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How To Burglar-Proof
Your Doors
The majority of devices mentioned in
this report cost very
little. All of them will help reduce burglary and
make your
house or apartment more secure.
Begin with a home
"security" check. Start with the front
door and work clockwise around
the entire inside of your
home, finishing with the back yard, fence and
shrubs,
gates and garage.
Shrubbery should never block the view
of your front
door. This allows an intruder the opportunity of
privacy
to gain entrance. A wide angle viewer in the door lets
you
know your visitor in advance. This item is recommended
over a chain
lock.
LOCKS, BOLTS AND HINGES -
A DEAD-LATCH is an inexpensive
lock set which keeps the
burglar from simply slipping your door open
with a plastic
credit card. This method of entry is common in many
areas,
but very easy to prevent.
AUXILIARY DEADBOLT: 1"
deadbolt, single cylinder with
hardened cylinder guard, and thumb
turn.
For extra security, a single cylinder dead bolt lock,
with
one inch throw and case-hardened insert, is recommended for
all
exterior doors. If you have easily breakable glass
within 40 inches of
a deadbolt lock, it should be augmented
with a stronger type of glass
or plastic to provide adequate
security.
Most police departments
do not recommend deadbolt locks for
residential use. You may be adding
additional security at
the expense of personal safety with a double
cylinder dead
bolt. For example, you could lock yourself in and not
be
able to escape in case of fire or other emergency.
THE RIM
LOCK is a 1" dead bolt lock which is installed
on the inside surface of
the door. It is less expensive
than other types of locks, but equally
effective for security.
THE "JIMMY-PROOF" RIM LOCK is another lock
which is installed
on the inside surface of the door. But this lock has
vertical
dead bolts, which is an approved locking device.
CANE
BOLTS: 1/2" in diameter by 12" high installed at the
top & bottom
of the inactive door offers minimum security.
Many homes with pairs of
doors, use half-barrel slide bolts
on the inactive door. These are weak
and totally inadequate.
FLUSH BOLTS: Installed at the top and
bottom of the inactive
door or a pair of doors, flush bolts offer
additional security,
since the intruder cannot get at these devices to
tamper with
them if the doors are locked.
HINGE
PROTECTION:
Some exterior doors are improperly installed so that the
hinges
are installed from outside. To protect such a door from
being
lifted from its hinges by pulling the hinge pin, follow
these
simple steps: (1) Remove two screws, opposite each other,
from
both leaves of the hinge. (2) Insert screw or concrete
nail into jamb
leaf, protruding 1/2". (3) Drill out the
opposing screw hole in the
door. Do this in the top and
bottom hinge of the door. When closed, the
hinge pins may
be removed, but the door will remain firmly in
place.