Summer Home Security Quiz

Are you familiar with Nextdoor? It describes itself as a “social networking service for neighborhoods.” Local people sign up, list items for sale, exchange lost and found stories, etc. When I compare posts from earlier years with more recent ones, I realize that home security is a big concern for people this summer.

Every day on Nextdoor I see video footage from various front door cameras. The videos show strangers roaming neighborhoods, testing doors to see if they are open, stealing packages. We get images of thieves stealing catalytic converters at 2 am, and yesterday, it was a whole motorcycle! (Those guys were actually caught.)

I’ve written before about home security including home invasion. It just feels as though a reminder is in order. So if you have any misgivings about safety for the coming months, here’s this week’s short post:

Summer Home Security Quiz

How would you rate your current degree of “situational awareness?”

• I figure that whatever is going to happen will happen so I really don’t worry about it.
• I’ve changed a few habits, like parking in better-lighted areas and being sure the car is locked.
• I pay attention and can tell when people or activities don’t fit into normal neighborhood patterns.

Have you improved perimeter security for your home?

• Haven’t made any changes. I’ve lived here safely for years.
• I have installed a doorbell video camera to see what’s going on outside my front door.
• I have motion-activated lighting around my place and a monitored perimeter alarm system.

How do you respond to potential threats at the front door?

• When the doorbell rings, I answer it. I don’t want to be rude.
• When the doorbell rings, before I open the door I check to see if it’s someone I’m expecting. I don’t open the door if I don’t know or expect that person.
• I have reinforced the door frame and front door locks to make it a whole lot harder for someone to force their way in.

Do you make any changes to your appearance depending on where you’re headed when you go out?

• iPhone, Apple watch, new necklace – wouldn’t be seen without ‘em!
• I carry my oversized purse (or my computer backpack) everywhere I go. Yeah, it weighs a ton, but I’ve got everything I need in there.
• I am committed to change. I wear message T-shirts so everyone knows where I stand. I have political stickers on my car, too.

I think that by now you have got the message. What’s happening in your neighborhood today may not be the same as what was happening 5 years or even 2 years ago. Heck, you are not be the same as you were 5 years or even 2 years ago!

So now that summer’s here, and you and others are out and about more than you were over the winter months, it’s a good time for a reassessment. The quiz questions SHOULD have prompted your thinking about safety at events and in crowds. About home security. About personal safety.

Did you come across a couple of items that made you think, “Yeah, I really ought to do something about that . . .!”

If so, now’s the time to take action!

Let us know of other summer safety ideas or new summer habits that you would recommend.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

P.S. And watch for the next in our series of Short Summer Posts. Last week we talked about Events. This week is about Home. Coming up: summer posts for Motorists, Boy Scouts, and Property Managers — and more!