5 Cheap and Easy Ways To Effectively Protect Your Home

The Maricopa Police Department says that the best home security involves multiple deterrents to dissuade opportunists and thieves from making your home a target.
Contrary to what you see on TV, most homes are burglarized during the day when residents are out. 

Burglars do not want to confront anybody. At the first sign of occupancy, they're gone. They just want to grab property and sell it. The criminals know that when someone is in the house, it changes the crime classification.

Because of this, thieves frequently pose as solicitors, he says. If no one answers the door, that's their cue to head around back and break in. Outsmart a thief with these home security tactics on the cheap.

1. The 'Duh' Factor - It's amazing how often people leave their home with doors and windows open or unlocked! Even an open garage door is an invitation to come in and take what you want! If a thief sees a bike in an open garage, it's an easy mobile crime to commit. We call this a crime of opportunity. LOCK UP YOUR HOME, IT'S FREE.


2. The Neighborhood - Your neighbors can be the best home security. Get to know that nosy next door neighbor of yours and let them know when you are going to be out of town so they can watch out for your place while you are gone.

3. Protecting Access Points - Make sure that ALL of your window and doors locks are sturdy and secure. Replace any wobbly or weakened deadbolts and reinforce your windows with dowels or slide locks for just a couple of bucks. Buy Now: http://goo.gl/My4Pnc

4. A Tidy Yard - Make it difficult for burglars to conceal themselves by keeping your bushes, shrubs and trees trimmed back. A well kept and clean property also tells a burglar that you care about your property and likely maintain the doors and locks too. 

5. Dusk Till Dawn - For about $30 you can turn your outside lights into dusk till dawn lighting. This way you don't have to remember to turn them on and off each day and night! Great exterior lighting is a huge deterrent for burglars, they don't want to be seen. Buy Now: http://goo.gl/zUbsmN

Nobody can afford the trouble of being burglarized, but anyone can handle the cost of these cheap and easy ways to protect your home and deter burglars. Another thing to consider, joining up with your neighborhood block watch group and help out the community! 

We Really Do Exist: Why almost nobody sees our blockwatch

Clip from The Watch

We don't usually wear special t-shirts, carry notebooks or leave hand made "tickets" on people's car windows. We don't "patrol" the streets in groups every night, and we definitely do not take-down and cuff would-be criminals. We are not the police. We are the residents of Maricopa Meadows.

However, there are people in the Meadows who think we should be like school yard monitors with whistles or volunteer security guards who keep detailed ledgers of nightly activity, but that's not the case with us. 

With the ease and anonymity of social media and the arrival of crime reporting apps, its no wonder some people would have you believing there is no Blockwatch in Maricopa Meadows. These days our Blockwatch group is more online than on the street. In truth, we are here, each of us doing our own blockwatch thing...

What's that thing you ask?

The primary goal of any volunteer Blockwatch group is to lessen or even prevent residential property crime and other neighborhood crimes. And the way we reach that goal is by sharing our knowledge through education, providing the tools and resources you need to protect yourself and your neighbors, and finally, to communicate important information to the police.

Did you know that the Maricopa Meadows Blockwatch Program is the model by which MPD is building its City Blockwatch Program around? We are the only program of our size in Maricopa that works independently of but in cooperation with our HOA/BoD, and we do it successfully! We also have a loosely coupled structure based on honor and communication that affords our volunteers the freedom to adjust their own roles to meet the needs of their immediate neighborhood without enforcing rigid policies and regulations.

So if you are expecting to see groups of residents in matching t-shirts walking the blocks nightly (most residential crime occurs in the day), you will be disappointed. Blockwatch volunteers are the moms waiting to pick up their kids from the bus stop, the disc golfers at play on the course, the neighbors out front trimming the bushes, couples walking their dogs, they are anyone who looks around their environment and keeps an eye out for strange activity. They are the ones who keep the outside lights on at night, the ones who keep their property maintained, the ones who know their neighbors, the ones who pay attention and say something. 

To get more involved with our program, contact Maricopa Meadows Blockwatch at mmblockwatchprogram@gmail.com and ask about volunteering or locate your neighborhood Block Captain. Come to our next meeting or visit our webpage at lifeinmaricopameadows.org/maricopa-meadows-blockwatch