How to properly protect your home in the event of a break-in? Forget classic hiding places like drawers or DVD boxes: home security experts reveal the place in the house that thieves (almost) never think to search.
We all hope to never experience a break-in and discover that our home has been visited in our absence. However, according to the Ministry of the Interior, there is approximately one burglary every 2 minutes and 40 seconds in France, or nearly 600 per day. If security systems, such as anti-intrusion alarms, video surveillance or even guard dogs are effective in protecting one’s home, burglars are also becoming more and more skilful when it comes to thwarting these protection devices. And when they still manage to break into a home, the main thing is to make their task as complicated as possible by opting for unusual hiding places to secure your belongings.
We know that burglars never stay in a home for very long, at the risk of being caught. They therefore inspect the most well-known hiding places first, namely the bedrooms and living room, in order to find valuable items as quickly as possible. DVD boxes, cabinets or drawers, spaces between books or under mattresses, pots or vases, and even the toilet tank are also among the hiding places they favor. These places are therefore the ones where they go first in search of jewelry, cash or any other valuable possession. But there is one area in particular that they almost never think to inspect, even though they inevitably pass by it.
According to the German company ABUS, manufacturer of security and home protection equipment, one room in the house is particularly neglected by burglars: the entrance. Being located immediately after the main entrance door, there is a misconception that it is a bad place to hide valuables. And while you should of course not leave anything directly in view of the thieves, or even in a simple drawer, the entrance to the house is an ideal hiding place since thieves generally run directly towards the bedrooms, then rush out to leave the premises, especially if they hear a noise that makes them flee. The right option? Hide your money in the well-packed soil of a flower pot. There is little chance that burglars will take the time to dig up all your plants.
Among the other hiding places recommended by these security professionals, we find, for example, the freezer. “Good hiding places are creative and require a lot of effort for burglars to find. For example, you can freeze money in a waterproof bag in the freezer“, explains the security company. We also note the fireplace, if it is unused of course, or behind heavy furniture, two places where burglars will not bother to look.
Of course, security experts and police forces point out that safes remain the most effective for protecting valuable property. If they are made with a high burglary resistance class, and they are well anchored to the wall or too heavy to carry, criminals will need special equipment and time to break them in, which causes most of them to give up. But this optimal security solution comes at a cost. So, when you don’t have a safe, you might as well choose the best possible hiding place.
