5 Tips to Help Prevent a Home Invasion

Imagine you’ve lived at your home for a number of years, but it doesn’t feel like home anymore. Home invasions change all that. It used to be a place that was comforting and soothing; a place of security where you didn’t have to “worry.” Not anymore.

There are few crimes as horrific as a home invasion. When a bad guy forces their way into your home and uses violence on you and your family to get what they want, all sense of security is gone. This is a crime that can be combated with common sense and a home security plan.

Posing as a health inspector, police officer or even a secret service agent is commonly used with success. I once posed as a “water inspector” and gained access to people’s homes by saying I needed to “check the colorization of their water”, as I demonstrated on The Montel Williams Show here. A fake badge and a uniform of any kind can do wonders.

Here are 5 tips to help keep you safe and prevent a home invasion:
1. Never talk to strangers via an open or screen door. Always talk to them through a locked door.

2. NEVER let children open the doors. Always require and adult to do it.

3. Install a home burglar alarm and keep it on 24/7/365. With a home alarm system on, when someone knocks on the door, a conscious decision has to be made to turn off the alarm. Most people will keep it on.

4. Not all home invaders knock, some break in without warning.  Just another reason to have that alarm on.

5. Install a 24-hour camera surveillance system. Cameras are a great deterrent.  Have them pointed to every door and access point.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing home invasions on the Gordon Elliot Show. Disclosures