What Factors Do Burglars Consider When Targeting Homes?

What Factors Do Burglars Consider When Targeting Homes?

It’s reasonable to approach burglary protection by asking what motivates burglars to do what they do. If one can understand how burglars think and what makes them tick, it is easier to defend against them. This got me wondering about the factors burglars consider when choosing their targets.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to go far to find the answers. Among the many resources I looked into was a 2024 report from Safe Home. The good folks at Safe Home picked apart a 64-page study from the FBI in hopes of understanding burglar motivations and tactics.

According to their research, here are the top three factors burglars consider when targeting homes:

1. Home Location

At the top of the list is home location. This makes perfect sense. Burglars aren’t just unhappy people who do what they do as a cry for help. They are criminals who purposely steal from other people. Guess what? They don’t want to get caught. So they look carefully at the home’s location.

A home that is clearly visible and located in a densely packed neighborhood presents a higher risk than a comparable home in a suburban neighborhood or rural area. The fewer people around, the better. The less traffic, the lower the risk. The more a home is obscured by landscaping and other natural features, the easier it is to penetrate in secret.

2. People in the Home

Even though some burglars are willing to break in when they know people are home, most will not. Again, it boils down to not wanting to get caught. So yes, burglars make an effort to determine whether someone is home before breaking in.

Have you ever read reports of burglars walking down streets and knocking on doors? Knocking on the front door is the easiest way to figure out if a home is occupied. If someone answers the door, the burglar simply makes up an excuse and moves on.

Burglars also use more sophisticated techniques, like scouring social media. They look for victims careless enough to post that they are on vacation or just sitting down at their favorite restaurants. Such victims are telegraphing that they aren’t home.

3. Signs of Security Measures

The third factor burglars consider when targeting homes are signs of security measures. Safe Home specifically mentions alarm systems and security cameras, like those available from leading brands like Vivint.com.

According to the Safe Home data, an estimated 83% of burglars actively look for signs of home security. If they suspect that a home is equipped with an alarm system, they will select a new target. Why? Because alarm systems – especially if they are professionally monitored – greatly increase the chances of being caught.

Security cameras are equally disturbing because they:

  • Provide early warning of a burglary in progress
  • Generate evidence that can be used to investigate and prosecute

Burglars are less likely to target a home if they see external surveillance cameras. Combine those cameras with a home security system placard and you create a very strong deterrent to burglars who have easier targets to choose from.

Make It Hard and You Win

The proverbial moral of the story is that you can beat burglars by making things as hard on them as possible. Every roadblock you can throw up makes it more difficult to target your home without getting caught.

Remember, burglars worry about things like home location, people, and alarm systems. Use that to your advantage. Do what you can to make burglars scared to target your home and you will win the game.

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