| By :
Wendy Moyer
What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about protecting your valuables? Probably buying a safe. That's a good start but there's more to keeping what you own than that. Let's take a look at burglary through a professional's eyes. Read this article and see what a burglar thinks about when he chooses his victims. There are two things a burglar puts on the top of his or her want list. The first is not getting caught and the second is getting in and out of your home with your valuables as quickly as possible. Simply put, the more time and the more noise a burglar makes while he or she is in your home the more likely it is that they will be caught. So what you have to do is take whatever steps you can to cause the potential burglar to waste time and make as much noise as possible. Trying to break into a safe makes a lot of noise. Of course, the more burglar resistant a safe is the more noise he'll make and the more time it will take for him to break into it. So buy the toughest safe you can afford. But that still isn't enough. Bolt Down Your Safe As far as many burglars are concerned, if they cannot break into your safe while they're in your home they're prepared to take your safe with them to a place where they can. Unless your safe is bolted down and no matter how heavy it is, two people will probably be able to tip it over and put it on a pick-up bed. And don't forget that there are commercial power dollies that are used for deliveries that can "walk" up or down stairs and easily load things that weigh up to 1,500 pounds into the back of a pickup truck. The bottom line is that you should make sure to bolt your safe to the floor. Keep Your Safe a Secret Next, make it as difficult as possible for the burglar to get to the safe in the first place. Treat your safe as if it is a family secret because it should be. Put it somewhere where it's out of sight. Tell the kids not to talk about it or show it to other people. Use Your Imagination For example, you could bolt your safe to the floor of a closet that has a deadbolt on its solid core door. And if the closet is in your garage or in your utility room, why not put up a sign that says something like: "WARNING - HIGH VOLTAGE! NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE". Install a Smoke Detector Install a smoke detector on the ceiling directly over your safe. Most of the things burglars do to crack into your safe - using a cutting torch, drilling, grinding, etc. - make smoke. If the smoke detector goes off he won't know if anyone will respond to it so the odds are he'll take off. Do these simple things and you will increase the probability that you will keep the possessions you have secured in your safe.
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