Protecting Your Family and Home

Protecting Your Family From A Home Invasion

2010-02-28T20:28:00.000-08:00

It's kinda scary, the thought of a home invasion, but you can protect yourself with some basic home self defense. Did you know that According to a United States Department of Justice report 38% of assaults & 60% of rapes occur during home invasion? The same report also states that 1 of every 5 homes will experience a break-in or home invasion at some point in time. This gives you a 20% chance of being a victim of a home crime.

So, what can you do? There are many ways to protect yourself from people entering your home. Using common sense and some basic home self defense techniques will give you a much better chance of being skipped over by that potential rapist or possible home assault.

One of the best ways to prevent a home invasion or break-in is to make your home always look occupied. In most cases people don't want others to be home when they attempt a break in and the presence of anyone can be a great deterrent. Keeping curtains open and lights on indoors is a great first step to making the home look occupied. Keeping a car in the driveway also gives the impression that there is someone home.

Another great form of home self defense is to secure the outside of your home. When I say secure, I don't mean locks and cameras. One of the simplest things you can do is cut back bushes, overgrowth and trees from around your home. Don't leave places for assailants to hide and wait for you to arrive home. This also prevents them from spending time hidden around your home. You also should lock any ladders that you have setting around your home to a fixed object using a quality padlock and chain. This will prevent possible assailants from using the ladder to gain access to unsecured upper windows, porches or even the roof. Installing some motion activated security lights around all outdoor doors in your home or even all around your home will do a lot to increase your home self defense and security.

Keep a super size pepper spray at home. Keeping one or two of these large self defense sprays around the home will provide safe and effective protection in the event of a home invasion. There are sprays available as large as 1 Pound that will give you the ability to ward off a handful of attackers and give you a chance to flee. If possible a mist type spray with a pistol grip would serve you best to defend against multiple attackers in an indoor situation. The mist type spray will hang in the air for a long period of time placing a wall of pepper spray between you and your attackers.

Using some basic home self defense will give you the edge if a criminal is looking at your home as a target. Keeping alert and paying attention to your surroundings is always your best bet to preventing crime especially around your own home. The steps you take to achieve security may be the deciding factor to your future.

APARTMENT SECURITY

2008-01-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

Multifamily rental housing studies have told us for years that security is an important consideration for apartment and condominium dwellers, especially in urban areas. It is hardly surprising to now see "security" being sold as an amenity in many progressive apartment communities.

The secret to selling security, like any amenity, is to promote it and then maintain it. Promoting security and safety is in everyone’s best interest and helps keep the level of awareness high. New technology requires interaction with the residents, which tends to reinforce the original security purpose. Contrary to popular belief, promoting security does not create any additional liability risks, as long as the information provided is accurate and the security feature is maintained.

Security Technology
Advances in security technology have allowed us to provide an enhanced the level of protection while at the same time reducing the cost of operation. Security technology doesn’t always mean high-tech or new-tech. Sometimes old-tech works just fine. A classic example is having a high-tech, state-of-the-art alarm system versus having a big dog in the yard. Both are likely to deter the same burglar if fear of being detected (or bitten) is a concern.

Access Control
The most visible form of security technology is in the hardware area called access control. This includes fences, gates, windows, doors, locks, and common area lighting. Aside from the presence of a uniformed courtesy officer, access control barriers are what residents think of when they look for security features on a property.

Security Gates
Automatic gates and formidable wrought-iron fencing are the most common high-profile access control system added during new construction of garden apartments. Gated communities are desirable to most prospective residents and most properties change a premium rent for it. The main benefit of an automatic gate system on a low-crime property is the perception of security and exclusivity. Let’s face it, everyone wants to feel good about where they live and a gated community is like a private club where access privileges are required. Any real benefits of crime prevention are a plus.

Still, other apartment communities add gate systems as a barrier to keep criminals off the property and away from rent paying residents. In this setting, the intention is to reduce crime and retain residents by erecting a significant barrier to unauthorized vehicle and foot traffic. Because it is a capital expense, gates are often considered as a cheaper alternative to hiring and managing courtesy officers.

The best gate type depends on the property type. Swinging gates installed on a high-traffic college property or a high crime property will be a maintenance nightmare. Swinging gates look better than the horizontal sliders but are more expensive to maintain. Two mechanical gate operators are required to open each wing of the swinging gate, which doubles the expense and requires twice the maintenance. Swinging gates also get damaged more severely then sliding gates as anxious drivers hit them as they enter the property with their automobiles.

Card Access Systems
Electronic card access technology is still the best system for opening locked common area doors and gates. For newly constructed large properties, card access technology is a better choice than using a radio transmitter for the gates and metal keys for the doors because it offers greater management benefits. Plastic access cards are inexpensive compared to the costs of maintaining metal keys.

Card-key software can be programmed to limit residents to certain buildings and record the time, date, and location of each entryway used. For example, access cards can be programmed to authorize and monitor which residents access the gym, spa, pool, or weight room, which can be a great liability benefit. Card programming can be used in conjunction with video surveillance systems to determine who last entered a room, a building, or drove through the main gate.

Access cards can also be integrated as photo-ID cards for employees on a large property. Programmable cards are great for monitoring employee time and attendance, security patrols of the property, and can limit access to sensitive areas like the manager’s office, the maintenance shack, or the key control room.

Key Control
With a card access system, key control of common area doors is easier and cheaper to manage. If an access card is lost or a resident moves out, the card can be deleted from the system with a few keystrokes. Gone are the days of pulling common area door locks and changing lock cores or re-keying metal keys.
Metal Keys

For large properties, technology has provided a solution for controlling metal apartment unit keys. Several vendors now make a computer-based key control system that safely stores and codes each key and can be password protected at multiple levels. When the backup unit key is retrieved for example, the time, date, unit number, and person taking and returning the key is recorded. The computer will know at all times what keys are in inventory and can print a key inventory history upon request.

Doors, Windows, Locks
Entry doors and sliding windows are not as solid as they used to be, but technology has provided solutions to make them secure once again. The weakest part of a door lock assembly has always been at the doorjamb and lock strike-plate area. New heavy-duty strike-plates using 3-inch screws and doorjamb reinforcement plates are on the market and have received high ratings in preventing forced entry. Even though low quality door locks still flood the market, new high-security Grade-1 and Grade-2 door locks are readily available at most supply sources.

Sliding windows and doors, once vulnerable to forced-entry have been improved with special anti-lift and anti-slide features built into the framing. Architects are starting to include these specifications into their drawings and builders are starting to recognize the importance and salability of these improved security features.

Common Area Lighting
Lighting is obviously the most visible form of security after dark. Good lighting is what makes us feel safe. Lighting should allow you to read building numbers, safely navigate the walkways from your car to your door, and identify a potential threat at 100 feet. Lighting technology has improved and so has the cost efficiency of providing adequate illumination. For a bright white light, I recommend the use of metal-halide fixtures especially for large parking lot areas and thoroughfares.

In moderate climates, I recommend fluorescent lamps for covered parking and common area walkways and stairwells because they are very energy efficient. For example, it's possible to replace every incandescent lamp fixture with fluorescent fixtures on a property and enjoy a return on your investment with one-year’s energy savings.

Security Trends
As the century turns, expect to see increased demand for security amenities, especially on upscale properties. More and more workers will begin telecommuting from home. The advent of the Internet and e-mail has opened up vast opportunities for work-at-home occupations such as software development, web site graphic design, stock day-trading, advertising, and technical writing. Alarms systems, electronic access control, adequate lighting, and a visible security presence will be desirable amenities that apartment dwellers will seek out.

PROTECTING RENTERS AND YOUR PROPERTY

2008-01-15T09:03:00.000-08:00

Owning, managing, and living in rental housing can be a challenging experience. Apartment owners have certain legal duties to provide resonably safe rental housing. Rental housing crime studies have repeatedly shown that moderate to high-crime problems can usually be traced back to a small percentage of residents. Those causing the crime problems are often the acquaintances, ex-spouses, or boyfriends of a legal resident who decided to move in without your permission.

Resident Screening
The best way to head off this problem is to practice resident screening and enforce clearly defined and articulated community rules that are emphasized during the lease application process. The resident needs to know that their tenancy may be in jeopardy if they bring in an unauthorized (and unscreened) occupant. Proof of this method is well documented in apartment properties all over the country, as police calls for service seem to fluctuate proportionally as resident screening standards and rule enforcement vary following management changes.

Good resident screening involves checking credit, employment, rental history, and criminal background, if available. A good screening plan should call for all non-dependent occupants to be included on the lease and subject to the same resident qualifications. All children should be identified on the lease along with maximum occupancy limits. In this day and age, resident screening is more than just establishing the ability to pay rent. In my experience, properties that tend to have a higher percentage of unauthorized occupants have lowered their screening standards on credit, rental and employment history, and don’t do available criminal background checks. A policy of collecting double deposits or getting co-signers for an otherwise unqualified applicant is asking for trouble down the road and is unfair to the other residents.

Criminal Infiltration
When career criminals (usually males) cannot qualify to rent, they will try to infiltrate your property by secretly moving in with a legal resident. As you might expect, these undesirable occupants tend to attract other unsavory characters. The character of your property can change drastically, if left unchecked. The problem becomes acute when these unauthorized occupants are unemployed criminal types who hang out all day and all night and begin to ply their trade within your community. A symptom of this condition is people hanging out in the parking lot and high foot traffic in and out of a unit or group of units.

To fix serious illegal occupancy problems, sometimes you have to clean house and evict residents for non-compliance with your residency requirements. You need to re-emphasize your occupancy standards and then fairly but firmly enforce the rules. The Crime Free Multi-housing Program lease addendum is a good example of community rules that can be legally enforced. Eviction rates as high as sixty-percent have been necessary to regain control over seriously troubled properties. Although financially painful in the short term, landlords soon get paid back in increased net operating income. It is common to see a property return to profitability after a few months with 98% occupancy rates and a waiting list.

How to Spot Unauthorized Occupants
A fair question often asked is how do you identify an unauthorized occupant versus a short-term social guest? The answer is to know your residents. This may seem like an impossible task, especially when your community exceeds one hundred units. Your community rules should have a written procedure for notifying management when a social guest has an extended stay and to arrange for a parking space. To solve this identity crisis, property managers around the country have found creative ways to get to know their residents.

What follows are some ideas to help you identify and deal with unauthorized occupants:

Establish written community rules for visiting social guests
Add new occupants/roommates to the lease only if they pass screening
Regularly audit units for unauthorized occupants (formally and informally)
Photograph each resident for the lease file for ID purposes (helpful for unit lockouts)
Assign coded parking spaces and record vehicle information (easy to spot new cars)
Require parking permit decals on cars and motorcycles
Require overnight guests to park in designated guest spaces only (get vehicle info)
Train staff to be alert for illegal occupants, new vehicles, and new children
Periodically, inspect units (smoke detectors, A/C filters, furnace ventilators, lock checks)
Always follow up all verbal occupancy warnings with a letter
Serve non-compliance notices for every rule violation. Be consistent
Evict residents who violate community rules and house illegal occupants
Be fair, firm, consistent, and document, document, document