Organizing can play a crucial role in minimizing the negative effects of a burglary by ensuring that the household is prepared to deal with the aftermath if a burglary does occur. Household organizing and burglary really do affect each other. Here are some ways that household organization can help with recovering from and preventing a burglary.
Organize your home.
Believe it or not, maintaining an organized and tidy home can act as a deterrent to a burglary. In general, you will be able to quickly notice if anything is out of place. Then, if you follow these additional tips, organizing your personal items, you will be able to quickly identify any missing items in the stress of the moment.
Do you have a safe, and are you maximizing its use?
Install a household safe to secure important documents and belongings. The contents of the safe should be organized and easy to retrieve. Here are things we’ve organized in safes:
- passports
- birth certificates
- marriage certificates
- social security cards
- cash and coins
- valuables
- data storage devices
- family heirlooms
- excess prescription medications
Protect important documents.
Keep important documents and records in a secure place – like a safe. This will help to ensure that documents such as passports, birth certificates, and financial records are not lost or stolen in a burglary. They will then also be more easily retrieved in case of an emergency. We also recommend storing copies of important legal documents digitally or in a separate place from the original so that they can be referenced if needed. Here are more tips on organizing documents.
Organize your household security measures.
Identify and organize user guides, instructions, and warranty info for any household security measures such as alarm systems, cameras, and safes. Access to product/service info can keep systems and equipment in good working condition and ready for use.
Prepare a household inventory.
A comprehensive household inventory can help you determine what items are missing in the case of a robbery, and can help expedite the insurance claims process. This is a service that Abundance Organizing has provided for our clients for quite some time. A record of serial numbers or other details will assist with identification and retrieval of stolen items and help you be confident that you are not overlooking anything in the chaos of the moment.
Do you have an emergency plan?
Create an emergency plan that includes procedures for contacting the police, securing the home, and keeping family members safe. As you put together your emergency plan, be sure to collect and record all important phone numbers in an organized way. Especially important for any family member who becomes aware of suspicious activity so that they can report concerns to the police. Having this information organized and easily accessible will ensure that you have all you need should you find yourself in any situation.
Prevent a burglary before it happens:
Although this brief article has focused on tips for working through the aftermath of a burglary, you should always remember that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” For advice on how to make your home more secure in order to deter being burglarized in the first place, contact your local police department. Local law enforcement can give you free advice on how to implement the concepts of CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) at your own home. Examples of this include:
- Proper use of exterior lighting
- Effective placement and installation of security camera systems
- Refraining from posting information about being out of town on your social media feeds
- Parking multiple cars in your driveway
- Trimming shrubbery to prevent the ability to get close to windows undetected
- Installing fences with locking gates
- Ensuring that exterior house doors have strong deadbolts / secondary locks
Any tips to add from your experience? Drop them in our Abundance Declutter Group on Facebook.