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It’s every resident’s nightmare. You arrive home to see your door has been kicked in or a window broken. You can barely process what’s happened, fretting about what’s been taken and the damage to your property. What can you do? Remain calm, take a deep breath, and follow these tips after a break-in at your Fresno home.  

Once you have control of the situation, explore how to better prevent intrusions with a modern security system.

First Steps After A Break-In

Seeing your house burglarized is traumatizing. You might be shaken, angry, or simply in disbelief. Regardless, it’s essential to respond rationally by doing the following: 

• Stay outside. It’s only natural that you want to go inside to see what happened. Don’t. There’s a risk an intruder is still present.
• Contact law enforcement right away.  Keep yourself and family members at a safe spot nearby and hold tight until help arrives. Work with the police to file a report. 
• Leave everything as is. Allow officers take over and gather evidence.  

What Should You Do Next?

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

• Contact your bank and credit card issuers . If a burglar snagged personal records, purses, or wallets, you’ll want to alert your credit card companies and banks right away. It’s wise to freeze accounts and your credit. You can also request a fraud alert with the major credit bureaus.
• Call your insurance company. Start the claims process with your insurance company. This needs to be done within a day of the burglary. 
• Record damage on camera. Document smashed windows, kicked-in doors, and all other obvious damage.
• Inventory stolen goods. Make a list of what’s been stolen and provide it to the authorities and your Insurer.
• Secure your property. Make your home safe again by replacing locks, fixing doors and windows, and taking care of other damage. If you have a keypad lock system, now is the time to update your codes.

Cleaning up will bring you some peace and restore a sense of normalcy. After you do so, it’s time to consider upgrading your home security.

Evaluate And Upgrade The Security At Your Fresno Home

How can you prevent this from happening again? Your starting point should be to assess your home security. An advanced system with the following equipment will go a long way to keeping your home safe: 

• Security cameras: Nearly every trespasser will hesitate when they observe security cameras. Today’s exterior and doorbell cameras provide advanced functionality like smart detection. Whenever there’s suspicious activity, you’ll get a notification. 
• Entry-point sensors: All doors and windows (especially those on the ground level) should be shielded by glass-break or contact sensors.
• Smart locks and lighting: These automated tools can be controlled from anywhere. Worried you forgot to lock your door? You can confirm and operate the lock right from your phone. You can even have inside lighting switch on if a camera discovers someone lurking.

If you are looking for an integrated system that warns you and monitoring representatives whenever a camera or sensor is triggered, consider a package from ADT, your home security leaders. You’ll appreciate the smartphone access, 24-hour monitoring, and convenient automation.

Stop Break-Ins With The Leading Home Security Systems In Fresno

Stop burglaries at your property with an ADT home security system in Fresno from Secure24 Alarm Systems. As your authorized ADT dealer, we install advanced equipment from the most respected name in the business. Explore your options by reaching out to (559) 212-3897 or submitting our form today.