NTX Security offers 12 days of Christmas Security and Safety - Day 11 - Time to Wrap it up

It's almost time time to "wrap it up" but we have 12 more tips to help you this and every season.

1. A quality deadbolt lock on all perimeter doors is always your first line of defense. A door is most often the point of entry for an intruder. If you don’t have a quality lock the perpetrator knows that a good blow will break the non-fortified wood that is holding the door lock cylinder in place. A quick entry and closing of the door hides the damage, as it will be on the inside.
2. If you just moved in to your home or business, you should change the key cylinders on all locks, as you don’t know who has a copy of the key.
3. Cut the cord handle off your electric garage door openers. It’s easy to push the top of your garage door in enough to put a wire hanger in and hook the release handle. By pulling on the handle, a burglar will override the screw or chain drive and be able to manually lift the overhead door. Once protected by the privacy of your garage, entry to the home is inevitable. Be sure to leave just enough cord so that you can use it from inside if needed, but not enough to reach the top of the overhead door! 
4. Turn down the volume on your answering machine so that burglars can’t hear that no one’s home if the phone should ring. 
5. Leaving ladders and tools outside your home can trigger a burglar’s impulse, even if that was not on the schedule today.
6. Remove or place a light on shrubs that can easily conceal a waiting burglar from site.
7. Install a peep hole viewer, if you do not have a convenient window to check who is at your door before opening it to a stranger.
8. If someone asks to use your phone for an emergency take the information through closed doors and inform them that you will make the call for them.
9. If you see signs of entry, DO NOT ENTER the house. Go to the neighbors, to call for help and be on the lookout for strange cars or people near your home.
10. Always keep your cell phone in your bedroom with you. If the phone lines are cut you will need it to call for help.
11. Don’t leave a purse, wallet or laptop on the counters that can be seen from a window. This will almost always trigger a forced entry.
12. Generic security signs without corresponding security company stickers on the windows, may lead a passing burglar to believe that you don’t really have an alarm system installed.