Staying Safe Does Not Get Easier

Staying safe takes common sense.

Here are a number of steps that might make life a little more secure.

Some of these suggestions were submitted by your neighbors. We welcome more.

Please feel free to submit any safety tips or links that you feel might help us defend ourselves.
Just click here

Home Security Tips

1. Security Door - Your front door is hollow. A well placed boot will destroy it. Also, opening your front door without a security door in place exposes you to your visitors, welcome and unwelcome. A few hundred dollars will be money well spent.
2. Lighting - Two good approaches, one bad.
   • Motion sensing lights are option one. Lights are off until a person approaches. Lights turn on. Perhaps the intruder is scared off.
   • The use of lights that turn on at dusk, turning off at dawn. Perhaps it will make someone with bad intentions fearful of being seen and look for easier pickings elsewhere.
   • Another choice often made by some folks is to leave exterior lights on continuously. This is a bad choice, indicating that perhaps the homeowner is away.
3. Video Cameras - These have become very popular and cost has become very reasonable. These come in different configurations, e.g.
   • Door bell type cameras that include voice capability as well. These act as video intercoms, allowing you to make sure your “guest” is someone you want to make welcome.
   • Others include wall mounted cameras, some with sound capability, some without.
   • Virtually all of these camera systems have recording capability and can be used on computers and smart phones, meaning you can view your property while away from home.
4. Garage Door - A very simple security tip involves your garage door. There is a handle connected to a rope that, when pulled, allows your garage door to be opened manually. This proves useful during power outages and when repairs are required. Removing the handle has no effect on operation. It now makes the technique used by some bad guys unworkable. What some have done is force an electrical “snake” through the rubber at the top of the door, hook the handle and then manually open the door. No handle, well too bad. Try another house. And if your wall mounted garage door opener has a “lock” switch, use it when you’re in for the night. Redundancy in security is not a bad thing.
5. Vehicles - When possible, keep your car in the garage. Keep your car locked, even in the garage. There have been cases in Solera where glove box contents, in one instance a gun, were stolen after the garage door was opened illegally.
6. Common Sense - Posting pictures on Facebook from your cruise ship lets everyone know you’re away, and the best time to burglarize your house is now.
7. Trash Cans? - Yes, trash cans. It's an advertisement that you're not at home when you put your trash cans out early and leave them late. We have great neighbors. Ask one to handle this for you.
8. Newspapers? - See "Trash Cans". Why advertise your absence when it's so easy to address this?
9. Check writing? - An old fashioned scam still thrives. If thieves get hold of a check you've written, e.g. by breaking into a mailbox, they can "wash" it, substituting amount and payee info. There's a simple step to make this nearly imposible. Use a gel filled pen to write out the check instead of the ubiquitous ball point. This 25 cent solution makes it almost impossible for these creeps. A pack of five pens can be had at the dollar store for $1.25.

There is a lot of advice available that can help keep us safter. Here is one useful link.

Here is another list of suggestions from from Henry the Enginneer, a Solera neighbor.