Home Security News

How to Stay Safe on Campus

Home security isn't just for people with houses and apartments.  You need to stay safe no matter where you are, and a college campus can be a dangerous place when you've got so many people living together in a densely populated area.  A recent news article from the Massachusetts Daily Collegian offers some tips for students living on--or just taking classes on--campus.

Some of the tips offered are to take a self-defense class if possible.  And when walking alone "one should walk in a brisk manner on well-lighted streets away from bushes or alleys, have keys and cell phone accessible, while keeping hands free and maintaining an assertive posture."  That's a big one. Keep your chin up and look ahead.  The less you look like a victim, the more likely someone is going to pick an easier target.

To read the whole article, here's the link: Tips for Staying Safe on College Campuses.

Track Your Teenagers with GPS

If you've got good home security, you can protect your children when they're in the house.  But what about when they're out and about, doing who knows what?  If you want to keep an eye on your teenagers when they take out the family car, you might check into these GPS systems that allow you to see exactly where the vehicle is (which in turn gives you a pretty good idea of where your son or daughter is). 

GPS Tracking may once have been something primarily used by hikers, truckers, and people who get lost often, er, travel a lot, but as you can see, it now has personal security applications.  The LiveWire Real-Time GPS Tracking system lets you install a device in your car, wiring it into the electrical system, and then you can keep track of exactly where your vehicle is.

For homeowners, this probably means tracking wayward teens, but professionals in the work place can also use it to track fleet cars, delivery vehicles, etc.  It helps you keep an eye on your assets even from a distance. 

The LiveWire system costs just under $500 to set up and $39.95 for the tracking service.  This may be a bit expensive for some homeowners, but if you've got it installed in the car, you really can make your kids think you've got "eyes in the back of your head."

Kubotan Self Defense Keychains

Home security is all well and good, but you can't take your fancy alarm system with you when you leave the house.  You can, however, take a keychain.

A keychain, you ask?  How can you protect yourself with a keychain?  Well, a Kubotan is a keychain designed specifically to help you defend yourself if the need arises.  (Let's hope it never does, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared!) 

The Kubotan is 5 1/2 inches of solid aluminum that can be used to persuade an assailant to leave you alone without doing permanent damage.  If you are attacked, you thrust the end of the metal bar into a tender area on your opponent's body.  Examples include the eyes, trachea (throat), mastoid process (under nose/above lip), groin, or any pressure point.  Of course, it's a good idea to take a self-defense class to really learn how to use this tool.  And remember to keep your keys in hand when you leave a building and head to your car (attackers aren't likely to wait while you rummage in your purse to find your self-defense keychain...).

The self-defense keychain is $6.95 from Martial Arts Supplies.

GPS Allows Parents to Keep an Eye on Kids When They're Out

Many parents consider ways to keep an eye on their children a part of their home security plan.  When their teenage kids go out for the evening, parents want to know what they're up to.  According to newspaper article "Parents Now Can Be Super Snoopers" GPS is a new way in which they can keep an eye on their kids when they're out: "Global-positioning system (GPS) satellite technology, now in cell phones as well as cars, is the latest advance for parental snooping -- pinpointing, 007-style, the exact location of users."  Parents can tuck a locating device on their kids' cars and keep track of where they are whenever they take a vehicle out. 

Original Article

Personal Safety Alarms

Personal Safety Alarms are good for runners and dog walkers who are out before dawn or after dark or anyone who might have to cross through a dark parking lot or parking garage alone.  It has an LED beam that can be used as a flashlight and easy-to-reach buttons that sound a 100-decibel alarm if you feel threatened by someone. 

The Doberman personal safety alarm is available via http://www.HerringtonCatalog.com starting at $30.

Parking Lot Safety Tips

It's important to worry about security not just at home but when you're out as well.  By being aware of your surroundings, you can help keep yourself from becoming a victim.  Parking Safety: How to Be Smart When You Park is a checklist of tips to help you avoid danger when parking and walking to and from your car.

A couple other sites with tips are:

Parking Safety Tips
BART Parking Safety

Stun Gun/Taser for Self Defense?

We want to be safe in our homes and on the street, but it's not always easy to figure out the best way.  The stun gun or taser is becoming an increasingly popular self defense weapon because it is probably not lethal (though you might want to read about taser deaths for more on that).  However, it is worth spending the time to do some research if you're considering buying one.  It's also important to get some training with a stun gun if you decide it's for you as statistics related to personal security and self defense tend to show people more likely to have their own weapons used against them in a confrontation.  Also, the knowledge that you have a weapon might make you, ahem, stupider in a given situation (the need to prove oneself, or the belief one has the means to take care of oneself, can often lead us into an aggressive move even in instances when walking away is an option).

Regardless, if you're looking for more information, here are a number of articles I've scrounged from around the Web that show how a stun gun/taser works and how they are being used.

How Stun Guns Work
Taser Guns Being Marketed to Consumers
Stun Guns at Wikipedia.org
Q&A with Taser International Co-founder Tom Smith

It's also important to note that stun guns/tasers are illegal in some areas.

Best Guard Dogs?

While a dog can't take the place of a good home security system, they can certainly help thwart would-be burglars. According to The Personal Security Handbook, some dogs have a built in instinct for guarding the home. The top choices are: Bull mastif, Rottweiler, German shepherd, Doberman pinscher, Chow, and Rhodesian ridgeback.

How to Deal with Intruders in Your Home

Installing a home security system goes a long way in deterring would-be thieves from entering your home. Even having someone at home is a good deterrent.  Most burglars want to get in and out (with your stuff) without a confrontation. Still, we can't rule out that the fact that someone might enter the house when you or your family is home. In such a case, you'll definitely want to be prepared ahead of time (because it's hard to think creatively, or even logically, during an emergency situation). I highly recommend reading Chris E. McGoey's Home Invasion and Home Invasion Survival Tips. They offer good advice on how to prepare your home and your family for the worst case scenarios.

Investigate People

So, you want to investigate people? There are numerous reasons you might want to investigate someone. If you're thinking of hiring a nanny or housekeeper--someone who's going to be around your family--you want to make sure that person doesn't have any unsavory stuff in their background. Or maybe you just want to check out your daughter's new boyfriend. Either way, you can investigate people online these days without ordering expensive reports. A friend highly recommends Web Detective. It's a program that guides you through investigating people through the Internet.

Web Detective