Crime Statistics That Should Get Your Attention

24 June, 2010

It's one thing to be the victim of a home burglar or other property crime when you've taken measures to protect against such things. It's an entirely different thing to become a home burglary statistic when you've done absolutely nothing to protect your house, your property, and your family. Here are some crime statistics from across the country, provided by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Hopefully they'll get your attention.

More than 66% of all property crimes in the United States take place in or near the home of the household members. This means your home is a very likely target if anyone in your area is casing houses and property to commit a burglary. Why? There are a few primary reasons. First, you have more items of value in your house than you do in your car, your garage, your storage shed, etc. Burglars go where there are things worth stealing. Second, homeowners leave all of those valuables – things like flat-screen televisions, computers, cash, jewelry – horribly unprotected, erroneously thinking that they will never be the victim of a home invasion.

Statistically, you're playing with fire if you don't take some measures to protect your home. Last year US households suffered more than 16.3 million property crimes. The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates, sadly, that just over 55% of all household burglaries aren't even reported to the police. This means the real number could be over 30 million property crimes.

We also know, thanks to a study done by Temple University, that homes without a home security system installed are as much as 3 times as likely to be burglarized compared to a home with a professionally installed home security system. What this means is burglars are looking for easy targets. They want to be in and out in a handful of minutes, and if that can't be accomplished because a home security system is getting in their way, they'll move on to an easier target.

Every 14.6 seconds a burglar occurs in the United States. If that's not bad enough, the average reported loss is estimated to be in excess of $2,000. Can you really afford to replace two thousand dollars worth of stolen items such as computers, or HD televisions, or expensive cameras, or even cash? That's a large enough amount of money to at least have me on my way to the hardware store to buy some brand new deadbolt locks!

If you do nothing about home security, it's only a matter of time before you and your family become a crime statistics that could have been avoided. Have a monitored ADT home security system professionally installed in your home and get the 24-hour-per-day protection you and your family deserve.