Home security tools

The police crime prevention survey. Many departments have a crime prevention unit that will walk your property and point out weaknesses, free. They have no product to sell you, which makes their advice structurally more trustworthy than a security company's free assessment. Call the non-emergency line and ask whether your department offers one.

The burglar's walk-around. Do it yourself, from the street. Can you see the back and side doors from anywhere public? ASU's burglary research is explicit that "visibility and accessibility are more important than vulnerability or security" in target selection. Shrubs that screen a side door are worth more to an intruder than a lock is to you. Then try every window and door — about a third of burglaries involve unlocked entry.

The home inventory. Photograph every room and every valuable, record model and serial numbers, and store it in the cloud. It costs an afternoon and it is the difference between a smooth theft claim and a long argument. Insurers and consumer organizations publish free inventory templates and apps.

Your local crime data. Many police departments publish incident maps or blotters. Use them for the base rate — what actually happens in your area and when — rather than for anxiety. If daytime residential burglary is a pattern near you, that argues for arming when you leave, which matches the research finding that roughly 60 percent of residential burglaries happen in daylight.

How to choose

Ask your police department for a security survey

Free in many jurisdictions and delivered by someone with nothing to sell you. Call the non-emergency line.

Walk your property from the street

Look for the door nobody can see. Visibility and accessibility drive target selection more than hardware does.

Try every lock, twice a year

About a third of burglaries involve unlocked entry through windows, basements and garages. This is free to fix.

Build a photo inventory this month

Rooms, valuables, model and serial numbers, stored in the cloud. It only helps if it exists before the loss.

Check local incident data for patterns

Time of day and entry method in your area should shape what you buy and when you arm it.