Home Security Tips

Palm Springs is a City of great neighborhoods because our residents choose to make a difference in the places where they live.

Home Security Checklist

  • From the Curb

    • Ensure house numbers are visible from the street for emergency service such as police, fire and ambulance;
    • Ensure overall appearance of your home noes not give criminals information about you and your family that would assist them in victimizing you—things such as a full mailbox, outdoor lighting on during the day, or the garage doors open with no cars present;
    • Install no-solicitation signs to discourage solicitors from leaving hang-tags or other material, Palm Springs Municipal Code §5.48.050;
    • Secure all fence gates with padlockes to make it more difficult for strangers to enter your yard.

  • Landscaping & Lighting

    • Trim shrubs and trees to 'open up the line of sight' of your hoome for your neighbors from several directions;
    • Plant thorny bushes under accessable windows;
    • Add entrance/exit lighting in addition to decorative lighting—consider security lighting operated by an electric eye or timer ;
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  • External Doors

    • Doors should be of solid core construction with a solid wood frame, consider a metal door. Door frames should be strong enough to withstand some degree of force;
    • Doors with outside exposed hinges should be 'pinned' to prevent easy removal from outside;
    • Dead-bolts should have at least a 1" throw with strike plates secured by three to four inch screws;
    • Glass sliding doors should be pinned to prevent lifting;
    • French or double doors should be fitted with flush bolts at the top and bottom edge of the inactive or secondary door;
    • Passage door between the garage and house should be evaluated as any exterior door and locked whenever you are gone.

  • Windows

    • Trim shrubs and trees to 'open up the line of sight' of your hoome for your neighbors from several directions;
    • Trim shubbery to just below window sill to prohibit concealment of an intruder;
    • Add entrance/exit lighting in addition to decorative lighting—consider security lighting operated by an electric eye or timer ;
    • Jalousie windows are very difficult to secure without installing protective grillwork. Consider replacing.

 

Applicable Resources

Preventing Burglaries
     http://www.lawndalecity.org/Home-Security-Handbook.pdf

Bumping: A Trend in Home Burglary
     http://www.ncpc.org/resources/files/pdf/neighborhood-safety/Bumping-Burglary.pdf

Holiday Message - Palm Springs Police Department
     PSPD Holiday Safety Message

   
© 2016 Deepwell Estates Neighborhood Organization