Home Security Audit Guide

Getting the Big Picture

Reduce your risk and safeguard your property - think of what attracts a thief!

Look at the big picture items such as landscaping, fencing, lighting and property maintenance.

Landscaping

Pay close attention to your landscaping. Landscaping has a greater potential for attracting a thief onto your property than other security factor. Trees and shrubs can obscure windows and doors and provide cover for thieves. For greater security, follow these guidelines:

• Find out the mature size of the tree or shrub before you plant, then select accordingly. Large trees or excessive shrubs provide spots where adults can hide.
• Avoid fast growing species in favour of slower growing ones that require less aggressive maintenance.
• Perform an annual spring inspection of the landscaping on your property. Pay special attention to the amount of cover your property provides relative to your neighbours.
• Trim/remove excessive landscaping especially around doors and windows.
• Make sure more than one neighbour can see your house. When planting trees/shrubs or putting up a fence, make sure your neighbours can see your property from different angles.
• Regularly prune trees and shrubs.
• Don’t over plant.
• Don’t disregard security in favour of privacy.

Fencing

When choosing fencing material, remember that the more private the area, the more appealing it is to the criminal.

A closed six foot high fence, while providing ample privacy, may also provide private space for a burglar.

Try and balance the need for privacy with the need for security by limiting the amount of “privacy fencing” only to areas where you need it. “Privacy fencing” can also prevent you from getting to know your neighbours – not good if you’re going to be looking out for each other!

Lighting

Lighting or the lack of lighting can draw attention to your residence. For maximum safety and security, your home should have a lived-in look that is consistent from one day to the next. This is best achieved by using timers to maintain at least two visible lights from the front of the house during dark hours when you would normally be home and awake.

Motion Activated Lights

Burglars interviewed by police routinely comment on the presence of motion-activated lights. Motion activated lights are capable of creating a dynamic lighting environment that’s effective against trespassers and helps to alert homeowners. The installation of motion-activated lights also sends a message that the you are security conscious.

Property Maintenance

We’ve all come across a house with flyers hanging out of the mailbox and newspapers piled on the front porch. These, along with other obvious signs such as unshovelled snow, uncut lawns, porch lights left on or window blinds that are drawn during the day are tell-tale signs that a home is empty. This makes a criminals’ job of selecting a target especially easy. Regular maintenance is important to discourage criminal activity.

For added comfort and to deter mail fraud, use a locked mailbox and avoid a build-up of mail.