IT’S TIME TO EVALUATE YOUR HOME’S SECURITY

You want your home to be your sanctuary, a safe place from the rest of the world, where you can relax. In order to preserve your peace of mind, it’s important every day to keep an eye on the locks, points of entry, and the surrounding premises of your property.

There are always things you can do to make your home more secure.

No home is impermeable, but there are many ways you can effectively protect your home and family from criminal trespass. If you choose not to pay attention to possible vulnerabilities in your home’s security, your property will become more attractive to a robber. Let’s consider what you may be overlooking.

Secure windows and glass doors.

A visibly open window is obviously attractive to a potential intruder. Ground floor windows are of course more susceptible to break-ins. Upper floor windows can also be attractive if a robber can get in from a stairway, ladder, balcony, tree, or fence. Use a secondary blocking device, such as a wooden dowel, on each window to prevent someone from sliding it open from the outside. To comply with fire code safety, be sure these window blocking devices can be easily removed from the inside.

Anti-lift devices are needed for ground level sliding-glass doors, and for aluminum windows that slide horizontally. Install screws half-way into the upper track of the movable glass panel so as to prevent it from being lifted out in the closed position. Place a decal on the glass door or window, near the latch mechanism, indicating that an alarm system, or a neighborhood watch system is in place.

Don’t keep a “hidden” house key.

Don’t keep a key under the mat, inside the mailbox, or under a flower pot. That’s exactly where a burglar will look. If you have a keyholder disguised as a rock, a smart intruder will already know what it looks like. It’s a better idea to give your spare key to a trusted neighbor instead.

Sensibly store keys and garage-door remotes.

It’s a bad idea to keep your keys and remotes near a door with a window, or otherwise visible to someone outside. It’s best to keep them hidden inside a drawer or cupboard instead.

Store your ladders.

Don’t keep a ladder outside, where a burglar may easily use it to get in. A burglar can pretend to be a handyman, using your ladder to enter through a window on your upper floor or to make it up to your balcony.

Keep your garage secure.

Most people forget about securing the garage. Every burglar knows that it’s easier to get into your garage or back doors without being seen. Keep the garage door closed and locked.

Keep your yard tidy.

Eliminate potential intruder hiding spots by keeping your hedges, shrubs, plants, and trees trimmed. If they’re too tall, not well spaced, or unwieldy, a potential burglar can hide easily.

Keep your air-conditioning unit secure.

Use an air-conditioner bracket, corner braces, or a sliding window lock so that a robber cannot get through the unsecured window opening.

Check the quality of your lighting, and keep lights in working order.

Near each door, install outdoor lights with infrared motion detectors. Motion detector lights help discourage trespassers. They can even be connected to your smart device so you can detect possible undesirable activity and respond immediately. You may also want to choose lights that respond to changes in temperature, light, or sound.

Install timers.

You can put your porch lights on timers. When you’re gone for the day, or away longer, you can make it look like someone’s at home by using timers on your lights, radios, and TVs. If you’re away for an extended vacation, you can get a smart light timer installed, so you can monitor and control everything with a mobile app, making it look like your home is occupied all while you’re gone.

Fortify your doors.

Keep an eye on all your outside entry points. A hollow door is easier to penetrate. As soon as possible, replace it with a solid-core wood or metal door. If an outside door has a weak lock or weak resistance, it’s vulnerable. Strengthen your doors’ locks by replacing the strike plate (the stationary piece that the bolt enters), and mounting a solid metal plate on the doorjamb for the sliding bolt. Replace short mounting screws with longer screws that will reach the door’s studs, adding more strength to the doorframe.

Replace weak or worn-out locks with upgraded locks.

Any locksmith expert will tell you that deadbolts will always provide extra security. Be sure to get a grade-2 deadbolt lock, which penetrates the doorframe. Heavy-duty is always better. Of course, smart or digital locks will provide another layer of security. With some, you can synchronize your smart lock with your smart device, so you won’t have to carry a key at all.

Use your alarm system, if you have one.

If you have an alarm system, be sure you learn to use it, and then make sure you do! Teach each family member to use it properly and daily. If you’re not arming your alarm system, it’s worthless. Consider these strategies:

• Put your system on a timing schedule.
• With some systems, you can use your smart device to gain access to your system remotely, so you can monitor and adjust your security system anytime.
• Keep your batteries charged. They should have a warning system that tells you whenever batteries are getting low, so you won’t ever allow them to drain entirely. You want your home to be continuously protected, even in a power outage.
• Add a carbon monoxide monitor.
• Add a fire alarm.
• Do you live in an area prone to floods? You may want to install a moisture monitor for your basement to detect flooding.

Follow simple daily rules.

• Answer the door only if you know the person. (If you don’t have a peephole, install one. Use a wide-angle 160-degree peephole mounted no higher than 58 inches)
• Lock doors and windows whenever you go out, and before you go to sleep.
• Keep your valuables well hidden in unconventional locations.

Finally, be a good neighbor

Good neighbors look out for each other. Get to know your neighbors, at least on each side of your home as well as the two or three across the street. Communicate often and establish trust. Neighbors don’t have to be friends to help each other; simply be civil. A good neighbor will watch out for your home while you’re away. Some may even be willing to mow and water your lawn, pick up mail, etc. or do other things that can make it look like you’re home. Then return the favor.

Hire a professional.

If you come across weak spots in your home’s security, ask an expert about how best to remedy the situation. If you’re in Miramar, Florida, you may want to request a free consultation from Locksmith Miramar.

Aricle source here: IT’S TIME TO EVALUATE YOUR HOME’S SECURITY

A Security Forces Vet Offers Gun Safety Tips For Keeping Your Home Safe

By James Clark on December 17, 2015

Air Force veteran Skylar Gerrond discusses the best practices for having a handgun for self-defense in a home with kids.

When it comes to gun safety in the home, there are smart ways to protect your loved ones and then are other ways that are less so. If your go-to weapon for home-defense is a .44 Magnum that you keep in your bedside table, you might want to rethink that. Know your target and what lies beyond it, right? If you’re trying to stop a bad guy from doing you harm, you can probably get the job done by using a smaller caliber weapon. You really don’t need a hand cannon that can punch through walls.

That being said, it’s less about the firearm and more about the individual who uses it.

Task & Purpose sat down with Skylar Gerrond, an Air Force security forces veteran with experience in law enforcement, for some tips on smart home-defense safety.

Gerrond served as a security forces officer for seven years before leaving the service in 2007 as a captain. He and Matt Barido, a long-time friend from his time in the Air Force, are the founding members of Veri-Fire and together they created the Guardian, a biometric lock for handguns.

During his time in the Air Force, Gerrond provided nuclear security for intercontinental ballistic missiles — which are nukes for those not in the know — for two years. He then served two and a half years in Germany doing traditional law enforcement, what Gerrond jokingly called “Hill Street Blues” work. Afterward, he went to San Antonio, Texas, where he worked on rapid prototyping for deployed personnel at the Force Protection Battlelab, which is where he got his start in defense development.

In particular, we asked Gerrond to help us lay out how gun owners can safely have a handgun in the home for self-defense when they have kids.

When Gerrond’s eldest son was 4 years old, he had to start thinking about gun safety in a way that he didn’t have to when it was just him and his wife, he said, adding that this instance was the genesis for the Guardian biometric lock.

“When they hit that age — 3, 4 years old — I started asking how am I going to store my handgun?” said Gerrond, who has two sons, ages 10 and 7. If a child walks into the room where you keep your handgun — let’s say, the bedroom — is there really a place you can put it where they won’t find it?

As of 2009, there were an estimated 113 million handguns in the United States, according to a 2012 report on gun control legislation by the Congressional Research Service.

To be useful for self-defense, the firearm needs to be readily accessible, but secure so you don’t have to worry about your children, or one of their friends, getting their hands on it. For gun owners with multiple firearms, many store them in a locked safe, which prevents accidental use.

Read more: A Security Forces Vet Offers Gun Safety Tips For Keeping Your Home Safe
Related article: How Do I Stay Safe at Home? Security Tips (Part 1)

Aricle source here: A Security Forces Vet Offers Gun Safety Tips For Keeping Your Home Safe

Getting the Best Security for your Residential Property

Miramar, FL, homeowners understand that keeping their property safe is an essential part of everyday maintenance. If you just bought your first home, or are looking for some tips for enhancing your residential security, then this post is for you.   

We are here to help all homeowners find the best possible protection for their type of property. There are many options to choose from, and learning about the most common security features will help you decide how to best get your money’s worth. We will also explain how hiring a qualified residential lock and key service provider will enable you to navigate the security decision-making process with ease. 

First, let’s get you familiar with the different locks, keys and security services that you should consider when protecting your home. 

A handy checklist of incredibly useful security features 

Our licensed and insured professionals recommend all Miramar, FL, residents install these components. All the listed options are very affordable, and can make a great deal of a difference in your home’s security. Add or exclude items from our checklist as you find fit for your residential property: 

1) Recently moved into your property? Then you should definitely re-key your locks. You don’t know how many key copies are out there, or who has access to them. That’s why locksmiths recommend that all homeowners change the locks of their new properties the moment they move in. It will ensure that only the people you can trust can access your property, reducing the likelihood of break-ins and uninvited guests. 

2) Does your house have gates? Do these have bolt-cutter resistant locks or padlocks installed to them? If not, it may pay for you to consider looking at some options. Remember, the gate is the first point of entry into your residence. Once people can get past it, they could easily try to pry their way inside your home. Getting effective lock mechanisms for your gates will provide you with an extra layer of protection, making it more difficult for break-ins to occur. The more obstacles you put in the place the more likely it is that intruders will leave your residential property alone.    

3) For general safety, check your lighting. Thieves and vandals like the darkness as it helps them conceal their crimes. This is part of the reason why a lot of break-ins occur at night. So, ensuring that you have good exterior lighting is just as crucial to your home security as installing effective locks and alarm systems. It may seem like something small, but it can truly make a difference. 

4) What security do you currently have in place? How can you improve? Here are a few essentials that we truly believe can enhance the security of all Miramar, FL, residences:  

·         Deadbolts or other heavy duty locking devices – locks are your front line of defence, so getting the most durability from sturdy hardware is your best choice when it comes to deterrence 

• Key operated window locks – if you have plastic locks installed on your windows, consider replacing them with metal locks. Metal locks will provide you with more resilience towards attempted entry through your windows
• Alarm systems – these have become quite affordable over the years, and there are many options to choose from. We recommend opting for systems that are monitored by a back to base security company that is well-known for good response turnaround times 
• Home safes – quality safes with recognized insurance ratings will help your protect personal documents, jewellery, cash, and other important properties. 
• Gun safes – same as above, but especially created for those homeowners who have arms and artillery that they need to protect.  
• Electronic security surveillance – just as with alarm systems these have become increasingly affordable and accessible over time, and new technological innovations have made these very easy to install and manage. CCTV surveillance is one of the most popular types of electronic security.
• Keyless entry systems – worried about losing your keys? Then these are a great choice! Keyless systems are affordable, easy to install and puts you in control of who can access your property and when. Creating and changing passcodes is effortless and you will be given a passkey in case you are unable to access your property using the keypad password.

Now that you have a better idea of your options 

As you can see, there are plenty of security choices out there for Miramar, FL, homeowners. Consult with a locally-based residential locksmith such as Locksmith Miramar to find more about these different choices, including the pros and cons for each of them. A trusted lock and key service provider who specializes in residential security will have seen it all. They will have attended to lockouts, break-in attempts, and will have installed, repaired and replaced all kinds of residential locks, keys and security systems.  In fact, you should be able to trust that your locally-based locksmith will have the tools, components and flexibility required to attend to all emergency callouts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Locksmiths are here to help you improve your security, and providing round the clock assistance is just something that comes with the job description.

Consultations from Miramar, FL, based locksmiths are often offered free of charge. This includes scheduled appointments on-site as well as in-property inspections if you need extra help with malfunctioning components. Once you know what your locksmith is able to offer, request a full price quote for their services. Once again, this is something a lock and key expert should provide you at no extra cost. 

When consulting with a locksmith, ask them what residential lock and key services they are able to offer. The professional you are talking to should be able to tell you exactly what each service entails, from the components that are used right up to the type of protection you can get. We recommend that you tell the locksmith what you are looking for, and providing them with information about your specific type of residential property so that they can help you select the most appropriate options. 

Source:  Getting the Best Security for your Residential Property

Top tips to prevent a burglary or home break-in

This is How to Open a Master Lock with No Key or Special Tools [Watch]

by Katie McGuire

Most people think that if you have a lock on something, that will be enough to deter thieves from access. This YouTube video shows just how easy it is to bypass that lock – and possibly say goodbye to your valuables:

If you are using a Master Lock to secure your valuables right now, this video will probably make you think twice about your security.
YouTuber bosnianbill uploaded this shocking video in which he opens a Master Lock by simply applying tension and gently tapping it with a hammer. This is a particularly worrisome exploit for two reasons. First, this type of lock is one of the most commonly used in the country. Second, this exploit requires no skill or specialized tools. In fact, you could probably replicate this hack by using a rock instead of a hammer.
Who knew that picking a lock could be so easy?

This is scary. Looks like I need to get to the local hardware store sooner rather than later for an outdoor shed housing my generator and tools, because this is all that stands between my stuff and thieves.

Article Source:  This is How to Open a Master Lock with No Key or Special Tools [Watch]
Related Article: http://automotiveandcommerciallocksmith.blogspot.com/2015/03/master-key.html