Get a Free Home Security Audit

Do you want to know specifically how you can minimize your vulnerability to home burglary?  Our Seattle Police Department’s North Crime Prevention Coordinator, Diane Horswill, offers free home audits.  I asked for one last week.  This is how it went:

I emailed her at diane.horswill@seattle.gov and we scheduled an audit for the next week.  You can also call her at (206) 684-7711.  She showed up right on the dot.  As she walked to the door I could see her looking around my yard.  She was assessing it for height of shrubs, lighting, and other security factors.  She gave me some tips about lighting the yard using motion detectors.  Later we looked at the back yard and I got specific suggestions about it, too.

Once in the house, we walked together into every room.  Diane made comments about what she saw, and made specific suggestions for increasing the security of my doors and windows.  For instance she described security devices such as window alarms, and simple C-clamps that can be used to limit the amount a window can be raised.

She also gave me some tips on where to store my valuables.  For instance, she said burglars zoom in on the bedroom, so don’t store valuable jewelry there.  And don’t leave musical instruments in easily viewable locations. 

I was very pleased with the audit.  Over the course of an hour she gave me many more suggestions than the examples I’ve listed here.  I encourage you to take advantage of this service.  In the meantime, you can see some tips from Diane on the SPD website at: http://www.seattle.gov/police/precincts/north/prevention.htm