Holidays are a time of much-needed relaxation and fun for people all over Metro Vancouver, whether you’re heading to Whistler to ski in the winter, escaping the summer rain on a tropical beach, or spending a long weekend in the Okanagan Valley. When you’re enjoying yourself away from home, it’s easy to forget about the safety and security of your property. Vacant houses and unoccupied commercial buildings are ideal targets for criminals, however.
In busy cities like downtown Vancouver, Mount Pleasant and Kitsilano, empty homes and businesses are easily recognizable by experienced criminals, and an increase in property crimes, commercial burglaries, and property damage is almost guaranteed during all major holidays. A home or business left unattended is inherently vulnerable.
Employing a quality 24/7 security Vancouver is key to ensuring your property is secure while you are on vacation.
Residential Property Security Checklist Before Vacationing
While on holiday, your top priority is relaxation and peace of mind. Unfortunately, most people forget to take steps that may alert potential criminals that their home or apartment is completely unoccupied, and burglars are always on the lookout for the telltale signs.
1. Deterring visual indicators that no one is home.
A completely dark house is an inviting beacon that tells any passing criminal the residence is unoccupied and there’s a good chance the occupants are nowhere to be found. You can effectively deter these types of criminals by making it appear as if the house is occupied at all times.
- Smart Lighting Automation: There is no need to leave one or more porch lights or interior lamps on continuously for a week, especially because this directly alerts criminals that no one is available to turn the lights on or off. Instead, employ a timed, random switching system that illuminates your lights in a pattern that replicates a lived-in house.
- Manage Your Mail and Packages: Receiving packages on your doorstep and the stacking of newspapers and flyers are definitive indications that your home is unoccupied, and such things are magnets to criminals. Ensure that either your postal service or a trusted friend picks up any mail or package deliveries on a daily basis, or sign up to hold your mail.
- Maintain Your Landscape and Driveway: Especially during the winter, ensure that your driveway is continuously shoveled after heavy snowfalls. Similarly, keep up with your watering and mowing throughout the warmer months.
2. Fortifying the home’s physical entry points
Most criminals want a fast, easy, and silent entry. You can help keep burglars at bay by making it harder to enter your home through the use of sturdy and reinforced entry points.
- Sliding Door Locks and Window Locks: These types of sliding doors have a terrible habit of easily becoming the subject of physical force or electronic compromise, and many windows in houses all across the Lower Mainland that lock with a small piece of metal have a known defect. Place a dowel or an object made of sturdy metal inside the sliding door track to ensure that it cannot be forced open, and place solid locking devices on the bottom half of your windows.
- Garage Security: Modern automated garage door openers have been found to be vulnerable to theft of the opener codes from a remote garage door opener or the use of electronic garage door opener transmitters in some areas, and thieves are able to access and even take control of them remotely. Utilize a manual locking device within the garage that effectively disables all remote controls to your home.
Why a 24-7 surveillance system is so beneficial
While an alarm system connected to deadbolts, a high-quality window lock, or even a state of the art smart camera is extremely valuable, each have their own disadvantages and one such disadvantage is the requirement that you remain responsible for monitoring these security systems in real time, which often isn’t feasible if you are in a completely different time zone, at a restaurant on your vacation, or asleep in a hotel. With an integrated 24-7 professional surveillance service, this responsibility and any risks that come with being unable to address potential threats quickly can be greatly reduced or eliminated.
- Immediate Mobile Dispatch: When triggered, a trained professional in the central monitoring station immediately accesses your property’s security feeds and will send police, fire departments, or security guards to your property within minutes.
- Visible Mobile Patrols: If your business, your residence, or any other type of commercial or residential property you own is high-risk or requires extra monitoring throughout the holidays, it is advised to utilize the services of the police department or even the police as part of a contract, for any of your mobile patrol requirements, especially during the holidays.
Conclusion
Taking control of the holiday situation with your personal security needs. If you’re vacationing to rest and recuperate from the busy work week and everyday life, you shouldn’t have to constantly fret over whether you’ve secured all the entry points, have sufficient security measures in place, or if there are any thieves actively attempting to break into your home or business. Employing a trained and experienced private security company will give you the peace of mind that you deserve while on your long-awaited holiday. Rely on and utilize the specialized skills, abilities, and resources of Flexguard Security Corp. For all of your security needs at your home and business during any of the long holiday breaks that you might have coming up.
