4 Neighbourhood Security Mistakes you can make as a Homeowner

Your home security is your responsibility, but the safety of your entire neighbourhood is up to you and everyone else who lives there!

If one neighbour is lazy about safety and security, then it can put many other homes at risk. If you’d like to keep up with the latest incidents, reports and crime statistics in your neighbourhood and the surrounding areas, be sure to download the PatrolMan neighbourhood watch app.

These are the 5 main mistakes you may make as a homeowner to jeopardize the security of your neighbourhood. Make sure you’re not that neighbour who puts everyone else’s home in danger!

      1.       Leaving the garbage bins outside

After your garbage has been collected, make an effort to bring your bins inside from the road. Trashcans that are left outside for a long period of time often indicate that no one is home and invite burglars to try and break in.

      2.       Leaving security gates open

Security gates are there for a reason, to keep burglars out! If you don’t bother to lock your security gate when you leave for the night or when you go to work in the morning then this can send a signal to potential burglars that no one is home or you just don’t pay attention to the security of your home.

      3.       Leaving the lights on

Outdoor or porch lights that are left on all day and all night are a sign to burglar’s that no one is home and you might be away on holiday. Keep your home and neighbourhood safe by using timers for your lights when you go away for a long period of time, otherwise ask a friend or neighbour to check in regularly.

The same is true when it comes to leaving your lights off for a long time, a burglar could see that your house is dark for a night or two and decide the coast is clear to attempt a burglary.

      4.       Leaving your post piling up

Post, sales flyers and pamphlets that are allowed to pile up on a driveway, porch or in your post-box are a hallmark of bad neighbourhood security. Any basic criminal scouting the neighbourhood can see that such a home is an easy mark. And if one home is an easy mark, he usually figures there may be a few others in the immediate vicinity.

You can avoid being a victim of bad neighbourhood security by making sure you don’t make any of these mistakes. Sharing this post with your neighbours may also be the politest way to remind them to cut it out if you find them guilty of even a single one of these.