Security Articles

Using Security Cameras in Parking Lots & Garages

Parking garages and parking lots require a lot of security cameras. Unfortunately, due to the vast number of people and cars in the garage and the fact that people can easily hide between cars, there is a great deal of crime and vandalism in parking lots of parking garages as well. This is especially true if they are not properly protected.

Using security cameras in parking garages is important to keep the area safe and secure. When you install surveillance cameras, you can keep track of everything that takes place and have a permanent recording of the action. Parking garages don’t have to be dangerous. If you properly install security measures (such as video surveillance cameras) you can keep your parking area safe.

Security Cameras Are Facing Potential Crimes

There are many different potential crimes that can take place in a parking garage. The first, and possibly the most obvious, is vehicle theft. By their very nature, parking garages are filled with unattended vehicles. There usually aren’t very many people in the parking garage at any given time and the area is quite large. This makes it a very tempting setting for car thieves.

It can get very costly and time-consuming if you hope to cover your parking garage with attendants and security guards. It’s almost impossible to watch all areas of a parking lot in person. This is where parking garage security cameras come in handy.

While a person can only see so much and he or she can only possibly be in one place at a time, security cameras can be installed to cover the entire area of a parking lot or a parking garage.

Using security cameras does not have to have the limitations that people do. When properly installed, they can provide uncompromised access to every area of the parking complex in an effective, affordable and reliable manner.

Remember, vehicle theft is not the only crime that could take place inside a parking complex. Criminals often use the cover of automobiles or other obstructions to hide in the garage and wait for their victims. Robbery, assault, vandalism, kidnapping, rape and many other illegal activities could take place inside a parking garage.

The Benefits of Using Security Cameras

There are many benefits of using security cameras. Security cameras don’t give criminals anywhere to hide. If you install your surveillance cameras properly, you’ll be able to monitor everything that happens in the parking area and be aware of anyone who is trying to hide. You’ll also have powerful video evidence on hand if there ever is a criminal situation in your parking garage. Security cameras provide the police and any other authorities with proof of criminal activity.

You’ll also install a sense of trust when you have your parking garage protected by monitored video surveillance. Customers will feel much safer about parking in your location as they know that they will be protected from the dangerous criminal element.

Home Security Facts to Keep You Safe

If you have a home security system you’re certainly making the right move toward keeping your family and your property safe. However, not all home security systems are created equal. Not only are there different levels of home security systems, but older home security systems may not have the same security features as newer ones. There are many home security facts to consider.

Periodically Check The Home Security Systems

In order to ensure that your home receives the best possible home security and protection, you will want to take a look at your home security system periodically and determine if it still meets your needs. If you you haven’t taken the time to check out your home security system and discover what weaknesses it may have, that’s something you should do immediately. These are not all the home security facts

Criminals are becoming more and more skilled at determining weaknesses in security systems. Often, criminals will scout an area or a particular home for days at a time. Not only will they do so to catch the routines of those who live there, but they will also spend time analyzing the security coverage of homes they hope to strike.

If a criminal is willing to spend the time needed to inspect your home security system, you have to be willing to do the same. Staying a step ahead of criminals is necessary to prevent break-ins, robberies and theft.

Several Weaknesses In Home Security Systems

There are several common weaknesses in home security systems that you should be certain to watch out for.

The Second Floor

Most people install window contacts, monitoring home security systems and security cameras on the first floor of their house. However, criminals have realized this and they are now using the second floor as an entry point in more and more situations. If you do not have any home security features on your second floor, a criminal will be able to break in and have free reign of the second story of your home. It’s important to have home security services on each floor of your home. You should also consider having bars and/or gates on all windows and doors to prevent break-ins.

The Back and Side Doors

Much like you’ll need to secure the second floor of your house, you’ll also need to make sure that you back door and any side doors are well secured as well. Most people understand that they will need a strong deadbolt on their front door. But what about a rear sliding door? While you can’t secure these with a deadbolt, there are locks and bars that can prevent unauthorized entry. Ensure that your side doors are locked and protected by an alarm system as well.

Basement Windows

Basement windows are usually quite small, but they’re often large enough that a person can slide through them. Placing bars on basement windows will prevent break-ins. Be careful if you have a kitchen or any bedrooms in your basement, however. Sometimes a basement window can be the only way to escape a fire or other emergency situation. In these cases, you’ll want to have bars that can be easily removed from the inside, but ones that are difficult to remove from the outside.

Your Garage

A lot of people don’t think about securing their garages. However, in addition to your car, there are often many valuables in garages that could be the target of burglars. But that’s not all you have to worry about. There are often tools in your garage – such as hammers and saws and even ladders – that can be used to break in to other areas of your home. If you leave your garage unprotected, you’re supplying criminals with the means to attack your home. This is especially true if your garage features direct access to your home. You should always lock your garage securely and consider an alarm system.

The Surrounding Property

If your home is secluded, dark or otherwise difficult to see from the road, criminals will use that to their advantage. Not only will it make it easier for them to walk around your property and scout the area, but actually breaking in will be easier as well. Under the cover of darkness, no one will notice a burglar attempting to break into your window. Installing motion activated lights and security cameras are the perfect way to prevent this problem.

Take a moment and walk around your property. Try and think like a criminal for a few minutes. How would someone go about breaking into your home? If you can come up with any weaknesses, talk to your home security provider about fixing them right away. These home security facts can help you toward keeping you and your family safe.

Home Alarm Tools

If you have a home alarm system,·you may feel that you no longer have to think about home security. You may even feel like your house is now invincible. Unfortunately, that’s not true. While home alarm system is an excellent way to protect your home, and while it drastically reduces the number of break-ins and robberies that occur, there are still a number of precautions that you need to take into account.

Home Alarm Tools and System: Understand the Limitations

The first precaution you need to take is understanding the limitations of your home alarm system and completely recognizing which areas of your home it actually protects. Most people have alarm system that protect their front door and their ground floor windows, but what about your back door or side doors? Are those protected by your home alarm system? If you have motion detectors on the main floor of your house, are you doing anything to protect the second floor? What about the basement? You should have sensors on all windows and doors as many burglars head to the second floor of a home when they try and break in.

Only when you truly take the time to analyze your home alarm tools, you will understand its strengths and recognize if there are any weaknesses.

The same holds true for other areas of your home. Is you garage protected? Criminals know that many people store expensive equipment and tools in their garages. You should ensure that your home alarm system protects this area. This is especially true if your garage features direct access to your house.

Completely understanding your home alarm system will help you protect your home and your family.

But that isn’t the only precaution you will need to take.

You’ll also need to protect yourself when you are outside your home. If there are large bushes or trees near your home, criminals can use those to hide. They can also use darkness. There are many documented cases where criminals hide on a property and attack the residents when they return home. Properly lightning your home can go a long way to keeping you safe.

Unfortunately, protecting your property with a strong home alarm tools and system that covers your entire home and lightning your property so that criminals cannot hide isn’t always enough to protect yourself and your family. Adding security cameras can certainly help, but you’ll still need to take a few personal precautions if you want to remain safe.

Home Alarm System: All the Safety Features Must be Actuviely Used

This may sound simple and obvious, but the main precaution you must take is that you must actively use all of the safety features that your home alarm system offers. Most people turn the home alarm tools on when they will be out of the house for a long time, but what about when you make a quick run to the store? A lot of people do not fully activate their home alarm system when they know they won’t be out of the house for long. Unfortunately, criminals will often scout homes in advance and track the patterns of the residents. If you leave for 15 minutes every afternoon to take your dog for a quick walk, a criminal may know this and take this opportunity to strike. Just because you don’t think you’ll be gone for long, it doesn’t mean you should leave your home vulnerable.

Besides, there are many times when a person thinks that he or she will only be gone for a few moments but they are instead gone for much longer. Whether you get stuck in traffic, run into an old friend at the store or have an emergency occur, you’ll never know when a quick trip can turn into an hour or more. In those cases you’ll be glad that you set your home alarm system. The same is true for locking your doors. A deadbolt is the best way to lock a door and you should make sure that you always lock your doors.

Even when you are at home, you can set the home alarm system to monitor the doors and windows while turning the interior motion sensors off. Again, it’s important to lock your doors as well, even when you are at home. Criminals can take advantage of unlocked doors during a home invasion attempt.

While Toronto is generally a safe city, crime does unfortunately occur. Property crime is one of the most common crimes and it can affect almost anyone at any time. Stay informed with these property crime statistics.

The Toronto Star recently published a list of property crime by area.

Property crime statistics

The top 20 Toronto neighbourhoods with the most property crime are:

• Southwest Parkdale
• Greenwood/Gerrard/railway
• Steeles/Jane/Finch/Gosford
• Overlea Blvd/Thorncliffe Park
• Queen/Dundas/Spadina/Bathurst
• Northwest of Victoria Park/Danforth
• Lawrence/McCowan/Brimley/401
• Winchester/Parliament/DVP/Bloor
• Southwest of Lawrence/Markham Rd
• Carlton/Dundas/Jarvis/Parliament
• Bloor/Dovercourt/College/Brock
• Albion/Kipling/Martin Grove/Mt Olive
• Hampton/Danforth/Bain/Pape
• Lake Shore/23rd St/lake/13th St
• Winchester/Parliament/DVP/Gerrard
• Queen/Dundas/Jarvis/Parliament
• Sheppard/Highbury/Jane/401
• Bloor/Roncesvalles/Sorauren/Wright
• Finch/Bathurst/cemetery/Senlac
• Danforth between Main and Woodbine

The crimes that were tracked in those statistics include: Breaking and entering, motor vehicle or bicycle theft, possession of stolen property, theft, shoplifting and mischief against property or causing property damage.

What these statistics show us is that, unfortunately, property crime take place in a variety of areas all across the city. It’s not confined to one neighbourhood and it’s not easy to determine a pattern between areas with a high level of property crime.

You need to protect yourself against property crime regardless of where you live in Toronto.

As per Toronto Star bellow are listed the high burglary rates:

Here are the top 20: 1 University 2 Bay Street Corridor 3 Kensington-Chinatown 4 Moss Park 5 Bridle Path-Sunnybrook-York Mills 6 East End-Danforth 7 Casa Loma 8 York University Heights 9 Annex 10 Church-Yonge Corridor 11 Waterfront Communities-The Island 12 Rosedale-Moore Park 13 Woodbine Corridor 14 Clairlea-Birchmount 15 West Humber-Clairville 16 South Riverdale 17 Little Portugal 18 Roncesvalles 19 The Beaches 20 Forest Hill South

Security cameras and appropriate home alarm systems and commercial alarm systems can go a long way to protecting your property and ensuring that you do not become a victim of property crime. Not only will these security systems deter criminals from attempting to break into or damage your property, but they will also make it easier for the authorities to catch and identify the criminals after the fact.

For more information on Toronto property crime statistics, please visit the Neighbourhood Crime Report section of this security blog.

It’s not only important that you equip your home with a home security system, but it’s also important that you equip your home with the RIGHT home security system. What’s the right security system? That depends on your home.

Home Weak Points – What Kind of Security You Need

When you’re planning on getting a security system or a home alarm system, you’ll want to take some time to discover exactly what kind of security you need. A great way to do that is to look at your house with a critical eye and figure out its home weak points. Examine your entire property and look for areas that could be exploited by criminals.

The most common home weak points in a home are the windows and doors. Most people secure the front door and many people secure the main floor windows, but there are several other entrances that you should pay attention to as well. Second floor windows, back doors, sliding doors, basement windows and any other entry points are potential home weak points. A criminal could use any of these entrances to break in your home. You’ll want to make sure that every door is installed properly and locked with a deadbolt. You may want to place bars or gates on your windows and sliding doors. If you’re getting a home alarm system installed, make sure that all doors and windows are monitored.

Don’t forget about the garage door either. You likely have a number of valuables in your garage, including your car. Criminals will take advantage of an unlocked garage to rob you of whatever they can get their hands on.

You’ll also want to watch out for areas where criminals can hide. Trim back bushes around your home so that potential burglars cannot use them for cover. Install security lighting around your property to keep criminals in view. Use security cameras to track anyone who attempts to enter your home.

Your home security system is only as strong as its weakest point, so ensure that there are no home weak points. That will keep your home and your family safe and secure.

Home Security Lightning to Keep You Safe

Home security lightning systems and business security systems are great ways to keep your property safe. Installing alarm systems, security cameras, window bars, gates and other security services can certainly keep your property secure.

However, there is one aspect of security that people often overlook: Lightning.

Having proper home security lightning around your home or office is a very effective way to protect your property. How? It goes back to one of the most basic aspects of security: Criminals do not want to be seen.

This is the same reason why security cameras are so effective. No one wants to be caught breaking into a building or vandalizing a property. Not only does being seen increase the risk of being noticed while the crime is taking place, but it also greatly increases the risk that the criminal will be identified and caught by police. Having proper lightning will deter criminals.

You can make your home or office safer and protect it from danger by installing security lightning in various key locations. Take a look at your property and try to get inside the mind of a potential criminal. Think of places where the criminal could hide in the shadows. Think of where he or she could plan an attack. Then light those places. If you have adequate lightning, you’ll eliminate places where criminals can hide.

You’ll also want to illuminate the areas around doors and windows. If these locations are lit up, criminals won’t be able to attempt a break-in without being noticed. Lightning also helps security cameras capture more detailed video, which will make it easier to catch criminals in the act and hold them responsible for their crimes.

Lightning can also protect your person, not just your property. Criminals often lurk in the darkness while they wait to strike. It’s important to have proper lightning near your driveway, your garage, your garden, the walkway to your home and any other areas where you could be in danger of an attack.

Two of the most popular types of lightning are motion-activated lights and lights that are activated by darkness. Motion-activated lights turn on whenever someone walks by them. These are great because they are energy-efficient. You’ll only use the lights when you need them. They can also startle a burglar if they turn on suddenly. Lights that are activated by darkness turn on automatically during the light or other low-light times. These are great because you don’t have to remember to turn them on and off all the time.

We recommend that you use a mixture of both types of home security lightning. For more information on home and business security services, please contact us today.

Security Tips from a Burglar

There are over 12,392 reported burglaries in Toronto each year. These burglaries are not unique to certain neighbourhoods or pockets of the city; every home in Toronto is susceptible to the threat of break-ins. There are various techniques residents implement every day to protect their home from this looming threat, some strategies work, while others are less successful. How do you know if you are taking the right steps to protecting your home? In a recent article in the Bayview Post by Malcolm Johnston, an unnamed ex-convict and burglar visited a handful of neighbourhoods throughout Toronto and detailed what home owners can do to safeguard against burglaries.

One of the first lines of defence that many home owners use to prevent break-ins is a security alarm system. However, as the ex-convict points out in the story, an alarm system is useless if it is not properly installed. Most alarm systems are triggered by motion detectors placed throughout a home. When armed these motion detectors will trigger the alarm if motion is detected. According to the security tips of a burglar in the story most of these motion detectors leave a foot and a half gap in coverage along the floor. He indicated that many times he would be able to bypass a motion detector by crawling on the floor. If he saw the monitor go red he would lay silent and still until the light turned green. There are two ways to ensure that your motion detectors provide the best possible protection. The first is position them so they cover the floor. The second is position them in places that hide them from intruders. The burglar in the story admitted that if he ever set off the alarm, he left as quickly as he could.

A second tactic the burglar described he would use to break into houses is breaking basement or ground floor windows to gain entrance to a home. Most alarm systems include window contacts that trigger the alarm systems if a window is broken or tampered with. The burglar indicated that depending on the style window, he sometimes could remove it from the frame entirely avoiding the window contact completely. He suggested using tempered glass which he described as unbreakable to deter burglars from gaining access to your home. However, in this respect he is incorrect, tempered glass is made to shatter in many pieces when broken and as a result a burglar can still get inside your home if this is the only strategy you use. The best option would be to use a window film. Window film is a clear film that when applied to the inside surface of glass; can help keep glass fragments together on the surface of the film while the glass remains in the frame.

The ex-convict in the Bayview Post article mentioned a handful of other tactics to avoid break-ins and burglary. Among these security tips were, get a dog or a dog toy, burglars will avoid homes with a barking alarm. Investing in solid doors that can’t be kicked in and installing deadbolt locks is another valuable tip as is closing your blinds when your not home and keeping an eye on suspicious people in your neighbourhood. However, one security measure that he did not mention that is an incredibly powerful deterrent is a security camera. Security cameras are one of the most powerful tools you can implement to deter break-ins and protect your home. While in the past security cameras were once thought to be only used in commercial or industrial settings their successful results have seen them installed in more and more residential homes. For more information on break-in prevention security tips or to learn more about any of the security products discussed here contact SafeTech alarms today!

System Monitoring: Important Information

The modern home is filled with various computer systems that monitor and protect your home from a variety of elements, such as breaks-ins, fire, gas leaks and floods. These systems combined make up what has become known as a smart home. A smart home is more than just a buzz word; it is a system of computers that when properly implemented and monitored can provide your home with safety and security that is unlike anything else that exists today on the market. The key to getting that safety and security though is having system monitoring; which means each element can be linked together and be monitored by a security company’s monitoring center.

The first component of alarm and security system monitoring is one we are all familiar with; smoke detectors. As we all know smoke detectors are a vital part of the safety and security of any home or apartment. Smoke Detectors should be installed in various places throughout your home and should be serviced and checked on a regular basis. What many people do not realize is that you can add to the security a smoke detector provides by implementing system monitoring. This way when your smoke detector goes off it will not only alert you but the staff at a monitoring centre, who can dispatch the fire department to your house right away.

The Value of Alarm System Monitoring

Installing a Carbon Monoxide Detector is another aspect of system monitoring that can save the lives of you and your family. Carbon Monoxide is a deadly gas that is produced by dozens of household appliances. When these appliances are not functioning properly or a house is not ventilated properly this colourless and odourless gas can build up in a home unbeknownst to its residents, until it becomes fatal. Because the gas is impossible to detect it is imperative that home owners use a carbon monoxide detector equip with system monitoring. In the event that you are away the monitoring center will contact you and inform you that you should be careful upon return to your home due to high levels of Carbon Monoxide.

The final aspect of system monitoring that we will mention on this post deals with flood detectors. Whether it is due to excessive rainfall, leaky foundations, or bursts in water pipes, floods are a common occurrence in many homes. Installing a flood detector that is connected to system monitoring alerts you to the presence of floods in your home and allows you to take the necessary steps to either stop the flood from continuing or protect your valuables before it gets too bad. A monitoring center is particularly important for when you are away from your home as they can make you aware of the problem so you can take the necessary steps to address it.

System monitoring also deals heavily with alarm systems and security surveillance systems but that is a post for another day. In the meantime if you have any questions you can contact SafeTech.