Home Security Checklist

Interior - General

There is a smoke detector in hallways near bedrooms, near family room and kitchen, top of any stairway and garage.

Smoke detectors are tested once a month.

There are fire extinguishers in your kitchen, garage, and basement.

Members of your household know exactly what to do in case of emergency.

Valuable documents and possessions are stored in a fire-rated safe.

Guns are safely stored in a locked box, safe, or vault.

Guns are stored separately from the ammunition.

Every window in the house has a working key lock or is securely pinned.

Interior - While You're Away

Several lights in your home are set up on automatic timers.

There is a working home alarm system.

The alarm is armed before you leave.

Mail and newspaper deliveries have been stopped.

A friend or neighbor has been asked to tend the yard and watch our home when away.

Your telephone answering machine doesn't announce: "We're not home right now?"

Exterior

All doors are locked at night and every time you leave the house.

Exterior doors have a good-quality deadbolt lock.

All latch-strike plates on your exterior doors secured with at least 3" screws.

Glass panels in or near the doors are reinforced in some way so that they cannot be shattered.

Exterior doors without glass have a wide-angle door viewer installed for identifying visitors.

Doors are solid hardwood or metal-clad.

All doors are locked when you are home for the night or when you leave your residence.

Exterior man-door and the door from the garage into your home have quality deadbolts.

Overhead garage door is always closed, even when you are home.

Front entrance and all other entrances are lit well enough to enable you to identify visitors at night.

Motion sensors control exterior lighting.

Spare keys are kept with a trusted neighbor, not under a doormat or planter, on a ledge, or in a mailbox.

House number is clearly displayed so emergency vehicles can find the house quickly.

Landscaping and Exterior Entries

Shrubs and bushes are trimmed so there is no place for someone to hide.

There are no dark areas around our house and garage.

Tree limbs been trimmed to prevent access to upper floor windows or balconies.

"Prickly" or thorny shrubbery are planted near windows to discourage loitering or hiding.

All outdoor foliage is trimmed to prevent obstruction of exterior lighting.

All gates are locked with a quality, weatherproof padlock.

All sheds or outbuildings are secured with a quality, weatherproof padlock.

All valuables stored outside are secured to a fixed, immovable object.