ips-aiims

Article by Mark Lowry

A friend called the other day to tell me his garage had been broken into and some nice tools and a lawnmower had been stolen. I asked him if they'd left his rather expensive sports car in one piece, and he promptly told me, "Not where I park my car. In my garage, you know, where I work on my cars?" Ya just gotta know him.

Anyway, what he was talking about was a detached garage he has on his property. It's a good size workshop and is probably home to even more expensive things than some tools and a lawnmower, unless he was talking about his riding one. I'll have to ask him. What I discovered after we'd spoken for a while is that aside from us being pretty good friends for a long time, he also comes to me when he needs home security advice. He was looking for a security solution for his detached garage.

I told him the first thing he should consider is painting the windows white. This way plenty of daylight will still be able to stream into his workshop, but no one could see in from the outside, possibly inventorying the items they'd come back later to steal. A more expensive and obviously more attractive option would be to invest in nice wooden blinds or shutters. My friend has a really nice detached garage.

The next thing I told him he had to do was illuminate the area. He asked about spotlights, and I said in a manner of speaking that's what I had in mind. Powerful exterior lights that he could place around the roofline of his workshop, designed to illuminate any area that would offer access and a hiding place in the dark. I explained that these could be outfitted with motion sensor technology, which would only trigger the lights if the motion perimeter is breached. This works to draw even more attention to the area and create a greater sense of urgency for a criminal to bail on the job. A bright light coming on, as opposed to one being on all night is more effective. I told him the last thing a burglar wants is to all of the sudden be the center of attention.

We got to talking about good, strong locks for each door, and he admitted he'd been a little sloppy when it came to his security. He explained that he'd really never given it too much thought, considering where he lives, which, by the way is a very nice part of town. I told him I'd tell him all about what locks to buy, but first he had to understand that thinking you won't be burglarized just because you live in an upscale part of town is a huge mistake. He assured me it was a mistake he wouldn't make again.

I insisted he call a locksmith to come fit his workshop with very strong, case-hardened steel deadbolt locks and padlocks for each of his doors. I also talked with him about sash locks for each window. Sash locks are very strong locks for windows. They are made of strong metal and have one piece that slides or turns into a second piece. With strong locks on all the doors and windows, I told my friend, potential burglars would know immediately you take your home security seriously.

Lastly, and most importantly I told him he should seriously consider a professionally installed and monitored alarm system. He told me he thought those were only for houses. I explained that he'd have no problem having one professionally installed in his workshop as long as it was no more than 100 feet from his home, his is 70. It would be the perfect finishing touch to all the other things we'd talked about. He said a call to an authorized ADT dealer, would be his next.