Burglaries up ~300% in our neighborhood

W

WhoseHouse

250+ Posts
We received a letter on our door last week notifying us that there have been 12 recent home burglaries and 14 recent vehicle burglaries in our neighborhood (Deep Eddy). The letter also said that during the same time period (which was unspecified) last year, there were 6 total burglaries. I found this alarming, obviously. I am going to look into a basic security system, but in the meantime, what are some quick/cheap ways to deter burglars? We have a dog but she doesn't bark and loves strangers coming into the house
rolleyes.gif
 
It's not just your neighborhood--this is occurring across the city due to the economy. The cheapest, quickest thing you can do for very little cost is to put stickers on your doors and windows notifying potential burglars that your property is protected by an electronic security system. That's the most cost-effective solution I know of. After that, an actual security system, good outdoor lighting, a watchful noisy dog, radio playing while you're gone, lights on timers, etc. will all help incrementally. Also, it's worth making sure your insurance is current and doing a household inventory in the event you become a victim. The bottom line is you need to take steps to appear as a less attractive target than your neighbors.

As far as your car(s), the best solution is to not leave anything inside that's visible. Obviously, remove the faceplate to your stereo, if possible, and remove it from the vehicle. Also, don't leave a garage door opener in your car if it's outdoors.
 
throw a few of these around the front yard. Not cheap but effective!

Landmine.jpg


Or you could go the cheaper route and pick up a few yard signs, get a new dog, or put up lights.
 
i'm kinda close. do you get the neighborhood emails? there's been increase in everything lately, break-ins, vandalism, weird ppl walking around late at night. my house got paintballed last weekend (i wasn't home, so didn't see how much. wife's sister cleaned it up for us).
 
I'm not far from you, having read this -

I gotta remind myself to go around and pick up all loose rocks... there's a few of 'em big enough to throw and break a window, easily. Or for that matter, a car window.

Happened this way a few seasons back (not to me) to someone acros the strret who parked at the curb. Just too damn easy for them to use a rock.

Got a lot of rocks laying around?

Also, I'e like to check out a motion sensor for an outdoor light. Preferably sommething that can be adjusted for sensitivity, so teh racoons and deer won't set it off... may be out of luck on the sensitivity thing.
 
A motion sensor outdoor light is ok for security, but most of them are fairly easy to avoid. Another option to consider is a dusk to dawn light using an efficient light source. That rules out incandescent bulbs like halogen, but fluorescent, mercury, sodium (most street lights use these), or LED bulbs are all very efficient and provide continuous illumination which is a better deterrent. I light my large backyard with two 35W sodium fixtures all night. Why invite them to your dark yard in the first place? Better that they see your place is well-lit and your neighbor's isn't. It's an indicator that you're security conscious and that's it's probably not the only obstacle they'll encounter.
 
Generally, residential burglaries occur in the daytime. Business burglaries occur during the nighttime
 
You're right about that. Residential security lighting shouldn't be your first priority, but it doesn't hurt to have it. Making your home look (or sound) occupied during the day (assuming no one is home) is more important.
 
eindiet, a HF poster and lifetime longhorn, works for an alarm company owned by a fellow HF poster and also a big time Longhorn fan. They installed my home system, ADT, and I am happy with it and them.

I am going to zap them an email and maybe one of them can answer some questions or give advice on security measures. The lights are spot on but do not rely only on a dog, please. This is unfair to the dog. Burglars do some very wicked and nasty things to disable dogs.

Have a few things like suggested above. Stickers, alarm, lights, make it less attractive looking and obvious there will be a few obstacles.

Maybe set up a webcam that sends to a website set up in your living room or office. It records without being known and is motion triggered. There were some burglars in Hyde Park that were caught this very way. They can even steal the computer but the info was sent to a website off site from the house. Game, set, match.
 
My company owner is a huge LongHorn fan and has a special on monitored alarm systems just for Hornfan members.

Nothing down and no payments till August.

I would be happy to talk with you.

[email protected]
 
Make large dog bowls visible near (outside) your back door (regardless of whether or not you own any dog), "beware of dog" signs, alarm signs in yard, alarm stickers on doors and windows, and the most effective, but least used: reinforced plate with long screws on deadbolt receivers-available at any hardware store. Almost all residential burglaries, where the home's doors and windows were locked to begin with, are from kicked in doors.
 
I worked in the surveillance industry for 7 years... This looks like a cheap product, but if you're worried about someone being outside while you're home, try this: Driveway Patrol. Simple as it is cheap, but you can at least be alerted to an intruder around a vehicle, shed, fence, etc. PM if you need any stronger suggestions.
 
By intruder, does it mean cat or dog? That would suck if you have stray cats or possums in your area and that would trigger it. How sensitive is it and to what size?

And as always, thank you for your input and suggestions. I know where to go for these issues, ever.
 
Unfortunately, it's not smart enough to know what motion it is detecting. I tell people to mount it about 5-6' high so it pretty much has to be a person or vehicle that sets it off. The motion detector itself has a range of about 20'.
 
we've had the same issues over in my hood (south lamar and oltorf-ish). Several daytime breakins, including one a few condos down from mine. I live in a kind of condo complex (although it's more like a duplex with units that have no common walls), and we have an email listserv. The two most recent people came in through the outside gate to the backyard and kicked in the door.

I immediately got renter's insurance and put a lock on my gate. I have dusk to dawn lights in the front and motion lights in the back, although you're right about it happening during the day. We have double locks on all of the doors, but the back doors are french doors, so it would probably be pretty easy to get them open.

My dog barks loudly, but usually only when we are home and he hears something outside. I don't think he barks when we are gone.

Just hoping my lock on the gate is enough of a deterrent - the neighbors all seem to leave their gates open. I figure most of the time they go to the easiest house to get into, especially if there are several in a row.
 
TT, you are right about that. If you are running from a Lion you don't have to be the fastest. You just have to be faster than the person next to you. Your place may not be Fort Knox but it does not have to be if next door is an easy target.
 
there's a Yahoo Group called - West_Austin_Crime_Reports. However, I justed checked it out, seems pretty slow - 1 post since about Dec... who knows, it might become more valuable as time goes by.
 
For my French doors, I bought bolts that slide into the top and the bottom of the door. They are oil rubbed bronze, which looks nice as well. They will not keep anyone out forever, but it will slow them down. Otherwise, a French door seems pretty easy to kick in.
 
with the french doors, i worry more about them breaking open a pane and unlocking the door to get in. my locks unfortunately have the knob to open them inside instead of needing to use a key, which would be smarter.
 
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