Mastering Burglary Prevention: How Home Security Cameras Can Safeguard Your Space

Home burglary easily tops the list of fears for a homeowner—after all, it’s a violation of your most intimate space. A home burglary can mean harm to your family, the loss of valuables, and the destruction of your property.

And with the alarming rise of burglaries throughout the country, being proactive with burglary prevention should be your top priority.

In this article, we will discuss how burglars target homes and seven ways that homeowners can protect themselves.

Understanding burglars and their methods

Most burglars want to avoid confrontation and physical violence at all costs. Because of this, they look for easy targets with the least amount of resistance.

This often means that burglars take their time to choose the right home. As they study homes and neighborhoods, they take note of habits, routines, and vulnerabilities that they can later exploit.

Here are a handful of things that burglars tend to look for when choosing their next target.

• Schedule. Over time, burglars can learn your routine and strategize on days and times when you’ll most likely be away from home. They’ll even scour social media to learn about vacation plans.
• Entry points. Burglars want the easiest entry possible, such as an open window or a backdoor that is most likely unlocked.
• Hiding places. Large bushes, trees, and shrubbery give burglars the secrecy they need to enter a home undetected by neighbors.
• Valuables. The more valuables that are visible through windows, the more tempting the target is.
• Security systems. A lack of cameras and burglar alarms makes a home that much more attractive to potential burglars.

As you can see, burglars are good at what they do — intelligent, sneaky, and extremely patient.

But this information isn’t meant to scare you. On the contrary, knowing all of this can help you better protect yourself, your family, and your home from burglars.

With that in mind, let’s now examine seven smart ways that you can burglar-proof your home.

How homeowners can protect their home against burglary

Here are the top burglary prevention tips that will keep your entire home safe and give you more peace of mind.

1. Strengthen physical entry points

Exterior doors and windows are your first line of defense against burglars. But you need to make sure that these entry points are truly keeping you safe.

First, every entry point should have the latest hardware, including door and deadbolt locks, strike plates, and motion sensors. In addition, reinforce your door frames to prevent tampering.

A smart door lock like this one from Vivint can also give you the added security of checking that your doors are locked and secure from anywhere.

In addition to locks and hardware, consider installing exterior lighting around your entryways. Putting these lights on timers at night can give the appearance of home activity and deter would-be burglars.

2. Utilize advanced security measures

Home security systems, equipped with an alarm system, motion sensors, and surveillance cameras, are a great tool in home defense.

In many cases, just spotting security cameras inside and outside the home is a major deterrent for burglars. You can even go one step further and integrate your security system with your local police department. This ensures that emergency services receive an immediate alert when a break in is detected.

And, if a break-in does occur, security cameras can provide valuable evidence to help the police to make an arrest.

3. Fortify vulnerable areas

Sliding glass doors, garage doors, and basement windows are all particularly vulnerable entry points.

But there are ways to protect these areas.

For starters, you can install window locks, put security bars or grills over your windows, and replace all of your glass windows and door windows with reinforced glass.

You can also reinforce your garage door with a garage door opener that uses smart technology. For example, with Vivint’s garage door opener and controller, you can check on your phone to make sure that your garage door is secure and even receive notifications if you leave it open.

4. Enhance exterior landscaping and visibility

While landscaping may be the last thing on your mind for home security, it is a great and simple way to deter burglars.

How?

Burglars look for large trees and shrubberies that can shield them from the view of neighbors and passersby as they try to enter your home.

To better secure your home, choose trees and bushes that do not obscure your home’s entry points. Once your landscaping is done, maintain a regular schedule of cutting and trimming to prevent overgrowth.

Exterior lighting is another great way to increase the visibility of your entryways at all times. Vivint’s spotlight cameras and smart lights are great options to shine a light on any unwanted visitors.

Pro tip: Pay special attention to your pathways and house numbers. Your house number should always be visible. And your pathways should always be well-lit.

5. Practice smart homeownership

We know, what’s the fun of having cool things if you can’t show them off? But be careful about how you do this. If the wrong people see your valuables, it can be like a giant, flashing invitation to burglars everywhere.

So, be smart about it.

Avoid displaying your valuables—jewelry, artwork, collectibles, or other valuables—in easy view of outside passersby. You may even go one step further and securely store your high-price items in a safe when you’re not using them.

When you go on vacation, don’t advertise it on social media where burglars can easily access it — wait until after that beach vacation to post your photos.

And lastly, a network of trusted neighbors is a great resource for burglary prevention. They can collect mail—preventing your full mailbox from attracting burglars—and keep an eye on your property.

6. Leverage technology for surveillance

Modern technology makes home surveillance incredibly easy. With the latest security cameras and alarms, you can remotely monitor your home right from your cell phone.

Vivint security cameras, for example, hook right up to the top-rated Vivint app to give you immediate access to your indoor or outdoor camera feeds with the touch of a finger. Then, if the cameras or motion sensors detect any suspicious activity, you will receive a real-time notification on your cell phone.

To make the most of this, strategically place your security cameras in areas that will offer complete coverage and visibility. Then, use stickers on the outside of your home that indicate that the home is under surveillance. The combination of these two steps will stop burglars in their tracks.

7. Document valuables and preparedness

If you do have valuables in your home, take the time to create a record by listing all of the items as well as any serial numbers. Then, keep those records safe, preferably at another location away from your property.

This way, if a burglary does take place, you’ll be able to provide detailed descriptions of your valuables to law enforcement.

This up-to-date inventory of your items will also help you if you need to make a claim on your insurance policy.

Secure your home with Vivint

Burglary is a very real fear for homeowners. So, as a homeowner, you’ll want to do everything you can to deter burglars from targeting your home. We hope this list of burglary prevention tips helps you make your home much more secure and gives you peace of mind.

Want to level up your home protection with the latest security tools?

Check out Vivint’s home security cameras, all fully equipped with the latest technology to alert you of danger and give you real-time access to camera feeds right on your phone.

And Vivint cameras don’t just record suspicious activity — many of the outdoor cameras come with sophisticated features designed to scare off intruders, such as spotlights and alarms.