Making Your Home More Secure

Everyone can take steps to make a home more secure. Bear in mind that any home can be broken into. The various measures you take makes it take longer, which in turn gives you more time to call the police. First, you want your home to be a less desirable target, and second you want to make your home harder to get into.
Some people think even if you don't have a dog, you should put a large water dish just inside a side gate, but there are better ideas.
Install exterior lighting with motion sensor switches.
Install them at the corners of the house so they shine down both sides. When you're away, set the motion sensors to off, and set timer switches so the lights come on after sunset and stay on for about two hours. Of course have someone else get your mail and newspapers while you're away or their presence will ruin the effect.
Metal exterior doors are harder to break into than wood exterior doors. Solid wood exterior doors are harder to break into than those with "solid cores”.
Make sure you have good deadbolts.
The distance the bolt travels into the door frame is called the "throw". The standard throw is 1 inch, but throws of 1 1/8" are commonly available and some have throws as much as 2 ½ inches. The longer the throw, the more it protrudes into the door frame. Make sure your window locks work, and use them. If you don't mind drilling holes in your window frames, you can create "stops" so a window can be opened only so far. You could open it 4" for air, but no one from the outside could force it to open later. For sliding glass doors, get rods to put behind them. Cut broomsticks will do, but metal rods are better.
You can also get battery operated door and window alarms. They work similar to the wired ones but need no wires. Of course you need to remember to change the batteries every once in a while. Make sure you get loud ones.
Check your phones.
Unless you absolutely have no choice, if you have to call 911 do it from a landline, not a cell phone. From a landline they immediately know exactly where you are. I've had people tell me when they called from a cell phone they were immediately put on hold and kept there for several minutes. Additionally, make sure you have a "regular" non powered phone in your main living space (the kitchen is generally the center of activity in most homes). If your phone plugs into the wall in any way (or has a base station that does), it will not work during a power outage. Old fashioned phones with only a phone wire connection (and no electrical connection) work without power.