Security company offers tips to increase curb appeal, safety

Fri., July 16, 2004

PRNewswire

TOPEKA, Kan. — As homeowners get back outside and into their yards, Protection One, one of the largest providers of monitored security services in the nation, suggests these landscaping and home improvement tips for increasing curb appeal and home security:

• To reduce the chance of easy entry into your home, plant thorny bushes below first-floor windows and cut tree limbs away from second-story windows. Remove objects that might assist a would-be burglar in accessing your home, such as ladders stored near a garage or trash cans that could be used as a makeshift ladder to enter a window or scale a fence.

• To prevent intruders from hiding behind shrubs around your home, trim bushes to expose branch structure.

• To illuminate vulnerable or isolated exterior entrances, install motion lights.

• To make it easier for emergency personnel to locate your home in an emergency, install easy-to-read and illuminated address numbers in a visible place on the front of your house.

Protection One also suggests following these tips for securing your home year-round:

• Always be aware of usual and unusual activities in your neighborhood and immediately report suspicious behavior.

• Secure all windows and doors that are accessible from the outside, including those upstairs.

• Never leave a spare key hidden outside. Burglars know all the best places.

• Install peepholes so you can screen your visitors.

• Ask to see identification from service and delivery people before letting them into your home.

• Install deadbolt locks on all exterior entrances.

• Make sure smoke detectors are working and up to code or consider adding a monitored smoke or heat detector.

• Post emergency phone numbers by the telephone, including your cellular phone or pager numbers, for your children or baby sitter to use when you are not at home. Make sure visitors staying at your home also know your address and where emergency numbers are located.

For more information, visit www.ProtectionOne.com.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.