How to Avoid a Break-in?
My friend just told him someone broke into her house (without breaking the lock) and she happened to open her apartment door and see when he managed to escape. She was very shaken by this and I am now scared as well, as similarly to her I have a multiple-family brownstone on the edge of…
My friend just told him someone broke into her house (without breaking the lock) and she happened to open her apartment door and see when he managed to escape. She was very shaken by this and I am now scared as well, as similarly to her I have a multiple-family brownstone on the edge of Park Slope.
What scares me the most is that some could easily break in without violent entry just by picking the lock. I want to make sure I do everything to avoid this situation. But I do not know where to start. Anyone has any recommendations? Should I get fake ADT signs? Should order a video camera? Is there a type of lock thats the most secure?
I would appreciate any pointers.
Thank you.
Grand Pa swears by the Back-Up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEVL9DhMp3U
Just went through the lock thing myself. Pass over the mul-t-lock and go for the Medeco Maxum Deadbolt. Too many multi-lock dealers who can be faster and looser in getting bump keys. There are a good dozen or two dealers around the city (I used Metroploitan in the Village), and you can choose strictness of key-making (one dealer only or all dealers etc). Lock picking and bumping is way too easy these days – just youtube it.
I looked around for the Abloy Protec or Protec Cliq but almost no one sells them. There is one locksmith in Queens I think but they had little interest in my business after three or four calls. I didn’t want to be married to them in case of lost keys. Keep in mind if you buy the Protec online no one can make you an extra key except for the dealer who sold it to you (i.e. online). And they aren’t easy to drill out. They are the best, however.
Keep in mind all three of the above companies are owned by Assa Abloy – smart buggers.
Also, pit bulls are not great protection dogs (urban myth via the uneducated). You’d want a German Shepherd but definitely ask your insurance company first about your breed. Pits, rots etc are usually forbidden.
Get a baseball bat and pepper spray. Shotguns permits not that hard to get in NYC if you have a clean record but you can’t use a short barrel or short stock so you’d be wielding nearly two meter giant piece of steel, and you’re suppose to keep them unloaded and locked. Useless unless you know they are coming. Anyways if you keep it locked and loaded a heavy 12 ga could easily penetrate walls at close ranges and hit your neighbors.
Most alarm companies are not impressive (except at marketing) and most of the break ins occur the same way as you experienced (lock pick or bump or crowbar) or through a window (usually from a fire escape). Make sure you have your locksmith use the reinforced strike-plate with 2″ screws – they are frequently lazy and don’t want to do this.
Put pieces of wood above your windows so they can’t be forced in and get a great deadbolt. You’ll never keep out the real pro’s but should be able to keep out the deviant nutjobs.
Denton – We called them Fox locks.
12 gauge shotgun
ooh, i wanted to add that my old building in crime central (west village), the front door to the building would sometimes get stuck open. there is keyed entry to the building as well right? make sure that is working well, stoop light is on, etc. first line of defense.
Medeco Biaxial are harder to pick, very hard in fact, and have the same card control as the multi-loks.
All good advice above.
You can’t just solve a security issue with a new lock. You have to look at the entire building envelope. Windows, doors, shrubbery, lighting, etc. You also have to compare w your neighbors. Basically, you want to make sure that your building is the hardest to break into on the block.
Legion, we used to call those sliding door jamb locks ‘police locks’, until recently the company that made them was in Chelsea.
ok, this is where I have alot of experience,
having grown up in East New York where it was not
uncommon to wake up to the sound of a crew of thieves
breaking up the roof outside my bedroom window to get to
the electronics store below or even a truck just hooking up to a metal store gate to rip it off it’s hinges.
First off, a top quality lock is a good start as already stated, the cylinder is harder to pick.
some more suggestions,
-a sliding door jamb lock, not only because they cannot kick in the door (the metal jamb sits in a hole on the floor)but because in order to unlock it, you need to apply a great deal of torque on the lock cylinder to slide the metal rod over.
-a dead bolt is good, again, because more force is needed to unlock.
-ADT is good, or you can opt for the inexpensive version which is a motion activated sensor, high decibel alarm with light. It has a keypad and a key fob to automatically arm your apartment when you leave. even the most brazen of thieves will not hang around with an alarm blaring.
-a large dog, man’s best friend, and readily available at your local ASPCA, look for a newer pitbull model, many to choose from.
-have your landlord install child safety gates on all accessable windows, even if you don’t have kids. It’s basically a bolted gate. don’t put one on a fire escape route though, put a window lock on that one.
-get some alarm stickers to put on your door and windows, thieves don’t know the difference and won’t take a chance of getting caught.
Check out Assa Abloy locks and cylinders.
http://www.assaabloy.com/en/com/
You can buy them online here…
https://securitysnobs.com/
what a terrifying experience. there was a break in at my old building (in the most gentrified west village, natch!). the skipped my apartment because of the barking dog, people have said that theives will go for the quickiest and easiest in and out. So maybe consider adding a lock? i had a multi future key lock as well as another deadbolt. Sometimes seeing two (or more) locks might make the person move on. Even if you have keyholes for 5 locks, doesn’t mean you have to lock all of them and the thieves won’t know which ones are locked or not.
Also, is there a chance that your friend left the door unlocked? if the thief picked the lock then it would have already been unlocked when she tried to get into her apartment. i just put that out there because i think sometimes we get a bit complacent thinking that these things won’t happen but it is important to be careful. so short of getting a loud barky dog (or dog mat), i would say maybe smack another lock or two on the door? even if you don’t lock all of them, it may be more of a hassle than the thief wants to deal with.