Home security should always be a high-priority concern, but high-traffic neighborhoods present particular difficulties. With so many people coming and going, it’s a lot harder to narrow down a potential threat. Particularly in busy cities such as New York or Chicago, pedestrians and cars are both potential threats in high-traffic areas. Never discount the power of stoop protection, even if you don’t have a front yard, there is still a high risk of criminal activity or car accidents harming your home and property. Thus, you pretty much have to take a reactive approach to security. When we talk about security, we aren’t just talking about protecting your home from burglars. Home security includes any and all measures that help to keep your home safe. With that in mind, let’s discuss some home security measures that are well-suited for high-traffic areas.
Wi-Fi Enabled Hidden Security Cameras
As we said, we aren’t just talking about anti-burglary measures, but the prevention of trespass is a major aspect of home security. If you are going to use security cameras, they don’t have to be a large, expensive kind of thing. You can use small wifi-enabled cameras that are easy to conceal and can be monitored using your phone. Models of varying quality are available online and don’t tend to be that expensive.
One little tip here: Do not make your security cameras visible! If people know where the cameras are, they can potentially find a way to avoid them. Alternatively, they could just disable the camera in some way. If you have any visible cameras, make sure they are dummies. If you want to be extra secure, have a combination of visible and hidden cameras. The visible cameras such as a doorbell camera do well to deter criminals, but the hidden cameras ensure you have evidence in case the visible camera is disabled.
Vehicle Barriers
It can be very hard to prevent trespass on foot, but vehicles are another story. It is relatively easy to construct a barrier that a vehicle cannot cross. Vehicles cannot jump or climb, so it doesn’t even have to be all that tall. Vehicle barriers simply have to be strong enough to withstand a vehicle impact. Barriers such as these are also great for protecting storefronts close to busy streets. Vehicle barriers are also a great idea if you live in an area that experiences a lot of protests in the streets or is near a busy street with little to no speed bumps.
In high-traffic areas, there is always the possibility of a car crashing into your property. Even if it doesn’t hit your house, all sorts of damage can result. One thing you can do is install the best crash rated fence you can afford. These will normally consist of concrete posts, sometimes with steel cable strung between them. You can provide your home with extra security by installing a pedestrian fence in front of your stoop, yard, or just front door if you don’t have space anywhere else. These gates will keep people away from your doors and windows and can be used to block alleyways as well.
Vehicle Security Devices
Breaking into someone’s vehicle tends to be a lot easier than breaking into their home. For this reason, vehicle theft (and theft of items from vehicles) is more common than straight-up burglary. In high-traffic areas, you need to take extra precautions to protect your vehicle from both theft and impact.
First of all, a car alarm is never a bad idea (and you probably have one already). There are all sorts of other options, from steering wheel locks, brake locks, and wheel clamps to GPS tracking devices and warning stickers. In some places, people actually use automatic flamethrowers to protect their vehicles, but you probably don’t need to go that far.
As for collision protection, a motion-activated camera is probably your best bet. If someone does strike your car, you will have footage of the event. That way, there can be no dispute and no weaseling out of the blame. A good strong driveway gate wouldn’t be a bad idea either. If you must park in the street, set some orange cones or other highly visible markers around your vehicle. You can also consider setting up battery-operated motion-activated cameras inside your vehicle if your home is away from the street. This way you can ensure you get all angles of a wreck if one were to occur on your street. Be sure to put up signs, if there aren’t any already, that show what is neighborhood parking so you don’t have to leave your car far from your home.
A VPN Router
When talking about security, we shouldn’t forget the security of your network. In areas with a lot of people coming and going, it can be potentially easy for someone to hack your wi-fi network. At the bare minimum, this will slow down your connection. At worst, they could stalk you, rob you, or just harass you in various ways.
This is where a second router can really help, but it can’t be a regular router. You want to look for one that is meant to be used as a VPN router. This will effectively create an encrypted home network that will be far harder for a cyber-attacker to penetrate. This will require you to purchase a VPN subscription or set up a home VPN server using a spare computer. A VPN will provide a certain level of online protection regardless of the people around your home, so even if you don’t live in a high-traffic area, you may consider using a VPN for more secured browsing.
Conclusion
Home security is a concept that covers a lot of ground. In this short article alone, we have covered anti-theft security, vehicle security, network security, legal security, and other key concepts. However, there is much more to learn, and we hope that you will continue finding ways to make you and your home safer.
