By Laura Jean Whitcomb

“Are you really safe once you get home and lock your door?” asks Chris McGoey, a San Francisco-based security consultant, author and Web site host (www.crimedoctor.com).

You may not be. According to the National Crime Prevention Council, one out of ten homes will be burglarized this year.

Although no house is completely burglar proof, there are ways to make your home less vulnerable to unwanted and illegal entries. Many burglars will spend no longer than 60 seconds trying to break into a home. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time or money to make burglars walk right past your home to look for easier pickings. Here’s how to get started.

ONE: Make the home look occupied

If you were a burglar, which house would you choose: the one with the newspapers piled up in front of the door and an unplowed driveway or the one with a shoveled walk and no mail to be seen? You’d pick the one that looked undefended and unoccupied. It doesn’t matter if you are taking a short weekend trip or going on a three-month cruise, cancel your newspaper delivery or ask a neighbor to pick up your mail. Leave a car in the yard or in the garage. And keep a television or radio turned up enough to be heard by someone approaching the doors or windows.

TWO: Secure the doors

In almost half of all completed residential burglaries, thieves simply walked though unlocked doors. Doors are what thieves check first for access; it’s quicker to walk through a door than shimmy through a window. So lock your doors – even if you are taking a “quick” trip to the store.

Then make sure your doors are safe by taking a look at two things: structural integrity and locks. Many standard residential doors can be opened with one well-placed kick. You don’t want doors that use exterior hollow core or foam core. Look for doors that are stronger – made of steel or solid wood – and set into sturdier frames. Strengthen existing doorframes with door reinforcers – U-shaped pieces of metal that fit around the lock edge of a door, usually under locks. These can be purchased at any hardware store and installed to make the door more resistant to kick in attacks. Also consider replacing doors with glass panes – thieves can easily break the glass and reach inside to unlock the door.

Evaluate the locks. Key-in-knob locks are most commonly used for homes. This lock has a spring action bolt that lets you open the door using a key, lock a door with a key or lock a door just by closing the door. These locks are fine for interior doors – bathrooms and closets – but do not provide enough security for exterior doors. Add a deadbolt lock with a bolt that extends at least one inch into the doorframe and is made of hardened steel or has a hardened steel rod inside it. These two locks typically provide enough security for an entry door.

Sliding glass doors are usually installed at the rear of a home, making them good candidates for entry by a burglar. The simplest security enhancement is to place a wood or metal bar in the inside floor track. Other devices – metal fold-down blocking devices called charley bars and various track blockers that can be screwed down – also prevent or limit track movement. Older aluminum sliding glass doors, however, can be lifted right out of the track. Adjust the screws at the bottom of the door or install through-the-door pins to prevent a sliding door from being lifted or forced horizontally.

THREE: Lock the windows

Windows are a thieves’ second choice for access – and many homes have a dozen or more windows. Even if you systematically check all the windows in your house, chances are one or two will be left open. It doesn’t matter if the open window is on the second story. Many can be accessed by trees, stairways, fences or balconies.

Windows have latches, not locks, and security consultant McGoey recommends installing secondary blocking devices to prevent sliding them open from the outside. As with sliding doors, inexpensive wooden dowels and sticks work well for horizontal sliding windows and through-the-frame pins work well for vertical sliding windows. And if you open your window for ventilation, make sure it is open no more than six inches and that a burglar can’t reach in to remove the blocking device.

FOUR: Turn on the lights

Thieves want to do their work where no one can see them. Deter them by making sure your house is well lit, especially any points of entry. You don’t have to leave lights on all night; invest in some motion detectors that turn on whenever something or someone moves near it.

Lights also make a home look occupied. Not only should some lights be on, but lighting should change just as it would if you were home. Timers, simple devices that plug into a wall socket, will turn a light on and off according to whatever schedule you choose. (Many can also be used to turn on radios or television sets.) Start using light timer on a daily basis – not just when you are away.

FIVE: Limit accessibility

An attached garage is another favorite point of entry. It provides a private and sheltered access to the home and the door that goes from the house to the garage is often unlocked and unsubstantial. Make sure the door between the garage and the home is locked at all times, and is as solid and secure as the front door. Keep hammers, chisels, pry bars and drills in a locked cabinet or tool chest. Overall, make certain the garage door is closed and locked when not in use. In addition to burglar-proofing the garage, check attic vents, skylights, crawl spaces and other openings for possible access.

Many burglars will spend no longer than 60 seconds trying to break into a home. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time or money to make burglars walk right past your home to look for easier pickings.

Landscaping can also discourage thieves. Your best bet is to eliminate hiding places near entrances and garage doors. Trim away low tree branches and prune bushes down to three feet – this gives intruders fewer places to hide while they plan to break into your home. Keep foliage away from light fixtures so it won’t block illumination. And you could even give them another reason to bypass your house by planting aggressive thorn bushes near windows.

SIX: Consider perimeter defenses

High walls and fences, a primary security tactic, make it difficult to get near a home. But sometimes perimeter defenses give home occupants a sense of false security – and lead them to get careless about locking doors and windows. Perimeter defenses are most effective when they are very difficult to penetrate – topped with razor wire or electrified – or augmented by cameras and motion detectors.

SEVEN: Invest in alarms

Alarms are designed to detect an intruder, raise an alarm and, in some cases, call for help. According to a study by Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa., homes without security systems are about three times more likely to be broken into than homes with security systems. Thieves also have less time to loot the place: Losses for an average residential burglary is $400 less in residences with a security system.

Alarms come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The most common device opens or closes an electric circuit that activates an alarm whenever the door or window opens with the alarm system on. Other detectors are triggered by sound, pressure, motion or heat. But bear in mind that alarms are just one link in the security chain. An alarm doesn’t eliminate the need for other important security measures.

EIGHT: Alternative alarm options

Alarm systems can be expensive: you have to purchase and install the system, and then invest $25-$50 per month in a monitoring service. If this isn’t in your budget, there are less expensive options available in most hardware or retail stores: a sound detecting socket that plugs into a light fixture and makes the light flash when it detects certain noises; lights with photo cells that turn on when it’s dark and off when it’s light; and outdoor motion detectors that turn on when someone is approaching.

NINE: Enlist the neighbors

Many times, burglaries are witnessed but observer wasn’t certain that a crime was taking place and didn’t want to bother anyone. Neighbors are usually more than willing to help out with security measures – especially if you reciprocate and offer your services. Get to know neighbors on all sides of your home, communicate often and establish trust. Enlist their aid with a variety of security measures: picking up mail, keeping an extra house key (eliminating the key under the doormat) or parking their car in your driveway to give the appearance of occupancy.

TEN: Prepare family members

Educate your family on security measures. The best locks and alarms in the world won’t do you any good if you open the door to the wrong person. Tell children to never let strangers in to use the bathroom or phone. Equip front doors with a peephole or intercom to check out visitors before opening the door. And if you do decide to purchase a new alarm system, remember that there is a learning curve. Everyone in the home has to be willing to learn to use it properly, and to stick with it.