Home Security and Protection

Follow these tips to secure your home and protect yourself from criminals. If you think someone has broken into your home, do not enter.  Call 9-1-1 immediately.

Use these six steps to protect your home from a break and enter

Secure your door

• Install a good deadbolt lock.
• Install good quality dead bolts, locks and a wide angle "peep hole".
• If you have children, consider including a second peep-hole at a child's height.
• All hinges should be accessible from the interior of the home only.
• Ensure your door is equipped with non-removable hinge pins.
• Most doors are installed with screws less than one inch in length. Door kick break-ins are common, so door screws should be at least 2 ½ to 3 ½ inches long.

Secure your windows

• Sliding doors and windows can be "lifted" out of the tracks with relative ease. Install screws or a blocking device above the sliding door or window to prevent it from being lifted off the tracks.
• Install a snug piece of wood in the track of sliding patio doors.
• Install a pin into the frame of a sliding window to prevent it from being pushed open.
• Glass within 40 inches of a door lock can be broken and a criminal can reach inside to unlock the door. The security of windows can be improved by adding a polycarbonate panel. Call a glass specialist for details.

Additional protection tips

• Instead of hiding a key outside your home, give a spare key to a trusted neighbor/friend.
• Install a good padlock on garages for better security.
• Consider putting lights on timers so it appears you're at home. Have lights turn on and off in different rooms, at varying times.
• Never open the door to strangers - ask for identification from service personnel and confirm their attendance with the company.
• Never allow anyone into your home to use the phone - call for them.
• Don't let anyone know you are home alone.
• Keep bushes and landscaping trimmed in order to allow for natural surveillance of your home from neighbours, pedestrians and people passing by.
• Never leave notes advising you are not home on your door for delivery people.
• Report suspicious people and/or vehicles to police immediately.
• Avoid putting your name on a gate, sign, or mailbox. This gives thieves a chance to look your name up in the phone book and call you under a false pretense.
• Cut back any tree limbs that might help a thief get access to any second storey windows.
• Be sure to lock up tools and ladders in the shed or the garage. Accessible tools can be used to break into your home.
• Be sure your home is equipped with working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
• Be a good neighbour. Report any suspicious activities in and around your neighbourhood.
• Use high beams upon entering the garage and have a good look around before you leave the safety of your car.

While you are away

• Put lights on timers to give the impression someone is home.
• Tell a trusted neighbour your vacation plans and provide emergency contact numbers.
• Do not post comments on social media sites telling people you're out of town.
• Do not post pictures while you are away. Wait until you get home.
• Ask a neighbour to park in your driveway.
• Keep small valuables in a safe deposit box.
• Remember to suspend newspaper delivery.
• Have someone mow your lawn/shovel your driveway.
• Record your valuables. Identify your property by engraving an identifying mark, such as a unique number, on to it. Proper identification may deter thieves and makes it easier for the police to return property if recovered. Keep your insurance policies current.
• Always think of personal safety. Upon returning home, scan the front of your home.
• Keep blinds and shades at their normal position.

Protect your vehicle

• Do not leave your vehicle running while unattended.
• Maintain control of your keys at all times.
• Always lock your vehicle, even while in the driveway.
• When possible, park your vehicle in a locked garage.
• Don't leave keys hanging inside the door, especially if they can be seen from outside.
• Ensure valuables are in the trunk or out of view.

Increase your security in apartment/condominium buildings

As a tenant:

• Do not permit someone you don't know enter the building.
• Never leave an external door propped open.
• Put only your first initial on the directory.
• Get to know your neighbours.
• Use building facilities during active times.
• Report suspicious activity.

As a landlord:

• Post signs near the main doors; on the outside: "We cannot open the door to strangers." On the inside: "Do not open the door to strangers."
• Facilitate introductions for new residents.
• Keep the property well maintained with working lights and well lit areas.
• Start a Neighbourhood Watch program.

Safety in underground parking lots

• Be aware if someone follows you into the underground parking area.
• Always check for suspicious people or vehicles before entering the garage or leaving your vehicle. If you see something suspicious notify security or police.
• Do not leave valuables in your vehicle.
• Always lock your vehicle.
• Check your vehicle before you get in.
• Once inside your vehicle, lock the doors.

Elevator safety

• Observe passengers in the elevator. If you do not feel comfortable, wait for the next one.
• If possible, be the last to enter the elevator and be the last to indicate your floor.
• Stand with your back to the sidewall, near the control panel.
• If attacked, press as many floor buttons as possible.
• If someone suspicious enters the elevator, exit immediately.

Safety in laundry rooms or other shared spaces

• Time your trips during active periods when others are present or use the buddy system.
• If you must go alone, tell someone where you'll be.
• Look into the room before entering it.
• Report suspicious activity to security or police.

Neighbourhood Watch

Neighbourhood Watch is a program supported by police and maintained by the community. The concept behind Neigbourhood Watch is simple: Neighbours looking out for one another to help prevent crime and keep communities safe. York Regional Police can assist you in starting a Neighbourhood Watch Program in your area. Here's how:

• Contact York Regional Police and ask for a Crime Prevention Officer in your district. The officer will help organize a meeting with residents in your community.
• If there's support for the program, a subsequent meeting will be held to determine an overall coordinator and several block captains.
• Once the leadership is established, police can help facilitate regular meetings and help organize community events.