9 Tips to Protect Your Home from Break-Ins in Vancouver
When it comes to protecting your home and your family, you can never be too careful. With peak demands for luxury homes in some parts of Vancouver and other neighborhoods suffering from high crime rates, no part of the city is immune from a break and enter.
Vancouver, in particular, has the fifth-highest rate in the whole country for overall household break-and-enters per 100,000 people. And in 2016, over 2,100 residential break-and-enters were reported to the Vancouver Police Department.
The worst-hit areas in Vancouver for residential break-ins relative to population size are the Downtown Eastside, Grandview-Woodland, Hastings-Sunrise, Strathcona and the West Side. Southeast Vancouver witnessed a 5%+ increase from 2015-2016 in residential break-and-enters as well. See below infographic on Vancouver’s break-in statistics posted by Jay Banks, based on Vancouver Police Department data.
Why is Vancouver such a target for household break-ins? Well, consider that your home is statistically more vulnerable to a break-and-enter if you live in a densely populated area, and Vancouver has the highest population density in all of Canada, even higher than Toronto.
At Arpel Security Systems in Metro Vancouver, all too often we hear stories about families who come home from a holiday only to find their front door smashed in and all of their precious belongings stolen.
Check out these top nine tips for protecting your Vancouver home from robberies and break-ins.
1- Maintain Your Shrubs to Deter Burglars
Shrubs are a classic way for burglars to hide if they think they see someone coming or if they hear a noise. Always maintain your shrubs so that they’re tall enough to create a barrier around your home but low enough to prevent a burglar from hiding.
2- Be Mindful About Posting Your Holiday Plans on Social Media
Stats show that approximately 78% of burglars scope out potential victims on social media to see when they’re not home. If you still want to share your plans with friends, make sure to set your posts to private.
3- Keep Valuables in Your Garage
Always store items such as grills, cars, and bikes in your garage whenever possible, and try to cover garage-door windows so thieves can’t peek through them to see what treasures might entice them.
4- Invest in Heavy-Duty Doors and Windows
Of all residential break-and-enters, 96% of them occur via doors and windows. Consider buying thick doors and windows with heavy locks. And as a basic rule, always be sure to lock your doors; 50% of all break-ins happen via unlocked doors.
5- Buy Security Lights to Protect Your Home
Motion-sensing lights on the outside of your home near doors and entranceways have been proven to decrease the risk of a break-and-enter, even when you’re not home.
6- Outfit Your Vancouver Home with CCTV Cameras
Home-security cameras from Arpel Security Systems not only provide evidence of a break-in to help catch a burglar, but they also deter thieves when would-be burglars see them on the outside of your home.
7- Home-Security Signs
When thieves see a “Protected by Arpel Security” sign on your home in Metro Vancouver, they’ll know you’re guarded by 24/7 monitoring services and likely move on to the next house.
8- Video Doorbell Monitoring on Your Smartphone
Thieves often ring doorbells to see if anyone is home before breaking-in. At Arpel Security Systems, we can setup a system allowing you to answer your doorbell from anywhere via your smartphone to trick those would-be burglars.
9- A Top-Notch Alarm System Is Your Home’s Best Bet
Studies show that neighborhoods with high proportions of homes that have professionally installed alarm systems experience statistically fewer break-and-enters. With over four decades of home-security experience in Metro Vancouver, you can trust Arpel Security to implement an alarm system for your home that will deliver results. Contact us today for a free estimate!