Home security the Ultimate Explanations, Advice and Tips
There are about 230 burglaries a day in the Netherlands. Burglars are especially active at night and in the winter months. Unfortunately, the number of burglaries increases during the rest of the year and in broad daylight. However, there is much you can do to minimize the chances of a burglary.
Let’s look at burglars and how they operate.
Police distinguish between two types of burglars:
- The professional burglar:
A professional burglar has made stealing his profession.
He is often part of a gang, has great skill and makes an elaborate plan before breaking in.
Ordinary citizens have little to fear from professional burglars.
A professional burglar is only interested in a large loot (for example, valuable artwork, jewelry, and so on).
- The casual burglar: 80 percent of all burglaries are committed by casual burglars. Occasional burglars want to make easy money.
They do not comprehensively plan their crime. Nor do they carry sophisticated tools.
They break in quickly, by simple means.
What Methods Do Burglars Use and What Do You Do About It
1. Break-in
This is not officially a burglary, because the criminals do not do any damage to get inside. In fact, sneaking in is when thieves get in because a window or door is open. It’s easy to do something about sneaking in. Lock your doors and windows when you are away.
Below you can see how easy it is for a thief to sneak in.
2. The chatterbox
Criminals try many ways to enter your home. The babble trick is one example. Your doorbell rings. You open. There is a stranger on your doorstep, using an excuse to enter your home.
One solution is to have a peephole made in your door and not just open it to a stranger. If someone says he or she is from a company, ask for proof of identity. Also, never just give a stranger your PIN.
3. Angling
Burglars bend a clothes hanger and push it through your mailbox. With that, they try to push the door handle down. If you lock the door, angling has no effect.
4. Breaking and/or pulling out the cylinder
Prevent a break-in – choose home security
Did you know that many cylinder locks can be easily broken open? Using various tools, a cylinder can be removed from the lock. Sometimes criminals break the cylinder and then remove it, but often the cylinder is also pulled right out of the lock. Your lock then opens very easily and burglars can get inside. Locksmith 365 can replace your cylinder lock.
There are special security cylinder locks. These locks have a security rosette that protects the cylinder. A security rosette is a round metal part around the keyhole. Security roses are made of extra thick metal and have no screws on the outside. Thus, a burglar cannot unscrew the rosette and still pull out the cylinder.
5. Flipping
Flipping is a method in which burglars use a card to open a lock. They insert the pass between the door and the frame and try to push in the latch bolt (the part of the lock that slides in and out between the door and a hole in the doorframe).
By always locking the door behind you, you can prevent burglars from being able to use this method. You can also install anti-intrusion strips on your doors and windows. Anti-intrusion strips consist of two metal pieces, each mounted on one side of the gap between the door and the doorframe or between the window and the window frame.
When you close the door or window, the parts of the anti-intrusion strip slide together completely. There is no slot between the two parts.
6. Drill hole in door or window
Burglars sometimes drill a hole in your door or your window. They then push a wire through the hole and try to use it to turn the key and/or open the window latch. Therefore, always remove your keys from the lock and store them after you have locked your windows and doors. This way, your keys cannot be lost or stolen.
7. Kick down door or window
A common burglary method is kicking in a door or window. What you can do about this is to place an extra lock at knee height or install a sturdier door.
Burglar Alarm
Home security – have an alarm installed
To further secure your home, you can install a burglar alarm. A burglar alarm signals as soon as someone enters your home. The downside of a burglar alarm, however, is that it sometimes goes off in other instances, such as when you come home late at night.
Choose to have an alarm installed by a Borg or a VEB(Association of European Security Companies) company. These companies are reliable and have a lot of expertise.
Locks
If burglars can get into your home quickly and easily, a burglar alarm is not much use to you. On average, a burglary lasts only 30 seconds. So before the police get there, a burglar is long gone.
Is your home secured with good locks? Then it will take longer for a burglar to open your lock. There is a good chance he or she will drop out early or be caught in the act by someone.
Security locks
The most burglar-resistant locks are called security locks. Security locks have security hardware. Fittings are the metal that surrounds a lock. Security hardware is made of extra thick metal and has no screws on the outside, preventing criminals from unscrewing the hardware from your door.
There are a variety of security locks:
- Accessory locks: Locks that you add to a main lock to make it harder for burglars to get in.
- Training locks: These locks are also called cylinder locks. They were widely used until a few years ago. However, the locks were too easy to break open. Today, sturdier padlocks are manufactured, making the locks much harder to force.
- Multi-point locks: A multi-point lock is operated from one point, but it locks the door in several places.
- Mortise locks: A mortise lock is small, but highly burglar-resistant. The lock can be opened with a key and/or a door handle.
Hallmark Foundation for Quality Facade Construction
You can easily recognize a security lock by its seal of approval from the Foundation for Quality Facade Construction. The Building Quality Foundation is a completely independent organization that tests, inspects and certifies locks.
The Building Quality Foundation sets high standards for locks. There are many ways to test whether the locks meet their requirements. If the locks pass the tests brilliantly, they receive a seal of approval (a sticker with a logo), otherwise they do not.
A logo from the Foundation for Quality Facade Construction can have one, two or three stars. What is the significance of those stars?
- 1 star: burglar-resistant
- 2 stars: heavy burglar resistance
- 3 stars: extra heavy burglar resistance
Police Hallmark Safe Housing
Several years ago, the Police Quality Mark Safe Living was created to make sure people learned about burglary prevention. The ultimate goal was to reduce the number of burglaries. That also worked out. The number of burglaries has been slowly going down in recent years.
Homes with the Politie Keurmerk Veilig Wonen are on average 50 percent less likely to be burglarized. Your home will receive the label if you meet a number of requirements:
- You are informed about burglary prevention.
- All windows and doors that a burglar could reach are adequately secured.
- There is lighting at the front and back door.
- Someone standing at the door is easily seen by nearby residents or from the road.
- Approved smoke detectors have been installed on each floor.
Do you meet these requirements? Then you will get a Police Quality Mark Secure Living sticker visibly affixed to your front and back door.
How We Secure Your Home
Would you like to have security locks with the SKG certificate installed? Let us, Locksmith Amsterdam 365, do it. You can choose from all types of security locks with us. Make an appointment now. By the way, we can serve you in many other ways:
- If you wish, we will make all locks equal-locking. Same-locking means you can open all locks with the same key.
- Have you locked yourself out? Don’t panic! Our locksmiths can help you. In 95% of cases, one of our locksmiths will have your lock unlocked within 8 minutes without a key and you can walk right back in.
- If your lock is broken , we will repair the lock.
- We will replace your locks or install new locks.
Your benefits at Locksmith 365 Amsterdam
Did you know that you have a lot of benefits with us? Enjoy our great service:
- We are available day and night.
- Our locksmiths are happy to give you their advice on burglary prevention, completely free of charge!
- Do you need us? We will be with you in 30 minutes.
- We open all locks, even your security locks are no problem for us.
- Your door will be 100% damage-free opened.
- Our locksmiths will have your lock open within 8 minutes in 95% of cases .
- We can repair break-in damage in no time .
- Key broken off? Key broken off in the lock? We solve it.
- If your home has been broken into and you have break-in damage, we can repair it for you.
- If you have your keys stuck inside the door we will open your door.
- If you have forgotten your keys, lost keys or lost your keys we will open your door. And replace your lock.
Our Work Area
We are located in the center of Amsterdam, but we also work outside of that.
These neighborhoods and cities are part of our work area:
- Amsterdam Center
- Amsterdam North
Scope of work Locksmith 365
- Amsterdam East
- Amsterdam South-East
- Amsterdam South
- Amsterdam West
- Amsterdam New West
- IJburg
- Westpoort
- Diemen
- Zaandam
- Amstelveen
- Haarlem
Contact info
You can always call or visit us if you have any questions or would like to make an appointment:
Our phone number is 06-19377776. The address of our office is:
Alblas Street 11-1
1079 ZG, Amsterdam
Frequently Asked Questions
Which anti-niche cylinder or hardware should I choose?
It doesn’t matter much which brand you buy an anti-knockout cylinder or security hardware with a core pull protection. However, it is important that they have an SKG seal of approval. Anti-knock cylinders and fittings with this seal are extra secure against core pulling.
What is an anti-intrusion strip?
An anti-intrusion strip is a rock-solid barrier against a break-in at home or business premises. This system consists of two steel strips attached to door or window and frame. They hook together when closing door or window.
With anti-intrusion strips, it is no longer possible to get between door and doorframe or window and window frame on the outside with tools or passes to open door or window.
Are there different brands of mortise locks?
Yes, there are different front door locks such as, Nemef, Lips, Fiam, Ivana, Ikon and Zaso mortise locks. In most cases, these mortise locks come with an SKG logo.
Besides installing anti-burglar strips, what measures can I take in terms of burglary prevention?
Other measures we recommend in addition to anti-burglary strips and anti-knockout cylinders and PKVW labels to prevent a burglary are the following:
- Go for security locks
- Choose locks with the SKG seal of approval
- Purchase an alarm system
- Anti-Kickback
