Everyone is familiar with the concept of a burglar alarm, and everyone is familiar with the concept of a home security system, but not as many are familiar with a popular new type of home protection product, the anti-theft device. While not a direct physical threat to burglars, unsuspecting guests, or postal employees, these techniques can help deter a contemplative burglar or other intruder from trying to break into your home. The theory behind these techniques is that the vast majority of home intruders expect not to be caught, which means not to be seen or discovered during the intrusion process. Someone at home, an outside light, video surveillance, a busy street, attentive neighbors, and other factors can play the role of the watchful eye, and the presence of such a watchful eye is likely to keep burglars at bay.

More often than not, a trespasser chooses a residence with no one home. In fact, although it is said that a residential burglary occurs every 15 seconds, the truth is that the concentration of those ‘seconds’ occurs during the day while families and homeowners are away at work or school. These long windows of time when the home is vacant give a burglar many hours to not only find a way into the residence, but also to search for valuable items. Many of these burglar deterrent devices and techniques are designed to provide a ‘presence’ in the home even when there is none. This achieves the same effect as sitting around waiting for trouble, without having to stop on the property.

The first type of burglar deterrent is one that creates the ‘someone’s home’ effect. Such devices can range from the sound of a dog barking triggered by a motion detector on the porch, to lighting from a timer or outdoor lighting with a motion detector, to a ‘fake TV’ device that projects the glow of a Real TV screen on the wall, but without leaving the TV on all day every day raising the electricity bill. When a would-be intruder thinks he has company in the house, he’s likely to move to a much quieter place.

The next type of burglar deterrent is physical deterrent. These devices are designed to make unwanted entry into the home physically impossible. The most tried and true of these devices, window bars are a great option for absolute security, but many homeowners find the look unrefined and cumbersome. Other alternatives might be interior door and window locks, deadbolts, perimeter fencing (still low enough that the burglar doesn’t inadvertently take cover from the street view), and even landscaping, such as placing unforgiving flora like cacti or rose bushes under low windows.

Finally, there are burglar deterrents that fall under the category of home alarm systems, designed to scare off a burglar with a sudden loud visual or aural display of warning lights and alarm sounds. Many homeowners keep burglars for hire with perimeter or driveway alarms. Others have alarms that go off when entering the house, such as window, door, glass breakage and other alarms. Video surveillance systems with bright red lights can also be a deterrent, and even fake ones (which cost between $10 and $20) can do the trick when the goal is to deter a burglar.