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“I have an alarm system, why should I worry about my locks?”
Good! I’m glad you gave some thought to your security, but is an alarm the best security? Let’s think about that for a minute.
You and your family are out for a pleasant dinner at your favorite restaurant and someone kicks in your door or breaks a window and the alarm sounds. If you have a monitored system, the monitor will first call you to see if you are all right. If they can’t reach you, then they will call the police. Once they call the police, the squad car must first be dispatched. Unless the squad car happens to be just around the corner from your home or business, it could be a few minutes or more before the police arrive at your home or business. Let’s count on at least 3 or minutes from the time the alarm sounds until the police arrive. 3 minutes is plenty of time for someone to break in, grab your TV, and several other items, or say a convenience store, grab dozens of cartons of cigarettes, cases of beer, or whatever else they want and be gone by the time the police arrive.
Just set a timer for 3 minutes and see just how long a time it is and 3 minutes would be almost record breaking time for the police to arrive once the alarm has sounded. Remember, the monitor is trying to contact you first and if they reach you, get your permission to contact the police.
An alarm system might scare off the more timid burglar, but the burglars who do this for a living know how much time they have. The best thing about having an alarm system is maybe the sign on your front lawn will cause a burglar to go to a neighbor’s house first if they don’t have an alarm and the next best thing is you know someone may still be in your home and to wait until the police enter to let you know no one is still in there. The alarm will also let you know you’ve been burglarized.
By the way, don’t forget to check the wall pegs where you might keep your spare keys. If any keys are missing, get your locks re-keyed.
A good quality lock with re-enforced strike plate and other security add-ons will help keep your home harder to burglarize in the first place. A locksmith will be able to provide you with excellent quality Grade 2 or better locks for your home. I realize there are less expensive locks at the home improvement and hardware stores, but most of these are Grade 3 and just can’t stand up some of the force the strong-arm burglar is likely to use. Do you really want to trust the security and safety of your prized possessions, not to mention the safety of your loved ones to a $10 lock from the home improvement store. Isn’t your family worth an extra $15 to $30 per lock? Or, you can go with even more security all the way up to $150 per lock for key-restricted locks.
For businesses, there are guard plates and cylinder guard rings that dollar for dollar offer the best security to keep burglars out. Ask your locksmith about them before someone gets into your store, not after.
