1. Have an alarm system.
2. Have emergency plans and go over them with the whole family.
3. Get to know your neighbors.
4. Invest in windows and doors with secure locks.
5. Join the neighborhood association to get and share information.
6. Be active on a local listserv to get and share information.
7. Be attentive to your surroundings at all times.
8. Report suspicious activity to neighbors and the police.
9. Invest in motion activated outdoor lights.
10. Don’t publicize your whereabouts on social networks, especially vacations.
11. Ask neighbors to watch your house if you go away.
12. Get a dog.
13. Have emergency services on speed dial on all phones.
14. Teach your kids to call 911.
15. See if local police will do safety seminars for your neighborhood.
16. Make first floor windows inaccessible from the outside.
17. Make sure at least one adult is always sober.
18. Don’t broadcast that your spouse is out of town.
19. Make sure your town maintains street lights, report any that are out.
20. Organize a neighborhood watch group.
21. Keep your car remote handy in case you need to press the panic button to alert neighbors to trouble.
22. Don’t leave discarded packaging from high-end purchases visible.
23. Ask for stepped up police patrols if there have been reports of crime in the area.
24. Get window treatments that obscure the view into your house.
25. Take a self defense class.
This is such a great post. Some people act like a gun is the most logical solution for home safety. One person I know who is adamant about keeping a gun “for safety” has had their home broken into. Twice. Both times they were at work and guess what was stolen. Yep, the guns. So now two more guns in the hands of criminals, all in the name of home safety. Ridiculous.