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It’s every family’s nightmare. You pull up the driveway to see your front door has been forced open or a window broken. You can hardly process what’s happened, fretting about what’s been taken and the harm done to your house. What will you do? Remain calm, take a deep breath, and follow these steps after a break-in at your College Station home.  

Once the dust settles, explore how to better prevent intrusions with a modern security system.

First Steps After A Break-In

Seeing your house broken into is traumatizing. You may be angry, frightened, or just in disbelief. Regardless, it’s important to respond rationally by doing the following: 

• Don’t go inside. It’s only natural that you want to run inside to see what happened. Don’t. There’s a risk a burglar is still inside.
• Call the police at once.  Keep yourself and loved ones at a safe distance and hold tight until first responders arrive. Work with law enforcement to file a report. 
• Leave everything as is. Allow officers take over and collect evidence.  

What Are The Next Steps?

You’ve filed a report with the police, and your home is clear to re-enter. What should happen next? 

• Cancel credit cards and call banks . If a thief grabbed wallets, purses, or personal records, you’ll want to alert your credit card issuers and banks at once. It’s a good idea to freeze accounts and your credit. You may also request a fraud alert with credit bureaus.
• Contact your insurer. File a claim with your insurer. You should do so within 24 hours of the burglary. 
• Take pictures of damage. Document smashed windows, forced doors, and any other damage you see.
• Document what is missing. Create a record of what’s gone and provide it to the police and your Insurer.
• Secure your home. Restore your home’s security by replacing locks, fixing doors and windows, and taking care of other damage. If you use a keypad lock, now is the time to reset your access codes.

Getting your home back in order will help ease your mind and restore a sense of normalcy. Once you do, it’s time to consider enhancing your home security.

Evaluate And Upgrade The Security At Your College Station Home

How can you keep this from occuring again? Your first step should be to assess your home’s security. A new system with the following equipment will go a long way to strengthening your home’s protection: 

• Surveillance cameras: Nearly every prowler will reconsider their plans when they notice surveillance cameras. Newer outdoor and doorbell cameras provide advanced functionality like AI-driven smart detection. Any time there’s suspicious activity, you’ll be sent an alert. 
• Entry-point sensors: All doors and windows (especially those on the lower level) should be safeguarded by glass-break or contact sensors.
• Smart locks and lights: These automated components can be managed remotely. Worried you didn’t lock up? You can check and engage the lock right from your smartphone. You can even have interior lights switch on if a camera discovers suspicious activity.

If you are looking for an integrated system that alerts you and monitoring representatives any time a sensor or camera is set off, look into a package from ADT, your home security leaders. You’ll appreciate the smartphone access, 24/7 monitoring, and custom automation.

Prevent Break-Ins With The Top Home Security Systems In College Station

Stop burglaries from happening with an ADT home security system in College Station from Secure24 Alarm Systems. As an authorized ADT dealer, we install the latest equipment from the industry leader. Discover your options by dialing (979) 330-5973 or filling out our form today.