SIOUX CITY, Iowa | Locking doors and windows and adequately lighting your home are good ways to keep would-be-burglars at bay, according to Chad Sheehan, Sioux City Police Department crime prevention officer.
"External motion lights are always good as people approach," he said. "Burglars don't want attention drawn to them."
Keeping trees and shrubs trimmed off the ground around your home, so neighbors can identify anyone suspicious lurking on your property, he said, is another good way to protect your home.
"When neighbors know each other, we're more likely to get them to call in," he said.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there were an estimated 2,159,878 burglaries in the United States in 2010. Residential burglaries accounted for 73.9 percent of all burglary offenses, yet only between 13 and 17 percent of homeowners have a security system.
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Peace of mind is the most common reason why homeowners purchase a security system, according to Brian Duffy, president of electronic security for Per Mar Security Services.
Home security systems are smarter than they used to be. They can control lighting, heating and cooling systems, which Duffy said is driving their popularity. He said he only expects the market to grow in the future.
"It used to really be a luxury item to buy a home security system," he said. "With advances in technology it's become much more common."
Per Mar Security Systems, a family owned company based in Davenport, Iowa, serves various communities in the Midwest including Sioux City.
Per Mar Security Services offers security systems in many colors, styles and varieties. Systems consist of a keypad located by an entrance and sensors placed by doors and windows that detect fire, smoke, motion and broken glass. When the sensors are triggered, an alarm sounds and company's central monitoring station is notified. Dispatchers and service technicians are available 24/7 for Per Mar Home Security customers.
"Our most basic system now is actually an all-in-one unit, where the keypad is also the brains of the system," Duffy explained.
Duffy said customers no longer need a land-line phone to link to the security company. Radio monitoring allows the security system to wirelessly connect to Per Mar's central monitoring station through wireless technology.
Installation of a security system, he said, takes about four to five hours. Prices, he said, depend on the system's application, the size of the home and how many doors and windows it has.
"The systems are as low as $99, but it's very important to us and the customer that they're getting the proper protection. Usually that'll end up being an amount more than that," he said.
More than half of Per Mar Security Company's customers, Duffy said, opt to control their home security systems with an Internet connection. They can use their mobile devices to access and operate their systems from wherever they might be physically.
This mobile technology, Duffy said, is rapidly changing the home security industry.
"Now the security system is used to control other aspects of the home like locks and light," he said. "Even cameras can be attached to it now, so people can watch from anywhere."
