We still have an answering machine. But I’d be happy to toss that and the landline in a heartbeat!
“Most of us lock our cars but every now and then I’ll go to a store and see a car in the parking lot with the doors unlocked and the engine running.”
It’s just second nature that (unless I’m parked in my garage) I lock my car door. It’s as automatic to me as turning off the car in the first place. (Actually more automatic - I have a Prius, which is very quiet, so I sometimes get out of the car, hit the button to lock it, and hear the beeping that says I never turned the car off!). I guess I don’t see it as an extra or unusual step to lock a house or a car, it’s just part of having those things. It doesn’t make sense to me that someone would leave their house and not lock the door - we might do so if we are walking the dog around the block, but not for any significant amount of time. \
That was something that my kids both reacted negatively to about Grinnell - when the student guides talked about how no one ever locked their room doors. My kids thought that was stupid. That doesn’t mean you have to create Fort Knox every time you run to the bathroom - but to go out all day and not lock your door? Whatever for? What’s the point?
“My sister lives in a gated community with a guard at the entrance and she STILL had her house robbed a few years ago–they literally tore it apart (likely looking for drugs).”
I don’t take from that “and therefore what’s the point of locking the door” (or having a security system, or a gated residence). I still bet houses in gated communities are less likely to be burgled, robbed.
“Since the system is already in place, it’s not like I’m moving to the neighborhood and presenting myself as that new lady who’s distrustful of the neighbors.”
Can you explain more why you think owning a security system sends the signal that you are “distrustful of neighbors”? I think it doesn’t send any signal other than - I have a security system on this house.
If someone moves onto your block and makes a fortress out of their house, with a high fence around the yard and bars on the windows, do you see them as welcoming or distrustful?
The point is–Grinnell is a trusting community and students don’t have to worry about other kids taking their stuff. I have been to numerous colleges that discuss this–in addition to leaving dorm rooms unlocked, kids leave backpacks unattended, phones sitting on tables, etc. I would think that especially for kids coming from a big city, the idea of an environment where crime was not among their worries would be appealing.
And I guess that’s the way I feel about my community. I have not ever worried about crime. The alarm system, while sensible, would be a constant reminder that things are changing and the city is growing and even the nice neighborhoods have unsavory elements.
In any case, I am probably going to use it…based on all the great advice here and also finding out that my insurance would be reduced.
“If someone moves onto your block and makes a fortress out of their house, with a high fence around the yard and bars on the windows, do you see them as welcoming or distrustful?”
A high fence around the yard and bars on the windows aren’t the same thing as a security system. A high fence around the yard and bars on the windows signal a certain level of “keep away and don’t mess with me.” I don’t think a security system signals that. It just says - this home is protected if unwanted intruders come in.
We have a burglar/smoke/CO alarm. Ours only beeps when you turn on the alarm. It’s a personal decision whether to have one, but if you do, make sure it is monitored locally. All of the other national companies we used were horrible, not worth the money we paid for monitoring. Seriously.
If you’re deciding whether to use yours, ask if: there’s a discount on homeowner’s insurance (usually there is and if others in your neighborhood have them (if multiple houses in a neighborhood have alarms, that can deter crime). Even if yours is the only house, this can also be true, as most criminals would choose a house without the alarm stickers.
Oh, and get the pet-friendly interior detectors, or your dogs will set them off. We learned this the hard way with our cats.
No one mentioned smoke and fire alarms as part of the security system. We had a massive fire in our business years ago and it made me very aware of the need for central station fire/smoke alarms. The discount we get on our homeowner’s insurance more than covers the cost of the smoke/fire/theft/etc., system, including monitoring.
We live in a very safe neighborhood, but the big problem here is car break-ins where the window is broken to get into the car. Home alarm doesn’t help there, but we did add motion-detector lights to the driveway.
“The point is–Grinnell is a trusting community and students don’t have to worry about other kids taking their stuff. I have been to numerous colleges that discuss this–in addition to leaving dorm rooms unlocked, kids leave backpacks unattended, phones sitting on tables, etc. I would think that especially for kids coming from a big city, the idea of an environment where crime was not among their worries would be appealing.”
At the same time, the student guides were laughing about how someone who had a bike might wind up having their bike taken to the other side of campus and left there, and they had to go find it, but at least it wasn’t stolen, ha ha. My kids didn’t find that cute or funny at all. And we were fans of Grinnell, to be clear.
“And I guess that’s the way I feel about my community. I have not ever worried about crime. The alarm system, while sensible, would be a constant reminder that things are changing and the city is growing and even the nice neighborhoods have unsavory elements.”
Honestly? I wonder if that’s simply a personal meaning you’re choosing to ascribe to it that a security system signals either unfriendliness or paranoia.
I think the point about a fire / smoke alarm is well taken - having a fire / smoke alarm (and a fire extinguisher) doesn’t mean that you’re constantly fretting about the possibility of fire; it just means that you took a step to alert or protect yourself should something bad occur.
Yes, that is what I have been trying to express–my personal opinions/perceptions. They are obviously different from those of others.
We’ve been discussing security systems a lot on a board of trustees I serve on. One of the board members purchased and installed security cameras at his own home for a hundred dollars. He has software that sends him a text if movement is detected, and he can monitor the camera images at at time from his cell phone. In contrast, the security firms want $5K or more for essentially the same thing. I believe he said he got the equipment at Home Depot.
Sally, I feel the same way you do. I know that sometimes they are really necessary, but I also think that people are inclined to be excessively fearful and paranoid these days. (Bear in mind that I have never been burgled. I’m sure that would change my perception.)
BTW, regard safe and unsafe neighborhoods: there are plenty of very safe neighborhoods that are routinely the object of burglaries by people from nearby towns that aren’t so “nice.”
Our neighbor had a large sculpture stolen off of her front porch and a few months later we had a large black iron lantern stolen off of ours. I know that it had to be workmen in the area as we are at a deadend with no turn around and no pedestrians. It is such an invasive feeling to think that someone would be on our porch stealing and maybe checking the house out. The workers–gardeners, recycling (gads–maybe them as it is dark when they pick up) or a painter or plumber…
There are so many regulars that they recognize cars as they leave the street as there is only one way out.
My biggest worry is that the garage door will not go down properly and someone will steal our wonderful canoe (29 lbs) hanging from the ceiling.
Guess a bit off topic but there are bad people everywhere and they do not wear signs.
Our neighborhood is considered very safe but I do set the alarm when I leave. I would hate! to have to clean up the mess the burglers leave! I have seen pictures of how they tear a house apart. That alone helps me set that alarm
“Sally, I feel the same way you do. I know that sometimes they are really necessary, but I also think that people are inclined to be excessively fearful and paranoid these days. (Bear in mind that I have never been burgled. I’m sure that would change my perception.)”
If anything, I tend to think of security systems as being upscale / in good neighborhoods versus downscale / in rougher or crime-ridden neighborhoods. Security systems seem de rigueur (sp?) or almost standard in “better” condos / townhomes / houses.
I haven’t read the entire thread, however we have a security system and wanted to add my perspective.
When we added our family room and bumped out our kitchen 15+ years ago, the building code required that we put in a hard-wired fire system, as we added over 10% to our square footage. Our contractor advised us it wasn’t going to cost that much more to add the door sensors and motion detectors to the system and he was right. The only problems we’ve had with the system is the smoke detectors get dusty and have gone off. We now make it a point of vacuuming them every year. (D1 did set off the silent panic alarm when she was 5 by pulling a stool over to the keypad and randomly pushing buttons. We had the police officer calmly explain to her that the alarm system wasn’t a toy.)
It will pay to shop around for your central station monitoring company. The big companies (ADT) are expensive. We have a local company our installer recommended that costs approx $200/year.
I like the piece of mind of setting the alarm when we leave the house for more than 24 hours or when I’m the only one home at night. (we don’t set it when we run errands during the day). Most burglaries happen when criminals know you aren’t home - they really don’t want to confront people.
Considering how long it takes the police to get to the house I don’t think a security system is really any protection. First the alarm goes off, it gets sent to the alarm company, they call all the phone numbers. If they can’t get through, then they call the police…who by all accounts come ambling over in their own sweet time as most alarms are usually false alarms.
My sister in law watched our cats once while we were gone - here’s why I love her - the alarm went off and she thought it was a motion detector so she stood perfectly still - lol She said it took the cops 20 minutes to show up. You’d be dead and the house cleaned out in that amount of time.
We also pay $25 per yr to the police dept. If we have more than 3 false alarms a yr. we have a fine. I think it happened yrs. ago and something needed to repaired in the system.
There is a lot of truth to that. But my security system also has a “panic button,” which will immediately call the cops rather than calling the resident first. Also, there is a four digit code you can punch in which will silence the alarm, but calls the police immediately as well with a “severe distress” meaning. My sister utilized the panic button once while house sitting at my house and she said a cop was there within about 60 seconds!
I’d guess a lot of newer homes have them, along with the high-end properties in upscale developments or large historic homes near the city center. Here we have a lot of little “pocket” neighborhoods with small, close-together houses and tiny parks scattered throughout. Kids roam freely and people do look out for each other. Those are the kinds of places I have lived for the last 20 years. The farther out you go (as in many cities), the bigger the lots get and the farther back the houses are set back from the street. The house I am moving to is a little like that. The lot is level, with big trees around the perimeter–so it would be hard to not be seen hauling, say, a flat screen TV out of the garage–but it would definitely be possible to do it if you were posing as a service guy (or were really fast and brazen).
They are probably not looking for big screen TVs. When our house was broken into, 4 other neighborhood houses were also hit the same night. They were looking for cash, jewelry, silver, and coin collections.
You mentioned a feeling of lost innocence. I guess I never had that feeling, growing up in a big city and attending college in an urban area. I was amazed when I moved to suburban Pittsburgh and the police are on the evening news urging people not to leave their cars unlocked with visible items inside to steal. And then I was in the grocery store today and some idiot dropped a loaded gun. It’s hard to feel completely safe anywhere!