“San Jose needs to pull together to fight crime outbreak” -Councilman Sam Liccardo
We can count four break-ins within the past month that have occurred in our immediate circle of Family, Friends, and Neighbors! Theft problems seem to be on the rise:
- One of our friends’ homes near Willow Street Park was recently burglarized, and they are now required (along with their neighbors) to keep their porch lights on all night to prevent even more home and car break-ins.
- Other close friends who live in a “safe” Saratoga neighborhood had their car broken into on their driveway. Their son’s sports equipment (which had been pre-packed before a weekend trip) was stolen from the back of their SUV. Pre-packing the car normally made for an efficient get-away, but this time their efficiency was punished.
- Our new neighbors down the street had their car broken into just last week. They had left it unlocked but were disappointed to find that their new neighborhood is not as safe as they were expecting, especially as the economy continues to lag, and as one neighbor puts it, “the recycle-bin divers” are getting more prevalent, and perhaps more desperate.
- Being “ripped off” is at minimum a bummer, and is costly to peace of mind, as well as wasteful of time and money. For sure the insurance, less the deductible, will not be enough to replace all of this!
Thankfully, our home has never been burglarized since we moved in 26 years ago. We believe this luck is due to the security advantage of owning a loud dog (!) along with the many motion-activated security lights, landscape and pathway lighting that our company (Willow Glen Electric) has installed on our property, making it difficult for a burglar to find a dark hideout. We’ve even helped a few of our neighbors over the years with this! Motion lights are great for everyone – families, pet-owners, the elderly, as they provide light when you need it without having to fumble for the light switch, and then turn themselves off when no one is around.
We also set up an automated lighting system inside our house for convenience and to make it look more lived in. It features several lighting schemes for the living room/dining area and also has a “vacation” button that makes our lights come on at differing times all throughout the day and evening when we are out of town. In the event we hear a break-in in the middle of the night, one button by our bed turns practically ALL the LIGHTS ON around our property at once. Hopefully, that would be enough to surprise and scare off any burglar!
Finally, we are in the process of researching which surveillance camera system to install on our property, just to be safe. If you are interested, we can let you know what we decide upon. We are favoring wireless – even though the wiring is our specialty!
For example, our son recently purchased a security camera after his wife’s bike was stolen off their 2nd-floor porch. On his computer, iPhone or iPad he can remotely observe his property. The system alerts him to activity, and the security camera even has a speaker so he can verbally warn crooks that he is calling 911! (By the way, the stolen bike was worth $1500 and they were only able to get back $900 from the insurance company. It is definitely more affordable to prevent theft than it is to replace!)
We look forward to hearing what you have to say as well. If you are interested in improving the security around your home or office, we would be happy to share our expertise on security lighting, lighting control systems, and surveillance cameras (which can be Apple compatible) for those not comfortable installing these for themselves.
Kindest regards,
Mark and Peggy Londre