We can never offer too many home safety tips for people living alone. This isn’t because we wish to trigger anyone’s sense of paranoia. We intend to empower people by offering solid home and personal security advice. In recognizing the unfortunate fact that single people are sometimes very specific crime targets, we strongly recommend that you read and share the following tips for people living alone.
Of course, among the most important safety measures that you can benefit from are those that call for a multi-layered home security system. Such a system includes a security alarm, a video surveillance system, security signs and outdoor lighting. These items are easy to install, can be hardwired or wireless, and can even be used by those who live in rental properties. In addition to using these products and devices, people living alone should consider other security measures, such as:
Research Crime in Your Area
Even if you’ve already been living somewhere for a while, it can be helpful to know what types of crime are most prevalent in your area. You can use sites like CrimeReports or SpotCrime to find statistics for your neighborhood or apartment building. You could also check your police department’s crime blotter, which is typically published in the local newspaper.
Knowing what to look out for is a step toward securing your space. For example, if you discover that someone has been impersonating a plumber in your area, you’ll know to be extra careful next time one shows up at your door.
Don’t Let Strangers Know You Live Alone
One easy way to deter potential burglars is to make it look like other people live with you. Keep your home well-lit and your curtains closed if you live at ground level. Inviting friends and family over often is another great way to make it seem like you’re not alone.
Even if you’ve got friends over all the time, ensure you don’t advertise your living situation on social media, and don’t post about going out until you’ve made it home. Criminals often use social media to track potential targets and determine when to strike. It’s important to be careful about what you post to prevent crime when you can.
Schedule Service Visits Carefully
When scheduling service visits and deliveries, people living alone should go a step further by also arranging for a friend or a family member to be present at those times. Most laborers are trustworthy and professional, but occasional reports of crimes traced to individuals previously dispatched to homes on routine service calls do occur. In order to minimize the risk of being victimized by a similar crime, it is a good idea to arrange service visits for times when another trusted adult can also be in the home.
Install a Door Intercom
Repeatedly, we’ve warned about burglars knocking on front doors while posing as salesmen or some other non-threatening stranger. While their goal is to determine whether or not someone is at home, some criminals are not deterred when someone answers, particularly if they appear to live alone. In order to avoid a criminal’s bad intentions in such a scenario, we suggest that every single person living alone install a video door intercom or another form of video surveillance system.
These devices enable you to see who is at the door without opening it. Some models even allow you to communicate with a visitor without having to physically approach the door. With this type of home security device, a criminal is not able to peer inside or develop a good sense of who else is in the home. Most importantly, however, criminals aren’t able to strong-arm their way past you and forcibly enter your home.
Carry a Panic Button
The ability to immediately call for help is priceless. Luckily, wireless panic buttons are also affordable. These clever devices don’t require complicated installation instructions, and they can be worn on your person while at home. You can also place them in strategic locations throughout your home, allowing you to summon help with the simple press of a button any time of the day or night.
Activate Location Tracking
We live in an age where we carry location-based technology everywhere we go. Using smart devices like cellphones and smartwatches, we can recover missing vehicles, monitor our children’s whereabouts and receive turn-by-turn directions when in unfamiliar places. To further protect yourself as a person living alone, you can tap into this ability by turning on your device’s location settings so friends and family know where you are at all times.
A smartphone also allows someone living alone to access a personal panic button. On newer iPhones, for example, simultaneously holding the power button and one of the side volume buttons for a few seconds will trigger an Emergency SOS, which automatically calls emergency services and texts your location to all your emergency contacts.
Date in Public
If you’re a single person living alone, you should strictly avoid hosting a first date at home. Avoid allowing a new suitor to pick you up or escort you back home after a date. Instead, you should hold the first few meetings in a well-lit public space.
Wait to bring your date home until you can be sure they’re trustworthy – doing so will reduce your risk of being burglarized while you’re away from home, as well as significantly decrease your chances of being victimized by a physical crime inside of your home.
Invest in Personal Protection
People living alone should always keep personal protection items like pepper spray nearby and ready to ward off an attacker. Keep these items in places within your reach, like inside your bag, next to your bed at night, in your desk at work or anywhere else they’d be readily available. When used correctly, these products can scare away attackers or, at the very least, stun them long enough for you to escape.
Secure Doors and Windows
While it is a given that doors should remain locked at all times, you may not know that certain locks can be bumped and, thus, allow criminals unfettered access to a home. Flimsy window locks are also quite easy to pry open.
With this in mind, people living alone should either install locks that cannot be bumped or invest in products like the Keypout Lock Bumping/Dead Bolt Protector, which prevents locks from being bumped. You should also install pin locks on every window frame in your home. These locks can prevent windows from sliding open even when would-be intruders tamper with them.
Protect Your Home With Lloyd Security
Whether you live with a big family or by yourself, you should feel safe within the walls of your home. At Lloyd Security, we’ve served families in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area for nearly two decades, so we know how to make that happen.
When you contact us online for a free consultation, we’ll assess your home and determine what we can provide for your unique situation. And we’ll be with you even after installation – we offer monitoring services round-the-clock for the most reliable support possible. Learn more about the advantages of choosing Lloyd’s residential security systems for home safety today!