Ways To Protect Your Home From Break-Ins

It takes less than 45 seconds and three kicks to break into many suburban Kansas City homes, KMBC's Bev Chapman reported.

But there are nine things you can do to help protect your home from criminals.

One of them is a motion-sensitive light. It will deter someone from entering your home under cover of darkness.

Chapman reported that as much as we may fear break-ins at night, the majority of break-ins happen in broad daylight.

"This door can typically be kicked in by a 14-year-old with one kick," said Dave Allen of Edward Wayne Industries. "There's no way to run a long screw through this door system to secure it."

In this case, it is what is called a side-lighted door. There is glass on one side, door on the other. You can find them in homes all over town, Chapman reported.

"The dead bolt that locks into the center mold is only an inch and a half," Allen said.

Once the door is open, the damage is all on the inside. People passing the home would never know someone's inside burglarizing it.

"Secure your doors, create the illusion of occupancy. That's the biggest deterrent to most burglaries," said Officer Mike Betten of the Overland Park, Kan., Police Department.

Betten got involved in the business of busting down doors after a series of home invasions. Four women were sexually assaulted in 1996 by men who kicked in their doors.

"We reinforced the frame with a product we call a JambBrace," Allen said.

Allen and his partner, Ron Olberding, are builders police approached to take a look at the problem. The answer was a small piece of aluminum in the frame. The plates that hold the bolt lock are attached with thread-cutting screws.

"Look, we get a little hairline crack there, but that's about it," Olberding said. "They're not coming through that."

Next they installed laminated glass.

Betten recommends that homeowners invite police in for a safety survey, especially if you're remodeling. Something like a shock alarm is simple to add and will let you know someone's trying to break in before they actually do. Sometimes it is as simple as replacing a dead-bolt lock or closing a door.

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