On Saturday we have an ADT installation tech coming over to our house to upgrade our system and turn on their montoring service. We've lived in our current house for the past 3 years without an active system. Since we now have children, the house outfitted, projects almost complete, etc, I felt like it was a good time to sign up for the $34 a month service.
We don't have issues with burglaries in our neighborhood as far as I can tell, so I'm not too worried about it. But then again, most of the houses in our area have alarm signs on their front lawn. In the end though, it was the proper thing to do even if it's just a deterrent. There are other issues that are addressed with this system too, such as fire, police, and emergency services. For example, if we're out of town and a fire breaks out, the fire department will be called immediately (via the smoke detector and system) to minimize the damage. In the end I think it's a small price to pay for an added layer of protection. With the keychain remote we'll also be able to contact the authorities at any time with a push of a button if we suspect someone's in the house. As long as we have the remote on our nightstand at night we don't have to move or get involved and can exit the house from upstairs.
Even if you don't have an alarm, there are other things to think about. A few weeks ago a friend from church had their house broken into. The thief didn't take any valuables or electronics. He took their tax returns, social security cards, etc. This is, in my opinion, another big issue to consider. Where and how you store your important papers. Stacey's late grandmother gave us a portable fire safe. Obviously it won't protect against theft (insert Jeff Foxworthy number here), but it will preserve our documents in case of a fire. However, after hearing what happened to our friend's house, it dawned on me that I should probably safeguard our documents. Instead of keeping everything with sensitive information on it in the most obvious location (e.g. neatly labeled in the filing cabinet in the office), I'd recommend hiding it in a non-obvious or very secure location in your house. For me, I will be moving them from neatly labeled folders in the office to somewhere not that obvious. After all, I'll probably only access them once a year. Additionally, I've password protected the computers. On the computer with sensitive information I've turned on the firewall and encrypted the entire home folder. If you have information on your laptop, that's another easy target for physical theft (and other kinds of non-physical theft that you all already know about). Someone could still take my laptop, but unless they are a trained hacker (or know someone who is), chances are they won't be able to use or access it. At the very least, it might buy me enough time to contact the right people.
Yesterday I passed a truck with a bumper sticker that said "Home Security System - Buy A Gun". I've thought through this issue and decided not to bother with this approach. Not only will it require a large additional expense, but if I ever purchased a gun it would probably just collect dust in the safe. Regarding home protection, I have concluded that the costs and benefits about cancel each other out. The likelihood of someone coming into our house with the intent to actually use a firearm against us is very low indeed. In fact, I would argue that if an intruder enters a house with a gun, they are much more likely to use it against a family member if the home owner pulls out their own weapon. That is, it will only escalate the situation unnecessarily. The best approach is to just to get out of the house. 99.9% of the time intruders aren't there to kidnap or shoot someone...that is, unless you threaten them with your own weapon. Additionally, there is a minor but important issue of having a gun in the house with kids, although that can easily be overcome with locks and training. A final issue to consider with guns is accessibility. If the firearm is locked in a safe in your bedroom or basement, it does no good if you can't access it when you need it. That is, if you're having dinner on the main floor and someone comes in, you can't exactly tell him to wait there while you run and unlock the safe. If you do have time to access a gun, as I've mentioned already, you're probably better off leaving the house then starting a firefight. Or, at the very least, if family members are scattered throughout the house, approaching them in a non-threatening way. Point is, practically, financially, and probabilty speaking, this really isn't the best approach for us.
All in all, nothing is completely foolproof. Usually, the perpetrator is a neighborhood kid or like character. I think these measures are appropriate, sensible, and should cover us for the vast majority of break-ins - if it ever happens at all. Statistically speaking, I think we'll be covered. In the end, I really don't care about the stuff in the house. Hopefully, after these things, all that will be available for the taking will be the TVs.