Is Your Neighborhood Secure?

Finding out how secure your neighborhood is would be a good idea before you go out and spend thousands of dollars on a new home security system. Or to put it in blunt terms, find out how many crimes are being committed where you live. With this information, there could be a big impact on what steps you take on the home security front.

Does this sound like information you can't get without going door-to-door and interviewing everyone within a four-block radius? Were you robbed sometime in the last year? Has anyone broken into your car? Or maybe someone has stolen mail from your mailbox. It's such a pain, isn't it?

The good news is that you don't have to do this. It's likely that the police have this information already. You may or may not suspect it, but most police agencies keep detailed statistics of these things. They have records of crimes committed, and can often narrow down the statistics to the block level.

As a resident, you're entitled to this information.

Going down to your local police station (the one closest to your home), and asking to talk to the public affairs officer (or whoever is in charge of public relations) is what you can do. How about requesting for the crime statistics in your neighborhood? You you should be able to get information on how many break-ins, auto thefts, rapes, etc. have taken place over the last few years even though you may not get a list of who committed the crime. Sometimes the records go back for decades.

If you want to find out how safe your neighborhood is, this is the best way to do so. Keep in mind that when it comes to crimes committed on your street in the past, they are not always perfect indicators of what will happen in the future. No one may have been robbed on your streets this year but that doesn't mean that someone won't be burglarized tomorrow. But this is a pretty good indicator that a similar trend will continue if there have been a lot of crimes committed in the past.

An aggressive home security plan is what you may want to consider if there have been quite a few break-ins in your area and such security plans include whole home security system that can protect your house and your family by sending the police if someone tries to get in. On the other hand, if there hasn't been a break-in for years, you may feel safe with a less aggressive approach. You may feel that it's enough to install common sense home security items such as replacing weak door and window locks and adopt good security practices like not leaving the doors unlocked, don't leave garages doors up, and don't leave tools in the yard burglars could use to break in, etc.

Remember, the first step to protecting yourself and your family is to find out how secure your neighborhood is.

Akillia Ccekto shows you the best methods for potty training a puppy. Learn about toilet training your dog the easy way.