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It’s every homeowner’s nightmare. You pull up the driveway to see your front door is wide open or a window smashed. You can barely process what’s happened, worrying about what’s been stolen and the harm done to your home. What can you do? Take a breath, stay calm, and follow these steps after a break-in at your Muncie home.  

Once the dust settles, see how to better prevent burglaries with a modern security system.

First Steps After A Burglary

Finding your house has been broken into is traumatizing. You could be furious, frightened, or simply in disbelief. Whatever you’re feeling, it’s essential to stay level-headed by doing the following: 

• Stay outside. It’s not surprising that you want to run inside to look around. Don’t. There’s a possibility a burglar is still present.
• Contact the police at once.  Keep yourself and loved ones at a safe distance and wait for emergency professionals. Work with the authorities to file a report. 
• Leave everything as is. Let the police secure the scene and gather evidence.  

What Are The Next Steps?

You’ve made an official report with law enforcement, and it’s safe to go back inside. What should happen next? 

• Cancel credit cards and alert your bank . If an intruder grabbed personal records, purses, or wallets, you must notify your credit card companies and banks right away. It’s a good idea to freeze accounts and your credit. You can also place a fraud alert with the three main credit bureaus.
• Call your insurer. Start the claims process with your insurance company. This needs to be done within 24 hours of the incident. 
• Take photos of the damage. Document smashed windows, kicked-in doors, and anything else that’s been damaged.
• Inventory stolen goods. Create a record of what’s been stolen and provide it to the authorities and your insurance company.
• Secure your property. Make your home safe again by installing new locks, fixing windows and doors, and addressing remaining damage. If you use a keypad lock, now is the time to update your codes.

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

Assess And Improve The Security At Your Muncie Home

What should you do to prevent another break-in from taking place? Your starting point should be to assess your home security. A new system with these tools will work wonders in strengthening your home’s protection: 

• Surveillance cameras: Nearly every prowler will hesitate when they notice surveillance cameras. Today’s outdoor and doorbell cameras provide advanced functionality like smart detection. When there’s unusual activity, you’ll get a notification. 
• Entry-point sensors: All doors and windows (particularly those on the ground floor) should be shielded by contact or glass-break sensors.
• Smart lights and locks: These automated components can be operated from anywhere. Worried you forgot to lock up? You can verify and operate the lock from your smartphone. You can even have interior lights switch on if a camera spots someone lurking.

If you are looking for an integrated system that warns you and monitoring staff any time a sensor or camera is triggered, get a package from the home security specialists at ADT. You’ll appreciate the smartphone access, 24-hour monitoring, and custom automation.

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

Stop intrusions before they happen with an ADT home security system in Muncie from Secure24 Alarm Systems. As your authorized ADT dealer, we install modern equipment from the top name in the business. Explore your options by dialing (765) 221-8081 or completing our form today.