Being burgled can be one of the most traumatic events that can occur. It isn’t only the financial loss and damage to your property, it is the sense of violation of your home – the place most of us regard as a refuge where we can be safe and secure.

The police tell us that many burglaries are opportunistic crimes, usually commited by young men looking for items that are easily sold for cash like DVD players, laptop computers, and other home electronics. Increasingly, burglars are also stealing bank and credit cards, passports, even bank statements and other documents which can be sold on to people intent on stealing your identity and running up huge debts in your name.

Twelve Measures to Make Your Home More Secure

Burglars like easy targets. They want to break in to property that requires the least effort and gives them the maximum protection while they are doing so. Make your house secure and they will look for somewhere easier.

1. To avoid becoming a victim of the opportunistic thief, always lock doors and windows, even if you are only going out for a few minutes. Don’t leave your front door open because it’s hot and you want a through draft. Somebody can come in and steal your purse, laptop computer or other easy to carry items in just 30 seconds, while you are upstairs or in the back of your house.

2. Don’t rely on neighbours to notice you are being burgled. I arranged with a friend to pick up her computer while she was at work. Her neighbours saw me carrying computer equipment out of the house and putting it into the car and, although they didn’t know me, nobody challenged me or called the police.

3. Never leave a key outside in case you lose yours. Burglars know almost all the hiding places people hide keys. If you want to take precautions against losing your keys, leave one with a trusted friend or neighbour.

4. Fit deadbolt locks on doors and also fit window locks—and always use them. Remember that the strongest lock in the world won’t help if the door surround is weak. The burglar will just kick the door until the door jamb gives.

5. Burglars like to be screened from nosey neighbours and passers-by so protect the side and back of your home as well as you do the front. Back and side doors and windows should all have high quality locks and they should always be used when you go out. Don’t forget to use the same level of security on your garage and any connecting door into the house.

6. Don’t leave keys in the locks of doors with glass windows in them – the thief will simply break the glass and get the key. Similarly, don’t rely on bolts on doors with windows.

7. Cut back trees and shrubs in your front garden if they screen the front of the house. They provide cover for burglars.

8. If your back garden is accessible, put up good fences and place trellis along the top because it won’t bear the weight of an adult. Plant thorny shrubs like berberis to make a burglar’s entry onto your property more difficult and dangerous.

9. Install security lights on the outside of your property, motion detecting ones are ideal because they will alert you to an intruder’s presence. Crunchy gravel is good for paths and the area immediately around the house because it’s impossible to walk quietly on it.

10. If you store tools in your garden shed, make sure it has good quality locks and, again, that the door can’t simply be kicked in. Your tools might not be stolen but they could be used to break into your house.

11. Never leave ladders freely available for burglars to use. Always chain and padlock them to a secure object, if you can’t lock them away out of sight. Even if they aren’t used to burgle your house, they could be used to break into your next door neighbour’s home.

12. If you install a burglar alarm, remember to set it whenever you go out. Change the code from time to time and don’t write the code anywhere near the alarm panel. It should be visible from the road and it should have an audible alarm. Make friends with neighbours who are at home a lot of the time and make sure they are willing to call the police if the alarm sounds. Also, have it professionally installed and regularly serviced.

Hopefully, if you take precautions, burglars will look for an easier target than your home and all the work involved in taking these measures will be worthwhile.