My choice to live in the state of Florida subjects me to the threat of hurricanes for six months out of the year. With spring come the annual warnings to be prepared in the event of a storm. I get it. People need reminding. But the idea of preparedness goes way beyond making it through hurricanes. Take home security.
Homeowners employ a wide variety of home security strategies to protect themselves and their properties against burglary, home invasion, fire and carbon monoxide, and even flood. Their actions are as much about preparedness as they are prevention. Just think about it.
No home security strategy can stop every potential threat. All of them combined cannot ensure that a homeowner will never have problems. So some security strategies are implemented with the understanding that emergencies could still arise.
The Nuts and Bolts of Home Security
The home security concept is built on the idea of protecting a residence from a variety of threats. Threats can range from unauthorized entry to household accidents to structure fires and floods. But for most people, home security revolves around burglary and home invasion prevention.
How do you prevent these types of crimes? By making the act of committing them as difficult and risky as possible. The harder you can make it on a criminal to commit crimes without being caught, the more likely that criminal will leave you alone.
The Security Camera Example
Security cameras are a major component in modern home security systems. Vivint Home Security is just one of many home security providers who stress optimizing security camera coverage. They say it is not without reason: security cameras are excellent deterrents because they provide evidence. Burglars do not like them.
Installing security cameras is essentially preparing for the fact that burglars might consider targeting your home. You want to stop them, so you place cameras in locations you know they will see. The cameras then act as deterrents.
The Nuts and Bolts of Preparedness
While home security is pretty specific in its scope, the concept of preparedness is much more broad. It accounts for a much larger number of scenarios that could impact an individual. Where I live, preparedness must account for potentially severe weather. We have to be prepared to:
- Lose power and water
- Deal with limited access to food
- Make other arrangements for shelter
- Repair weather damage to our homes
All these things are the direct result of living in a hurricane zone. But we do not just prepare to deal with the aftermath of the storms. We also prepare for the storms themselves. When we know a storm is coming, we take action to protect our homes and properties. The goal is to limit the damage so that recovery is easier.
Home security can be a part of those preparations. Some of the same strategies designed to keep burglars out can also help limit storm damage. Some of the same strategies that make storm clean up easier can be applied to recovering from a destructive home burglary.
Being Prepared Is Smart
Whether it is a burglar trying to gain unauthorized entry, a violent storm passing through the area, or anything else that threatens safety and wellbeing, preparedness is key to minimizing the negative impacts of a threatening event. Put another way, being prepared is smart.
The weather cannot be controlled. Crime will always exist. The threats to safety and wellbeing will always be present to some degree. So rather than waiting for something to happen and then reacting, I would rather be prepared in advance.
