About every 15 seconds, a burglary occurs in the US. Astounding statistic isn’t it? Think it won’t happen to you…don’t bet on it!
Each year, losses from burglaries total billion of dollars in cash, electronics, weapons, clothing, jewelry, office supplies, home goods, and more. Only about 20% of stolen items are ever recovered.
The most likely target for burglars are single family homes in the middle of the block. 30% of all burglaries do not involve forced entry, utilizing unlocked/open doors and windows to sneak in. The average burglary lasts roughly 10 minutes; enough time for the robber to get in, look for valuables, and leave.
The most common time of day for a burglary is between 10 am and 3 pm, when your house is most likely to be empty. Burglars will often focus on a few rooms with high value items, such as your bedroom and the living room. Right hand dresser drawers in bedrooms are a favorite place for burglars to look for jewelry and other valuables. You may also have a small safe containing important papers and other valuables in the bedroom. Living rooms are often home to the biggest high ticket items like art work, TV’s, video games and other expensive electronics.
A home break-in might generally cost you an average of $2,000 in stolen goods, not to mention other loses due to willful destruction and vandalism. When factoring in the cost of police work, damage repairs, insurance deductibles and any legal fees; a single robbery could cost you a bundle of money.
According to a study by the University of North Carolina, a vast majority of burglars will first determine if a house has a security system. Many convicted burglars have stated that they purposely avoided homes with security systems. Why should they look for trouble when they just simply select a home without any security…..you know, the ones where the homeowners think that a burglary will never happen to them.
If you consider potential losses from burglary and vandalism and the stress of having to deal with the police and your insurance company, a properly designed alarm system is a real bargain. And your insurance company may even give you a discount on your homeowner’s insurance for having one! Don’t become a statistic, call Video Surveillance Corp. today for a free alarm and video survey. (178-258-1310) Video Surveillance, a security solutions integrator.