Year in and year out, home burglaries are a big problem here in San Antonio and around the country. WOAI TV has reported that we are seeing a significant spike in home burglaries in San Antonio this year. There have been a hundred more homes burglarized in 2009 that there was at this point last year, and home security and lock upgrades are becoming a hot topic of discussion.
No neighborhood is completely devoid of burglaries in San Antonio these days. Police are reporting that the rise in home burglaries is spread around throughout the city, and even the usually safe Terrell Hills section has been victimized by a number break-ins. On the West Side, there have been 1,400 home burglaries so far this year, which is a 15% increase over this time a year ago.
The bad economy may have something to do with the increase in burglaries here in San Antonio. When people are out of work, low on money, and long on free time, crime is inevitably going to rise. It’s hard for many of us to comprehend how someone could take the belongings of another, but it happens, and we need to do all that we can to prevent it from happening to us.
A lot of people think of locksmiths as people who can get you into your home or car when you are locked out, and good mobile locksmiths can and do provide this service. But residential locksmiths can also keep burglars out of your house, and there are many points of entry that the crooks look for and scrutinize. If you have any security vulnerabilities, you can be sure that savvy thieves will find them. Home locksmiths can provide the state-of-the-art security solutions that can shore up every possible point of entry around your home and stop burglars dead in their tracks.
There is a good bit of talk about lock bumping in the news lately. This is a burglary method that is very commonly used, and all it takes is what is called a “bump key” that is inserted into your lock and tapped until catches and allows entry. These bump keys cost just a couple of bucks and anyone can order them online. Incredibly, around 90% of the locks that are in use in America today can be “bumped” open, and in many cases it takes just seconds.
Most people go about their business and never think about the quality of their home locks until and unless they are victimized by a burglar. But imagine how risky it is to have all of your belongings, and your family, for that matter, “protected” by a twenty dollar lock that can be opened in seconds with a bump key. It makes no sense to rely on a cheap, outdated lock to stand between a burglar and tens of thousands of dollars worth of personal property.
