In the summer, we go happily on vacation and don’t think about the groups of organized criminals that study our movements to find out when our house will be empty so they can take our things. Our intention is not to scare you, but to explain to our readers an uncomfortable but true reality. While it’s true that there are certain areas in the city that are more prone to home robberies, we are all at risk of being the victims of this type of crime. Although there are many ways to dissuade thieves from entering your home, which we will also discuss in this article from ShMadrid, it may interest you to install an alarm system in your house.
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Advice for avoiding robbery if your home does not have an alarm
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The first thing we should clarify is that, facing the nuisance that is a home robbery, we all need to protect ourselves. To start, it is important to have some form of security that inhibits intruders from entering your home. The front door to your house should be armed with a lock system that is not easy to break into. There are a multitude of models on the market, and the most reliable will be the most expensive. It is also important to make sure that intruders cannot enter your house through other spaces such as windows, trap doors, galleries, etc. For this reason it’s good to install bars or something else that prevents entrance. The most dangerous situation to be in is being robbed while you are inside, therefore avoid opening the door until you know who is on the other side and ask for identification is necessary. If they take the keys or end up robbing you, change the locks immediately and do not open the doors to anybody you don’t know who asks to come in or who you aren’t expecting (a mechanic, a electrician…).
If you are doing work on the outside of your house and there is construction that make your house easier to enter, take all precautions necessary to inhibit unwanted entry (lower the blinds, reinforce the entrances, don’t leave the door open even when it’s hot, and hide objects of value from sight). Finally, if you are going on vacation, lower the blinds, leave the lights on (ones that don’t consume too much energy), don’t let mail collect in the mailbox (ask a neighbor or a friend to gather it for you while you’re gone), don’t announce on social media that you are going on vacation, make an inventory of the items in your house, and obtain personal property insurance if you don’t have it already.
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Installing an alarm system
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If you’ve decided to install a home alarm system, there are various types and models. On one hand, there are intruder alarms that alert you if someone has entered the house through an audio alert and an automatic message to the homeowner. These are automatic systems that don’t advise the police, but are self-installed and offer various types of autodetection depending on the model. They are usually cheaper since they are not connected to an alarm company and don’t require more than one payment. You can find various models of this kind in kits from Leroy Merlín, for example. There are also traditional alarm systems that are administered by an alarm center to which you pay a monthly fee for their services, and that alert the police when necessary. They also offer autodetection systems with security cameras and other features to inhibit intruders. The most well-known are Securitas Direct and Prosegur.
Do you have an alarm system in your house? Do you recommend it?
