by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)
How to Keep Your Home — and Your Family — Safe and Sound 

Every three minutes, a home in Canada is burglarized. Many of those break-ins occur while the homeowners are away. But burglaries can also take place when you are at home, at any time of the night or day.

To help lock crime out of your home and keep your house and your family safe and sound, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) offers the following tips:

• Make sure your lighting and landscaping offer a clear view of your house from the street. Keep your windows and doors free of trees, bushes or other obstructions that could provide a hiding place for someone trying to break in. Entrances with good visibility and good lighting let thieves know that your home is not an easy target.
•  Secure all doors at all times with good quality deadbolt locks. While horizontal deadbolts are generally more popular, vertical deadbolt locks are actually the most effective option available.
• When choosing a deadbolt, make sure that part of the bolt remains in the lock when in the locked position. The body of the lock should be made of solid steel, brass or bronze and it should have a solid or hardened ring or bevelled housing to protect the cylinder from being twisted off with a wrench. This cylinder should have at least five pins and you must be able to unlock it without keys from the inside.
• To further secure the entrances to your home, protect the hinge pins on all doors so they can’t be removed from the outside. To secure patio doors, consider installing an anti-Jimmy plate or adding safety bars and auxiliary locks.
• Use the viewer in your front door to see who is there before you open it.
• To keep would-be intruders from using your garage to enter your home, make sure everyone in your family knows to keep your garage door closed and locked at all times. Never leave the remote control for the garage on your car’s visor and don’t keep maintenance receipts or anything else with your address on it in your car.
• If you live in a remote area or spend prolonged periods of time away from home, consider investing in a burglar alarm system. A carefully selected and properly installed alarm can provide you and your loved ones with some welcome peace of mind.

End – Thanks CMHC

So what I did there is copy and paste.  Stealing this information and posting it here has a purpose.  Try taking a look at Maclean’s article to see how your area stacks up as of March ‘09.  If you click on the links as well from the CMHC article above there is some good information for each housing situation we encounter.  It’s true a theft or vandalism committed against you will leave you changed.  With the economy being shaky as it is, the incidences of crime are increasing, but they were at the lowest they have been since 1984.  Buy insurance if you keep a lot of valuables at home, it is usually packaged with a fire policy. 

We should try not to advertise the nice things we have, unless we want to sell them.  There has been some debate on the illuminated yard.  Some say the lights will attract attention and allow criminals to see what they can get.  The sign in the window that says “Property protected by surveillance camera” may actually read, “There is stuff here worth breaking in for!”.  Studies have proven blue outdoor lighting and sheer dim indoor lighting deters theives.  I’m getting scientific here so bear with me.  The ocean and sky appear blue because its wavelength is short, thus easily scattered.  Blue light at night causes more eyestrain and fatigue.  Also it produces the appearance of halos around objects because the short wavelength does not readily allow the eye to focus.  The scattering of blue light in our eyes impairs night vision.  This gets worse with age naturally.  Along with cutting down on light pollution and urban sky glow, blue yard lighting will force would-be burglars to use their own lighting, making them more visible to witnesses.

I’ve heard it said that locks only keep out the honest people.  If someone is determined to steal something, they’ll find a way to open the lock.  I hope to someday live in a world where everyone can leave their doors open, like a church might (or at least did in the past).  As for right now, the spare key will have to do.  Hide one, tell your friends where it is if they have to get in.  Most of us have had to climb in a window or call someone and wait untill the door is opened, it’ll ruin a good day quickly.

Security systems are good if they are monitored, but almost useless if not.  You’ll need to feel really unsafe, or have an excessive amount of assets to require one.  If you do, tell your insurance agent, it could save you some dough on the premiums. Every three minutes, a person’s sanctuary is violated.  If you are comfortable with technology being used to watch over you, set up a consultation with police and they’ll suggest some professional monitoring you can trust.