Cairns crime: Home security and safety features residents should consider
Experts in home services from construction to security installation agree property appearances go a long way to stopping intruders in their tracks, but when that doesn’t work, they’ve shared their best solutions to building the ultimate safe house.
Cairns
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LOCKING the doors, windows and shutting the front gate just doesn’t cut when it comes to preventing spiralling property crime, instead residents are being encouraged to convert their homes into fortresses.
Experts in home services from construction to security installation agree property appearances go a long way to stopping intruders in their tracks, but when that doesn’t work, they’ve shared their best solutions to building the ultimate safe house.
MiHaven Pty Ltd director James Mort said the question “how to do I make my home safe” was now asked by clients all the time.
“Everyone used to be a blase about it, but now alarms and video surveillance down every corridor and every entry of a home is the norm,” Mr Mort said.
He said most property crime offenders were “just young kids” who could be easily startled.
“If your house looks like a fortress, it doesn’t look like they’ll have easy access, they’ll move on. They’re not experts.
“So that means a high fence, we always go 2.2m-high fences. And if you don’t want it to look like a prison, you can set the fence back and plant in front of it. We use powder coated aluminium, it doesn’t rot, you don’t have to paint it, it’s not a lot in maintenance.
“It also means protecting the dark areas of the property. So internal gates to lock the side alleys off so they can’t hide or take off down the side.
“And that means with the front and back- you want cameras with video surveillance and alarms. Those alarms ring on the property and set floodlights off and light the whole property up. It startles them.
“We have evidence that works because we have this security set up on our construction sites and we always see the kids running off when the lights and alarms come on.”
Mr Mort said he recommended against lockable safes within the home to store car keys – often the target of an entry in Cairns.
“Car keys is all they’re really looking for. So they’ll go through your whole house and turn it inside out instead.
“And that creates psychological damage of knowing someone has been through everything.”
Integral Electrics Queensland owner Kevin Morgan had been a victim of property crime himself and said sensors that triggered alarms and lights were number one on his list.
“Everyone is looking to get CCTV, but that’s just going to help you view the crime later. With alarms you need screamers and lights and that tells the kids that they’re going to get caught.
“And if you have a security system, something people overlook is just putting up signs and labels to warn them that you have cameras installed. It’s about doing whatever it takes to make yourself less attractive.”
Mr Morgan said the latest technology in security alarm systems included trip wires, which created zones within a property and if a zone was infiltrated, AI technology inside the camera would follow the subject.
“And everything is mobile-based, setting the alarms, viewing the feed and you can even set up notifications to alert you when someone has triggered the sensor.”
However, if an intruder decided to ignore screaming alarms and flashing lights, Great Barriers Security and Privacy screen and door installer Shay Peled-Bolger said making sure entry points were well secured was the next step in protecting a property.
Mr Peled-Bolger said it all started with an automated gate at the front of the property, if it existed.
“Looking at a gate the removes the need for a keypad is the best way to go. No one can guess the number and instead it’s set up on your phone.
“You could be on holiday and if you need to let someone enter your property, you can view them through a camera, talk to them, and remotely allow access.”
Mr Peled-Bolger said swapping door handle locks for deadlocks was a no-brainer as well as security screening, but correct installation was often overlooked.
“I’m seeing all these new houses in the new developments, and they come with security screening. But the way they’re installed – they’re just a pushover.
“I would recommended to all those homeowners to actually check if those screens are physically secure and triple locked.
“Living in the tropics, you want good airflow and your home to be open, but also secure. So I would look at something like ForeField which is marine grade steel.
“It’s basically invisible in that it won’t obstruct your view, but it keeps bugs and intruders out.”
Mr Peled-Bolger agreed appearances went a long way to deterring intruders and recommended smart home internal blinds and automated external roller shutters with the latter also available as a protectant against cyclones.
“You can also set them up on your phone, and you can set them to schedule to open and close when you need.”
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Originally published as Cairns crime: Home security and safety features residents should consider
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