give an immediate signal.
• Be sure your alarm system is divided into zones, directing police to a specific area of your home. 
• Alarm your safe.

WINDOWS

Windows are the most vulnerable of all points of entry. We can lock a home up like Fort Knox, but this is not very inviting.

• Our best defense for large front windows is a good alarm system. One that will indicate glass breaking, either through vibration or noise as well as motion detectors inside to indicate entry.
• Some home may have double hung windows. These windows are also very vulnerable. One misunderstood point about these windows is the latch used to lock the windows. The factory installed latch is known as a Crescent Latch and is just that. A latch not a lock. The purpose of this latch is to hold the top section of the window from falling open.

• A locking system needs to be applied. The windows can be pinned as shown in the diagram below, this works extremely well and multiple pin holes can be made allowing the window to be opened partially while still preventing the window from being opened enough to gain entry. Also there are key locks available for purchase at many hardware stores that mount to the window sill and hold the window closed.
     
  

DOORS

Most home owners are familiar with steel back doors. These doors, while stronger then wooden doors, often give a false appearance of being secure. There are a number of problems with these doors that can be easily corrected.

As with safes, there are fire doors, and security doors.

• Door construction. A steel fire door is simply a thin metal wrapped around a thick foam insulation. With the right tools these doors can easily be peeled apart, bent, and entry gained. These doors should not be used as external doors. A steel security door is constructed of a heavier gauge sheet metal and has steel supports constructed inside the door itself. 

Often the problems encountered with doors is not the door itself but the hardware used to attach and secure the door. The following are some examples of the problems and corrective actions that can be taken.

• Hinges. If the hinges to the door are exposed to the outside the pins can be removed or the hinge could be cut, allowing the door to be opened on the opposite side of the lock
• One method of prevention is to pin the hinge as shown below. This will prevent the door from being removed even if the hinge has been cut or the pin removed.

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• Door knobs latches. External door knobs have an anti shim pin on the latch as shown in the diagram below. When the door is closed, this pin does not enter the recess in the door jam for the latch. If the door is not properly aligned or not installed correctly, the pin will enter the recess for the latch and the latch can be easily jimmied.

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• Offset guard plate. If your door does not close flush, this plate can be easily installed to protect against forced entry. See diagram below.

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• Install a lock. This is a brass and steel plate that wraps around the door to reinforce the locks or damaged doors. There are two types depending on how your door is set up.

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• Dead bolts. A double cylinder dead bolt (one that requires a key to operate from either side) should be used on all doors. This dead bolt should have the following features. 

1. Double cylinder requiring a key to lock and unlock.
2. At least a 1" bolt.
3. A free wheeling cylinder guard to prevent the lock from being twisted off with a pipe wrench.

Note: Fire codes may require a thumb turn mechanism on the inside of some doors.

• Cylinder guard. This is installed on the inside and outside of the door, over the cylinder to resist pulling the cylinder from being pulled from the lock.

• Jimmy Guard. This is a combination of a cylinder guard and angle iron to give double protection.

• Slide bolts. When installed properly these locks can be very useful. A door with multiple slide bolts can not be jimmies, the hinges are protected, and the door can not be easily peeled open. A sample installation is below.

• Door frame and casings. These should be made of steel as well. The frame should be attached directly to the framing structure of the building. The hinges and the strike plates for the dead bolt and latch should be mounted to the frame with at least 2 ½" screws attaching them to the structural framing as well.

• Pad locks & hasps. Pad locks and hasps are used in many applications. From securing out building, window gratings, and storage rooms to name a few. Which type of pad lock you choose to use will depend of the purpose it is chosen for. But in all instances there are a number of feature that should be looked for:

1. The lock should have a hardened steel body and shackle.
2. The shackle should be at least 3/8" in diameter
3. The shackle should lock into the body of the lock at both the heal and toe of the shackle.

Regardless of how good a lock we purchase, if it's attached to a hasp that is weak or improperly installed it is worthless. Choose a hasp made of hardened steel and install properly so the screws of the hasp are inaccessible. 

Overhead Doors

Overhead doors or garage doors are often overlooked as a security risk. Some older overhead doors are constructed of a wood frame with particle board panels. These panels are very easily kicked in. One simple way to secure these types of doors is to secure flat metal bars across the panels as shown in the diagram. The most important thing that can be done is to lock the door. if you have an automatic garage door opener and are going away for any length of time, don't depend on this opener to secure your door.

Following any or all of the suggestions in this report may not make your home impenetrable, but they will stop the opportunistic thief and at least slow down the professional to a point where he may quit or be caught.

Any questions, suggestions, or requests for further information, please feel free to contact: Brockton Police Department Crime Prevention Unit (508) 897-5374