That should be your goal when designing a security plan for your home.

If a would-be burglar takes a look at your residence, you want the exterior to deter their interest and send them to the next house.

Most home owners give little if any consideration to the security of their home. Too often, the result is finding the front door open and the interior in shambles when returning home one day or something even worse like the situations we feature on our website http://www.NJLawman.com.

This doesn't have to be the case, and it requires less effort than you might think.

The first step to improving your home security is to grab a pencil and paper and create a plan.

Take a walk around your home and look at it not from your perspective but from the perspective of a burglar casing the neighborhood. How does your home stack up compared to those of your neighbors?

Your first concern should be your landscaping.

Overgrown bushes and trees provide excellent cover for an intruder trying to pick your lock or force your doors or windows open. To remedy this, cut back all bushes and trees that fully or partially obscure any doors or windows to your home.

This step is great for deterring daytime burglaries, but what about at night?

We've all heard the term, "the cover of darkness." Well, so have the bad guys.

Evening hours can be most inviting to the criminally tempting. Besides the fact that there are less people out and about, a dark night can provide a great deal of time to work on getting into your home.

"Let there be light!" Good lighting is essential for good home security.

Your lighting should be focused on all entrance ways to your residence including your doors and windows but also your garage door and any small windows to your basement.

These lighting units remain off until the sensor picks up movement. Movement will cause the lights to activate. Some of the available products even offer a feature where you can program the lights to activate at certain times and go off at certain times. However, when they are off, the motion sensor will still kick them back on when sensing movement. You can also program them not to activate during daylight hours and other times where there is expected activity near your home like when you are having a party.

During evening hours, lighting is the single most effective step you can take to enhance home security.

Finally, you will want to take a look at the type of locks you have installed in your home.

Good quality locks with dead bolts will make almost any decent door impenetrable. You will want to install dead bolt locks on all of your perimeter doors.

Also, the dead bolt feature serves no purpose if you don't use it. Yes, it adds a few seconds each time you arrive or leave your home, but the security it adds is worth it.

If you noticed, we focused on the perimeter of your home. The perimeter is the first level of security for any structure, and your home is no different.

Here are some additional steps.

Contact your local police department, and request a security survey. Many police departments offer this service free of charge.

Also, report any suspicious people or vehicles in your neighborhood immediately to local police.

If you follow all of these steps, you will send them to the next house.

Good luck and good security!
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