Home Security: Prevention or a Costly Recovery?

Security measures too often neglected within touristic communities

The unthinkable happened. I was a recently a victim of burglary twice within a one week period, the second time before I finished all the security measures that I had planned after the first incident.  Both events were perpetrated by the same criminals according to two different casual observers who saw what they thought were two men in a white car “doing work” on my house. The feeling of violation was undeniable and the mounting cost of my financial loss was upsetting. A simple social “hack” (i.e. their deception of being “workers”) had given the crooks time sufficient to relieve me of most of my personal valuables.

After multiple, consistent recommendations from fellow expatriates in the region, I decided to interview Sergio Hernandez, Director of El Vigilante alarms and monitoring service based out of Rosarito, Baja California to get a 10-year seasoned veteran’s views on home security issues. El Vigilante installs and monitors alarms systems 24 hours a day, 7 days week, including holidays.

From behind the desk of his modest office in downtown Rosarito Hernandez told me, “Sadly, 80 percent of my new clients arrive after they have had a burglary. People simply are not in the habit of preventing security problems. Many of them have lived for years without an incident and simply think ‘if it hasn’t happened by now, it never will.’ They wait to be a statistic before they take action.” (He had me pegged on that one.)

Hernandez commented about the unfortunate reality that handymen, workers, and even security guards may be complicit since they have access and detailed knowledge of home owner’s schedule. This is especially true for large burglary hauls where even bulky items such as pianos are taken. Such burglars are clearly confident that the owners will not appear.

Hernandez reputation does seem to indicate that he knows effective security. For 10 years, two of the major insurers in the region that cater to foreign clients provide discounts and waive deductibles on certain home insurance policies if home owners contract the services of El Vigilante.

Alarm systems are particularly helpful at preventing and minimizing the impact of a burglary attempt because the very presence of an alarm system with its stickers, siren, and visible strobe light causes the burglar pause about the real potential of getting caught. The warning and the blaring siren is enough to prevent the vast majority of burglaries—Hernandez estimates “90%.”

Yet no system is perfect. Petty burglars or crystal meth addicts looking for just a few dollars for their next drug fix may not even know how to read or have the frame of mind to even hear the otherwise earsplitting siren. Hernandez noted that his patrols have frequently found drunks and drug addicts passed out on the floor in homes that have been breached with the alarm still blaring.

Here are some tips that can help put Mexican home security systems into perspective and make them more effective:

·         Identify the weakest points of entry to your home and resolve them. Those will almost certainly be the points that the criminals will use to gain entry.

·         Verify your alarm company’s state license to install and monitor alarms. Surprisingly most companies in this area do not have the proper licenses to install and monitor systems. Further, a license to provide security guards does not necessarily mean that company has a license to install and monitor alarm systems. These activities require two separate licenses.

·         A reputable company will not ask you for keys to your home. You may however choose to give them a key to a patio gate so that they may fully inspect the exterior of the home in the event of an alarm.

·         Remember that the point of home security is not to make 100% certain that there is never intent on your home. That is an unreachable goal. Instead, think about how to organize your security give a burglar as little time as possible in the case of an intrusion. This is where an alarms system and monitoring are particularly important.

·         A neighborhood watchman or guard is not a substitute for an alarm system on an individual home. Not only are guards unable to be all places at all times, there are unfortunate cases where guards have been directly involved in burglaries. Make sure your guards are deserving of confidence and protect your own house. (I plan a future column on security guard selection and oversight.)

·         A good alarm system will have at least a 12-hour battery backup. This means that the system will function and be able to alert the monitoring station even in the event of a power outage.

·         Make sure that the phone line used for monitoring is not easily tampered from the street. It is best if the phone line enters your house from as high a point as possible.

·         Ask your alarm installer to provide you with wireless panic buttons. These (normally) silent alarms will cause both your alarm company patrol and police to be dispatched immediately.

·         If you are in the home and you hear the noise of an intruder, call 066 (NOT 911) and stay on the line with a bilingual emergency representative. Use the panic button that your alarm company provided you.

·         Never give your alarm codes to workers, guards or the like. You may trust them but you certainly don’t trust all the people that they know and work with. Your alarm system is part of your security shield and you should treat it with at least as much respect as you treat your bank ATM card and PIN. Never post your alarm codes in a place obvious to others.

·         As a side benefit, a well-designed alarm will give you peace-of-mind when you return home. Deactivation of the system produces audible notifications from the siren that tell you that the system is disarmed and that all was well in the home while you were away.

·         Reputable alarm companies will program at least two modes for your alarm system:  At Home and Away. The purpose is to protect your belongings when you are Away and to offer intruder alerts to external access points if you are home in order to protect your physical welfare when you are At Home.

·         Be responsible with your alarm (and your drinking!). One common cause of false alarms for Hernandez’ foreign clients is that they arrive home inebriated and they neglect to properly deactivate the alarm! Yes, living in Mexico can be fun but keep it in check and be smart.

Brian Flock is a degreed and certified real estate broker in the region of Rosarito and Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico.  He may be contacted at Flock Dream Homes (www.flockdreamhomes.com), brian@flockdreamhomes.com or (619) 793-5224.

Sergio Hernandez is director of El Vigilante, an alarm company that covers the region from Rosarito to Ensenada. El Vigilante can be reached at alelvigilante@yahoo.com.mx or 01 (661) 612 41 74 in Mexico.