Apartment-Living Security Considerations

Living in an apartment type residence, either as renters or owners, is a fact of life for many people. This is especially true in cities where many dwellers choose not to buy their own homes and prefer to rent out a place that is near their place of work or employment. However, not many people know this trivia about apartment living but statistics indicate that apartments are more than 80% more likely to get burglarized compared to other types of residential structures. The main reason why this is so is hinged on the fact that apartments, by definition, are housing units that are merely part of a bigger unit like a building or a bigger complex made up of multiple housing units. A high-rise apartment building is a common example, which can be composed of studio type units or ones that have multiple rooms, but there are other types like a garden apartment complexes composed of one to two-storey sub-units.

Being part of a group, it is quite easier for other people to know the vulnerabilities of any unit in any apartment complex. And if one of the tenants or unit owners has a penchant for theft, then you can be sure that he will have relatively easy targets among his neighbors whom he can easily monitor. He could simply wait for a fellow tenant to get out and leave home for work (or vacation) to make his move.

But apartment owners should not despair with this little piece of information as it also underlines one simple fact that is key to making any home safer against these kinds of threats— burglars choose their targets. Hence, getting into their head and understanding their selection process is a big step to making your apartment (or any housing type for that matter) into a safer place for you, your family and friends and your properties.

You do not really need to take drastic measures like buying and filling a gun cabinet with firearm weaponry to make your home safer because burglars are said to be non-confrontational criminals who probably will not break into your apartment if they think there is someone currently inside it. Hence, they will usually make their move during the day time while the occupants are at work (or are away out of town). Most likely, the neighbors will also be away so there will also be less chance of being caught by the neighbors. They will usually keep an eye out for homes that have certain vulnerabilities. Apartments that have poorly designed doors and windows— ones that aren’t too well-fortified will usually stand out like a sore thumb to experienced burglars.

Back doors and garage doors are a favorite for seasoned burglars because they usually provide cover and easy escape routes. Hence, it is important to make sure that these doors provide the utmost fortification to discourage any intruder from including your home into their short list or targets. Low quality doors that can easily be forced open using crow bars or pry bars or a well-placed kick should be replaced promptly. Homes or apartments with sliding doors should take heed because sliding doors are notorious when it comes to burglaries (more about this in future articles). Trust me when I say that a burglar will not bother attempting to break into a door that is well-equipped to withstand any forcible entry because they will prefer to instead go for easier targets with higher probabilities of success.

Contrary to what many people believe, burglars (particularly the smart ones) do have a systematic approach to choosing their victims. They don’t just go around picking apartment homes randomly out of a hat because they will always go for targets that will give them the highest probability of success and lowest risks. Hence, making modifications to your apartment’s first lines of defense, like fortifying doors and implementing apartment security and deterrent measures (like installing apartment alarm systems and such), will improve your home’s chances when your apartment crosses path with a burglar, whether they be one of your neighbors or otherwise.