Are you really safe once you
get apartment and lock your door? In an open society your apartment should be
the sanctuary for you and your family. Your apartment is the only environment
where you have control over who can get close to you or your family. Protecting
your apartment and family from criminal intrusion should be high on your list
of priorities. See my web page on Family Security Tips for more information on
protecting your family from harm. See Apartment Security Advice for more original
articles on Apartment Security. See also Home Invasion Survival Tips.
Burglary
By far, the most common
threat to an apartment unit is burglary. Burglary, by definition, is a
non-confrontational crime, but being victimized can leave a family feeling
vulnerable and violated. To prevent a burglary, it is important to first gain
an understanding of who commits them and why. The majority of apartment
burglaries occur during the daytime when most people are away at work or at
school. Burglaries also occur at night when there are obvious signs that no one
is home. Most apartment burglars are young males looking for things that are
small, expensive, and can easily be converted to cash. Items like cash,
jewelry, guns, watches, laptop computers, and other small electronic devices
are high on the list. Quick cash is needed for living expenses and drugs.
Statistics tell us that
more than 30% of all apartment burglars gained access through an open door or
window. Ordinary household tools like screwdrivers, channel-lock pliers, small
pry bars, and small hammers are most often used by burglars. Although apartment
burglaries may seem random in occurrence, they actually involve a selection
process.
The burglar's selection
process is simple. Choose an unoccupied apartment with the easiest access, the
greatest amount of cover, and with the best escape routes. What follows is a
list of suggestions to minimize your risk by making your home unattractive to
potential burglars.
Doors and Locks
The first step is to
"harden the target" or make your apartment more difficult to enter.
Remember the burglar will simply bypass your apartment if it requires too much
effort or requires more skill and tools than they possess. Most burglars enter
via the front, back, or garage doors. Experienced burglars know that the garage
door is usually the weakest followed by the back door. The garage and back
doors also provide the most cover. Burglars also know to look inside your car
for keys and other valuables so keep it locked, even inside your garage.
Apartment managers should use solid core doors and high quality locks on
exterior doors that will resist twisting, prying, and lock-picking attempts. A
quality Grade-1 or Grade-2 deadbolt lock will have a beveled casing to inhibit
the use of channel-lock pliers used for forced entry. A quality door
knob-in-lock set will have a 'dead latch' mechanism to prevent slipping the
lock with a shim or credit card.
Use a solid core wood or
metal door for all entrance points
Doors should fit tightly
into the door jamb
Use a quality,
heavy-duty, deadbolt lock with a one-inch bolt
Use a quality,
heavy-duty, door knob-in-lock set with a dead-latch mechanism
Use a heavy-duty
four-screw strike plate installed with 3-inch screws to penetrate into a wooden
door frame
Use a wide-angle 160°
peephole mounted no higher than 58 inches
Forced Entry
The most common way used
to force entry through a door with a wooden frame is simply to kick it open.
The weakest point is almost always the strike plate that holds the latch or
lock bolt in place followed by glass panels in doors. The average door strike
plate is secured with only 1/2-inch screws set into the soft doorjamb molding.
These lightweight moldings are often tacked on to the door frame and can be
torn away with a firm kick. Because of this construction flaw, it makes sense
to upgrade to a heavy-duty four-screw strike plate. They are available in most
quality hardware stores and home improvement centers and are definitely worth
the extra expense. Install this strike plate using 3-inch screws to cut deep
into the door frame stud. This one step alone will deter or prevent most
through-the-door forced entries. You and your family will sleep safer in the
future.
Sliding Glass Doors
Sliding glass doors are
usually installed at the rear of an apartment making them good candidates for
entry by a burglar. In warm climates, an experienced burglar knows that sliding
glass doors are often left standing open for ventilation or for pet access.
Since they slide horizontally, it is important to have a secondary blocking
device in place to prevent sliding the door fully open from the outside. This
can be easily accomplished by inserting a wooden dowel or stick into the track
thus preventing or limiting movement. Other blocking devices available are
metal fold-down blocking devices called "charley bars" and various
track-blockers that can be screwed down.
Sliding glass doors are
notorious for failing to prevent a forced entry attempt especially in apartment
buildings. This is because of the wear and tear and lack of maintenance they
receive and due to the inadequate nature of many of the latching mechanisms.
Sliding glass doors don’t have locks on them, only latches. The latches are
made of aluminum and can become worn or out of adjustment. The most common
methods used to force entry, aside from breaking the glass, is by prying the
door near the latch or lifting the door off the track. The blocking devices
described above solve half the equation. To prevent lifting, you need to keep
the sliding door rollers in good condition and properly adjusted.
You can also install
anti-lift devices such as a pin that extends through both the sliding and fixed
portion of the door. There are also numerous locking and blocking devices
available in any good quality hardware store that will prevent a sliding door
from being lifted or forced horizontally. Place highly visible decals on the
glass door near the latch mechanism that indicates that an alarm system, a dog,
or block watch/operation identification is in place, if applicable. Apartment
managers should be careful not to misrepresent that these devices are in place
if they are not. Burglars dislike alarm systems and definitely big barking
dogs.
Use a secondary blocking
device on all sliding glass doors
Keep the latch mechanism
in good condition and properly adjusted
Keep sliding door rollers
in good condition and properly adjusted
Use anti-lift devices
such as through-the-door pins
Use highly visible alarm
decals, beware of dog decals, or block watch decal, if applicable
Sliding Windows
Windows are left unlocked
and open at a much higher rate than doors. An open window, visible from the
street or alley, may be the sole reason for an apartment to be selected by a
burglar. Ground floor windows are more susceptible to break-ins for obvious
reasons. Upper floor windows become attractive if they can be accessed easily
from a stairway, tree, fence, or by climbing on balconies. Windows have
latches, not locks, and therefore should have secondary blocking devices to
prevent sliding them open from the outside. Inexpensive wooden dowels and
sticks work well for horizontal sliding windows and through-the-frame pins work
well for vertical sliding windows.
For ventilation, block
the window open no more than six inches and make sure you can't reach in from
the outside and remove the blocking device. In sleeping rooms, these window
blocking devices should be capable of being removed easily from the inside to
comply with fire codes. Like sliding glass doors, anti-lift devices are
necessary for ground level and accessible aluminum windows that slide
horizontally. The least expensive and easiest method is to install screws
half-way into the upper track of the movable glass panel to prevent it from
being lifted out in the closed position. Place highly visible decals on the
glass door near the latch mechanism that indicates that an alarm system, a dog,
or block watch/operation identification system is in place, if applicable.
Apartment managers should be careful not to misrepresent that these devices are
in place if they are not.
Secure all accessible
windows with secondary blocking devices
Block accessible windows
open no more than 6 inches for ventilation
Use anti-lift devises to
prevent window from being lifted out
Use crime prevention or
alarm decals on accessible windows, if applicable
Be a Good Neighbor
Good neighbors should
look out for each other. Get to know your neighbors on each side of your
apartment and the three directly across from you. Invite them into your
apartment, communicate often, and establish trust. Good neighbors will watch
out for your apartment and vehicle when you are away, if you ask them. They can
report suspicious activity to management, to the police, or to you while you
are away. Between them, good neighbors can see to it that normal services
continue in your absence by allowing authorized vendors to enter your apartment.
Good neighbors can pick
up your mail, newspapers, handbills, and can inspect the inside of your
apartment periodically to see that all is well. Allowing a neighbor or
management to have a key solves the problem of hiding a key outside the door.
Experienced burglars know to look for hidden keys in planter boxes, under
doormats, and above the ledge.
Requiring a service vendor to contact your
neighbor to gain access will send the message that someone is watching. This
neighborhood watch technique sets up what is called 'territoriality.' This
means that your neighbors will take ownership and responsibility for what
occurs in your mini-neighborhood. This concept works great in apartment
communities. This practice helps deter burglaries and other crimes in a big
way. Of course for this to work, you must reciprocate and offer the same
services.
The biggest difficulty
getting to this level of oversight is taking the first step. You can take it by
calling your local crime prevention unit at the police department. Most police
departments in large cities have neighborhood watch coordinators to help you
set this up. You should invite your adjacent neighbors over to your home for
coffee and begin the information exchange. You'll be amazed how the process
runs on automatic from there.
Get to know your adjacent
apartment neighbors
Invite them into your
home and establish trust
Agree to watch out for
each other
Do small tasks for each
other to improve territoriality
Return the favor and
communicate often
Lighting
Interior lighting is
necessary to show signs of occupancy inside a residence at night. Seeing a dark
apartment night-after-night sends a message to burglars that you are away.
Light-timers are inexpensive and can be found almost everywhere. They should be
used on a daily basis, not just when you’re away. In this way you set up a
routine that your neighbors can observe and will allow them to become
suspicious when your normally lighted apartment becomes dark.
Typically, you want to
use light-timers near the front and back windows with the curtains drawn. The
pattern of them clicking on and off simulates actual occupancy. It is also
comforting not to have to enter a dark residence. Timers can also be used to
turn on the television or radio to simulate occupancy during the daytime. After
dark, a bright television can be seen flickering through the curtains and gives
the feeling that someone is home. Similarly, the radio or television can be
heard through the door if turned on loud enough.
Exterior lighting is also
very important. It becomes critical if you must park in a common area parking
lot or underground garage and need to walk to your front door. The purpose of
good lighting is to allow you to see if a threat or suspicious person is
lurking in your path. If you can see a potential threat in advance then you at
least have the choice and chance to avoid it. Exterior lighting needs to bright
enough for you to see 100 feet and it helps if you can identify colors. Good
lighting is definitely a deterrent to criminals because they don't want to be
seen or identified. Apartment management needs to have a system in place to
periodically inspect and replace lighting outages.
Another important area to
be well-lighted is the perimeter of your apartment building especially at the
entryway. Common area lighting on apartment properties should also be on a
timer or photo-cell to turn on at dusk and turn off at dawn.
Exterior lighting
at the rear of an apartment are usually do not turn on automatically. They
require you to turn on the light inside switch. The resident can choose to turn
these lights on or off. A better idea is to install security lights that
activate by infra-red motion sensor. They are relatively inexpensive ($25) and
can easily replace an exterior porch light or side door light on townhouse
style apartments with rear doors. The heat-motion sensor can be adjusted to
detect body heat and can be programmed to reset after one minute. These
infra-red security lights are suggested for apartments with patios and back
doors.
Use interior light timers
to establish a pattern of occupancy
Use timers to activate
the radio or television while away
Exterior lighting should
allow 100 foot visibility
Use good lighting along
the pathway and at your door
Use light timers or photo-cells
to turn on/off lights automatically
Use infra-red motion
sensor lights for the back door of townhouse apartments
Alarm Systems
Alarm systems definitely
have a place in an apartment security plan and are effective, if used properly.
The reason why alarms systems deter burglaries is because they increase the
potential and fear of being captured and arrested by the police. The deterrent
value comes from the alarm company lawn sign and from the alarm decals on the
windows. Apartment burglars will usually bypass a unit with visible alarm
decals and will look for another property without such a decal. Some people,
with alarm systems, feel that these signs and decals are unsightly and will not
display them. The risk here is that an uninformed burglar might break a window
or door and grab a few quick items before the police can respond. Also, don't
write your alarm passcode on or near the alarm keypad.
Alarm systems need to be
properly installed and maintained. Alarms systems can monitor for fire as well
as burglary for the same price. All systems should have an audible horn or bell
to be effective in case someone does break in. However, these audible alarms
should be programmed to reset automatically after one minute.
The criminal will
get the message and will be long gone without your neighbors having to listen
to your alarm siren for hours, until it is switched off. If you use a central
station to monitor your alarm, make sure your response call list is up to date.
Burglar alarms, like car alarms, are generally ignored except for a brief
glance. However, if you have established and nurtured your neighborhood watch
buddy system, you will experience a genuine concern by your neighbor. It is not
unusual to have a neighbor wait for the police, allow them inside for an
inspection, and secure the residence. A good neighbor can also call friends or
relatives for you, if pre-authorized by you.
Alarm systems are
effective deterrents with visible signage
Alarm systems to be
properly installed, programmed, and maintained
Alarm systems need to
have an audible horn or bell to be effective
Alarm systems should
automatically reset in one minute or less
Make sure your alarm
response call-list is up to date
Instruct your neighbor
how to respond to an alarm bell
Operation Identification
This is a program
supported by most police agencies. They recommend that you engrave your
drivers’ license number (not social security number) on televisions, stereos,
computers, and small electronic appliances. They suggest this so they can
identify and locate you if your stolen items are recovered. I suggest that you
go way beyond this step.
I recommend that you
photograph or videotape your home furnishings, electronic devices, and small
appliances and make a list of the make, model, and serial numbers. You should
keep this list in a safety deposit box or with a relative or neighbor for safe
keeping. Beyond that I recommend that you photocopy important documents and the
contents of your wallet annually. You will be thankful that you took these
steps in case your home is ever destroyed by fire or flood, is ransacked, or if
your wallet is lost or stolen.
Identify your valuables
by engraving your drivers’ license number (not your SSN)
Photograph, video, or
record the description and serial numbers of all valuables
Photocopy the contents of
your wallet annually and other important documents
Store the copies off-site
in a safe deposit box or with a relative or neighbor
