It is getting the time of year when it will start getting dark much earlier in the day and what that means to the person that is a criminal, there are more hours of darkness when they can break into homes.
To combat this person it is important that after the warm weather door locks and window locks are checked and in working order.
For most people the time change means that it will be dark before they arrive home from work and to the burglar this is a good time to go to work, looking for homes that do not have lights on, that are not protected by a home security system and that have dark yards.
The way to avoid having a residence broken into is to be prepared and to let the burglar know that you are, let them see the window decals and the sign in the yard that the house is protected.
To instill this further and to help the family at the same time installing outdoor lighting gives this person nowhere to hide when they are sneaking through the yard toward the chosen window or door, they will use to gain entry in the house.
This is one thing that can also be great for the family, because coming home in the dark and getting from the car to the house can be a problem if there is snow or ice, if it is a long walk that could be scary or when trying to get the key in the door.
One of the largest home safety tips is to make sure that the alarm system is armed; if it is not armed it cannot protect the family from things like fire, smoke and carbon monoxide.
It also cannot protect the family from the burglar that would like nothing more than to get into the house and steal the family's possessions.
Trying to protect a family and house means that there are choices to make when it comes to the alarm system, like the option to have it call out on a cell phone if it is triggered or to call out on the hard line in the house.
The option to use the cell phone for the system means that if a burglar thinks cutting the telephone line to the residence will keep them from being caught; this is where they are wrong with a system that uses a cell phone to call out on.
To add even more protection, there are the keyless door locks, this means the burglar cannot break in by picking the lock, and it means there is no digging for keys.
One other thing that it means is there is no reason to give non family members keys or hide one outside the home.
Instead with a keyless door lock they can be programmed in and when they should not be at the residence the lock will not open the door for them.
This is how many homes are burglarized, with lost keys or by someone the family has allowed into their home and entrusted with a key to enter the home when they are not present.