Robert Siciliano from ADT shares holiday security tips to deter burglars: use window film and shatterproof glass, set lighting timers, ask neighbors to watch your home, and hide packaging from deliveries. The segment cites FBI burglary statistics and AAA travel data.
Chapters
MSNBC.
All right, everybody, stay with me because coming up, keeping you and your home safe for the holidays. The simple little things that you may not be doing to protect you and your loved ones. So much— if you are planning to hit the road for the holidays, don't go until you hear from our next guest. AAA says over 92 million people are about to hop on planes, trains, and into automobiles, traveling at least 50 miles from home. Now, security should be at the top of your list before going because it's not just the It's the season for giving, apparently it's also the season for taking. According to the FBI, nearly 400,000 home burglaries take place from November through December, but you don't have to be a victim, folks. Robert Siciliano is a security consultant from ADT.com, and he's joining me now live from Boston to share certain tips on how to keep all of our homes safe, even when we are not there. Robert, good to have you with us. So this is a really busy time of year for someone like yourself. So is it just because people let their guards down more during the holidays, or there are people out there that are really looking looking to take, take advantage and be more aggressive?
It's a little bit of both. I would say that definitely the criminal is a little more aggressive this time of the year. You know, like you said, millions of traveling, they're leaving, they're going to friends and families, they're, uh, you know, taking their vehicles, they're shopping, uh, their houses are dark and mail might be piling up and newspapers might be piling up. And the bad guy, you know, they're shopping just like you and I are shopping, except they're shopping inside of your home, uh, grabbing your gifts, grabbing your plasma TV, grabbing your jewelry. And making for a miserable Grinch of a Christmas.
Alright, so let's get to some of these important tips. You are a big proponent of window film, and that's used to deter burglars. Explain why.
So security is all about layers of protection. The more layers you put in place, the more safe and secure you and your family are going to be. Shatterproof glass or window film that you put over your windows, kind of like window tint in your car, does a really good job of preventing the bad guy from breaking your windows. It's a film that you can get at different hardware suppliers online, and it helps to prevent them from breaking that window and crawling through. And if you put it on all of your lower-level windows—
Robert, excuse me, just for one second. We have some breaking news that I need to go to, so stand by for me. I want to take you straight to Washington, D.C. Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry is addressing the folks now right after getting the vote for the START treaty.
Decided that this was the moment to act for the national security interests of our country, that this issue did not belong in our politics but rather in our minds in terms of how it protects the nation. I think we've listened to the advice of Admiral Mullen, Secretary Gates, our national security personnel, the Nuclear Security Agency, and, you know, all of those folks who really have the day-to-day expertise on these kinds of issues. We will now go to a series of amendments. We're going to try and do as many amendments as is possible, and hopefully tomorrow morning morning, or at the latest early tomorrow afternoon, we would have a vote on final passage of the START Treaty.
When we had to jump into that one, we were talking to Robert Siciliano from ADT.com. Robert, I appreciate you being fluid with me on this, but we were talking about the nation's security. We're now going to get back into our own personal security. We were talking about window film, but let's explain to everybody out there also some of the tactics they can take if they are going to be traveling that are the simple things, and I think one of the big ones are light dimmers— light timers, excuse me— for your house. How can you fake out the burglar to make them think that you really are there?
So the idea is to give the home that lived-in look, and if you have timers on exterior and interior lighting, it certainly gives the bad guy the idea that you're home, that you're in and around the house. Keeping your TV on, different things like that will potentially prevent them from coming into your home.
And also, and this one I love, trying to get your neighbor— neighbors to show shovel your walk. That is only if you're not there. If you're at home, they're probably not going to be so helpful, but if you're not there, it makes it look like you are.
Yeah, exactly. You know, if you're gone for any period of time, you want to have them even park their car in your driveway, shovel a walkway, get your mail, get your newspapers, again, to give it that lived-in look. The bad guy often, they don't want to invade your home and get violent, whereas they'd burgle your home when you're not there, and it's easier to do it if you're not there, obviously, but if it has the lived-in And look, you're in much better shape.
Yeah, and I love the tip about post-holiday tearing up all the boxes. You don't want them to know what you got inside your home anymore. Robert Siciliano from ADT.com, thanks for again rolling with the punches with me here. I appreciate your time today.
