Security Tips

When many people think about security, they often think about protecting property such as their homes and businesses from crime. Keeping your home or office safe and keeping criminals away are certainly important and strategies for accomplishing these goals must certainly receive a great deal of attention. However, it’s also important to think about protecting yourself and protecting property when you are outside in a public place.

Recent news stories show how important protecting property in public really is. Recently three separate swarmings in Toronto led to police asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspects. In the swarmings, victims reported that they were surrounded by a number of people who threatened and robbed them. In one swarming four men wearing disguises approached a 19-year-old male. Two of the criminals grabbed the victim’s arms while the other two stole his backpack, glasses and other items in his pockets. In another case, a 21-year-old man was reportedly approached by two men wearing disguises and a third holding a handgun. They threatened him and forced him to give them his cell phone and his cash. In a third reported swarming, a 22-year-old male was surrounded by three men. They shoved and kicked him before leaving the scene with his cell phone.

Several unrelated street robberies took place in Toronto recently. A 17-year-old male was arrested after he robbed several victims. The accused would approach victims with a weapon and demand that they hand over their valuables.

Protecting Property: Tips to Keep you Safe

Cellular phones, personal music players, portable computers as well as purses, wallets and handbags are frequently targeted by thieves. These items are small enough that they can be carried easily, but they also are usually high in value. It is important that you protect yourself from thieves and criminals while you are outside in public. This is about your own safety, not just protecting property.

A key to keeping yourself safe and protecting property is to not look like a vulnerable target. Do not carry more with you than you need to. Large bags, backpacks and purses can make you a target as criminals assume that you are carrying a number of valuable items. If you carry a purse or bag, make sure that you keep it close to your body on a short strap. Avoid having your bag hang far away from your body where it will be visible.

In the same sense, do not flash valuables such as jewelry, cash or electronics around. These items are popular with thieves as they are small enough to carry easily. This is a key to protecting property. Keep your cellular phone or personal music player in your pocket and do not take it out unless it is necessary.

Avoid walking through isolated areas whenever possible. Criminals are much less likely to strike in a heavily populated area where they will be spotted and possibly caught. If you must walk through a more deserted area, be aware of your surroundings at all times. this will help with protecting property. Do not wear headphones or other devices that will make it difficult for you to hear what is going on around you. Walk with a sense of purpose and keep your head up and shoulders back. Walk at a good pace – not too slowly but not too quickly either. Your body language will convey a sense of confidence. Watch out for other people, especially groups of people and try to leave the deserted area as quickly as possible.

When you’re out of town for business or on vacation you may find yourself worrying about your home. You might be thinking about someone breaking into your house when you’re not around. You could be preoccupied with thoughts of a flood or fire happening without you knowing. Those are valid concerns and they should certainly be addressed by a strong home security and fire prevention system. However, you should also be thinking about your personal safety and staying safe while you’re staying in your hotel.

Some people think that they will be safe in a hotel because the lock on their door and the fact that the hotel has a concierge at the front desk. While those factors certainly help protect you, you also have to be careful about feeling “invincible” when you’re in a hotel. You will still need to focus on staying safe. It’s important to keep your own safety and security as well as the security of any items in your room in mind when you’re staying at a hotel.

Staying Safe with Valuables and More when Travelling

Only take the electronic devices that you will actually need. These days it’s quite common to take a laptop, tablet, smart phone, camera and many other electronic items when you travel. However, these items are expensive, lusted after by criminals and generally easy to steal. No one thinks twice if they see someone leaving a room with a laptop computer. When you travel, take only the items that you are actually going to use. This is crucial for staying safe and keeping your valuables secure. You may not need to bring your computer or tablet with you at all. You can likely use your smart phone for email and accessing the Internet. If you don’t have a smart phone, many hotels have “business centers” where you can access the Internet. If not, there is probably an Internet cafe nearby somewhere. If you are traveling on business, for example, and you absolutely need to bring your laptop along, carry it with you or lock it up in your room somehow. Many hotels offer in-room safes.

You should avoid taking other valuables with you when you travel as well. Jewelry and other expensive items can easily be stolen from rooms. Take only what you need when you travel and leave the rest at home. You’ll be glad that you did.

Avoid placing the “Please make up room” sign on your door. This sign lets criminals know that you are not in the room. Criminals will take this as an invitation to break in. It’s even possible that someone would break into your room and then switch the sign to “Do Not Disturb” so that he or she can work without being bothered. If you’d like to have housekeeping come to your room, phone down to the front desk and ask.

Another tip for staying safe is to bring a doorstop or “door alarm” with you when you travel. Most hotel rooms have secure locks and chains on their doors, but some do not. Placing extra security on your door will prevent criminals from breaking in while you’re in the room. You may want to add some extra security to your windows as well, especially if you’re on a lower floor. If you find yourself worried about security and you don’t have any additional security tools with you, place a chair or another item from your room in front of the doors and windows. These won’t stop someone from breaking in, but they’ll let you know if someone tries to enter your room while you’re sleeping. The noise may spook the crook as well.

Always use the peephole in your room before answering the door and do not let anyone into the room unless you know exactly who they are. This is a key method of staying safe in a hotel. Criminals sometimes pretend to be room service workers or hotel staff in order to get inside your room. If you didn’t order room service or if someone claiming to be staff knocks on your room for seemingly no reason, call down to the security desk first to verify before answering the door.

It’s also a good idea to learn about the surrounding area. This is quite easy to do using online maps. Knowing exactly where your hotel is and where you can find nearby stores, shops and services will help you get around the neighbourhood faster and function without consulting a map, which will increase your chances of staying safe. Criminals often look at tourists as easy targets, so if you know where you’re going, you won’t stand out. Scouting your location beforehand will also keep you from accidentally wandering into a bad neighbourhood.

We are about to enter the busiest shopping period of the entire year, which makes it a great time to discuss commercial security tips. For the next month retail stores are going to see a tremendous influx in the amount of traffic they receive as customers commence their holiday shopping. While the increase in customers is fantastic it can be a little overwhelming to stores that are unprepared. An increase in traffic can be a drain on your staff and resources and could potentially leave you more vulnerable to shop lifting and inventory loss. Here are a few tips to protect your business from the unfortunate side effects of the holiday shopping rush.

The first thing you can do to protect your business and inventory is install a security camera. This might be one of the most important commercial security tips. As discussed on this blog last week security cameras are a great deterrent to potential theft as the threat of being videotaped makes criminals think twice. Placing a camera in a high traffic area where it can be clearly seen alerts potential shoplifters that they are being recorded. Camera’s can also be placed in store rooms to ensure your employees are not engaging in shoplifting. This is an important step during the holiday rush as many stores take on additional staff that they are unfamiliar with. A security camera will keep everyone honest. Keep this information and other commercial security tips in mind.

Another step you can take to protect your retail store safe during the holiday shopping rush is hiring a security guard. Security guards are another of the very important commercial security tips you will want to follow. They are the best deterrent toward shoplifting. To criminals a security guard represents a very real chance of being apprehended while engaging in criminal activity. A uniformed security guard strategically placed at the entrance to a commercial retail store can significantly cut down on the loss of inventory. In addition a retail store can opt to hire a plain clothed security guard to pose as a shopper and get a closer look at potential shoplifters. Plain clothed guards experience tremendous success rates when hired for the holiday season. The larger the retail space the more security guards you will need for the holiday rush. If you already employ a security guard it may be a good idea to hire a second for this incredibly busy month. Following these commercial security tips can help protect your business.

Commercial Security Tips

If you are interested in installing security cameras, surveillance equipment or security guards to protect your store this holiday season contact us today. We can also provide you with additional tips on keeping your inventory safe this month.

Audio version of this article: https://www.safetechalarms.com/podcast/commercial-security-tips-for-holiday-shopping-rush.mp3 Also you can download this audio file and you can listen on your personal MP3 player.

There is no more frightening security threat than home invasions. The idea of an intruder breaking into your home is unfortunately a very real security risk. The number of home invasions that are taking place in Canada are growing at a staggering rate. According to CBC there have been over 60 home invasions in Toronto in the past year. While most home invasions are motivated by theft and take place while the home owners are away a growing number are taking place while the occupants are home. In these circumstances the home invasions turn quite violent as the intruders often demand money or valuables from the home owners under the threat of physical violence including assault and even murder. What is shocking is that in most instances the homes invaded are targeted at random. Everyone is susceptible to this growing criminal phenomenon and the best way to protect you and your family is by installing a home alarm system. Home alarms protect more than just your property. They can also protect you and your loved ones.

Home Alarms Protect your Family from Home Invasions

It is a well documented fact that home alarms protect and deter crime. Houses, apartments and condominiums that do not have proper security and alarm systems report a much higher rate of home invasions than those who have a professionally installed home alarm system. In many cases a sticker on a window or a sign on your front lawn indicating that you have an alarm system installed is enough to make a potential criminal think twice before approaching your home. If a criminal were to attempt a home invasion on a residence secured with a home alarm system, the alarm would go off as soon as they attempted to enter. This is how home alarms protect you. Thanks to window and door sensors that are linked up to the central alarm system, as soon as your home is tampered with an alarm will sound alerting you and anyone else in the area to the potential security threat.

Once your alarm has sounded a second line of defence is implemented. Most home alarms protect by being monitored by a central monitoring station that will contact your home as soon as the security system indicates there has been a breech. If the monitoring station can’t get a hold of you or they do and you tell them there is a problem they will contact the police right away. Criminals are aware of how fast a central monitoring station can get the police on the scene and in most cases once an alarm goes off the criminal will flee the scene and never return. If you are concerned about the safety of you and your family due to the growing rate of home invasions there is nothing better you could do than install a SafeTech home alarm system. For more information on how home alarms protect please contact us.

Halloween is near and it’s once again time for trick or treaters!  SafeTech Alarm Systems would like to remind our readers of a few Halloween safety tips that will keep the day fun! When it comes to Halloween safety tips, it’s a great idea to always be prepared.

Halloween Safety Tips from SafeTech Experts

The professionals at SafeTech Alarm Systems understand what it takes to stay safe on Halloween. We work with businesses and individuals across the country to improve safety and security for everyone. We sincerely hope that when you are celebrating Halloween that you keep these Halloween safety tips in mind.

While most people want to enjoy this special day with fun and good humour, there are some people who take advantage of this occasion to cause crime or hurt others. Hopefully, you don’t run into any dangerous situations this Halloween, but keeping these Halloween safety tips in mind is a very good idea anyway.

Did you know that you can watch security cameras using your phone and keep your home safe? One of the best features about having Internet-enabled security cameras is that you are able to view your cameras from anywhere with an Internet connection. In the past, it has been possible to watch your home security cameras from the office or view your office building from home. However, thanks to an increase in smart phone usage, it’s now possible to watch security cameras in the home from anywhere!

Watch Security Cameras: The Apps

There are several applications available that allow you to watch security cameras online and give yourself greater peace of mind. Honeywell recently launched an application called “Total Connect” that lets Blackberry users control and view their security cameras remotely.

For iPhone users, there are a couple of applications available. One of the most complete applications is iRa Pro. It is available for download on iTunes. Another iPhone application that allows you to watch security cameras remotely is uNetCams. Both applications are compatible with iPads as well.

For Android phones, IP Camera Viewer is a good choice.

Regardless of your choice of handset, the ability to watch security cameras from anywhere can add a great deal of usability to your home security system or office security system. You will never have to worry about what is taking place at your home while you are away. This will allow you to enjoy yourself with the knowledge that, if anything happens, you will quickly be able to see what is going on at home and watch security cameras that are installed there. For more information, and to get a no obligation camera consultation, call 1-888-939-3733. Trust SafeTech to provide you with the security technology you need to stay safe.

Audio version of this article:https://www.safetechalarms.com/podcast/watch-your-security-cameras-from-anywhere-using-your-phone.mp3 Also you can download this audio file and you can listen on your personal MP3 player.

These days people are sharing more and more of their personal information online. This is good for socializing, but bad for staying secure online. Thanks to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and a variety of other social media websites, it is now easier than ever to invite friends to social events, post photos, share vacation plans and keep your social circle informed than ever before.

However, with this freedom comes new security risks as well. When sharing information online it’s important to remember that anything you share online could be easily distributed to the general public. You always need to be thinking of staying secure online and acting with this in mind.

Staying Secure Online: Tips

The first thing you should always do before sharing personal information online is consider who could possibly see your posting. Social media messages are easily shared and forwarded to others, so do not post anything that you do not want others to see.

It is also incredibly important to keep a diligent eye on your privacy settings. These are a crucial part of staying secure online. You will want to make sure that the general settings as well as the settings for particular posts or events are set to your specifications. Failure to do so can have very serious consequences.

For example, a teenage girl in the United Kingdom recently created a Facebook invitation for her birthday party. She meant to invite 15 friends, but accidentally marked the event as “public” rather than private. This meant that anyone could see the invite. More than 21,000 people replied and anyone who visited the public invitation was able to see the girl’s picture, address and phone number.

Obviously this was a huge security risk to the girl and her family. Always be aware of who can see the information that you post online and remember that things you mean to keep private may not be. This is important to remember when staying secure online.

The same is true for posting about your location. A post on Facebook or Twitter that you are going to be on vacation for a month could be seen by someone who wants to break into your home.

Police in British Columbia and Ontario recently warned people to avoid mentioning vacation plans on Twitter and other social media website for this exact reason. It is important for staying secure online.

Podcast link: https://www.safetechalarms.com/podcast/Staying-Secure-Online.mp3

Most power outages last only a few moments, but in some cases you can be hit with a longer disruption. Not only can this be a nuisance, but it can also be quite dangerous if you are not prepared. This is why it is important to review power outage safety tips in case you end up in a dangerous situation. There are a few things you can do to keep yourself, your home and your family safe during a blackout.

Power Outage Safety Tips

Here is some crucial information that will help you stay safe during a power outage. Remember to review these power outage safety tips now, before anything happens, as you likely won’t be able to refer to them when you’re in the dark.

When the power first goes out, be sure to check and make sure that it’s not limited to you home. If those around you have electricity, check your fuse box or call your power company.

You should also consider turning your appliances, electronics and any other devices that are plugged in. Unplug your computers and other sensitive equipment to protect yourself from potentially damaging power surges. Leave your refrigerator and freezer plugged in.

Use battery operated flashlights instead of candles. This is a very important power outage safety tip. Candles can be quite dangerous and could cause a fire in your home. Do not attempt to light or heat your home with a gas stove, barbecue or any other dangerous device. Not only could you cause a fire, but you also risk carbon monoxide poisoning.

Home and personal security are also important. You will need to know if your alarm system and fire alarm will still function without power. If not, you will have to be prepared and not leave your home alone. Remembering these power outage safety tips could make a huge difference if a severe blackout happens.