Crime Prevention Tip of the Month
Securing Your Doors
July 2004
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Dear Reader,
 Welcome
to the Crime Prevention Tip of the Month. I am a working Police Officer
with 30 years experience with a major North American Police Service.
My involvement in Crime Prevention has spanned 9 years, and my specialty
lies with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). In my
position, I consult with homeowners, businesses and developers in their
attempt to "design out" crime.
I am a strong believer in the use of visual and physical deterrents
(such as window bars) to raise
the level of a premise's protection.
Tip of the Month
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Don't let thieves in the front door!
More than 50% of homes and businesses are broken into via a door. Many
businesses have doors and frames made of metal. In residences, however,
the frame is made of wood, usually spruce. The frame will almost always
be the first thing to let go if force is applied to the door.
Why do I say the frame will go first? Look at your doorframe. As stated,
most are made of spruce, which is a very soft wood. In order for the
1-inch steel bolt from your lock to work, we must drill a hole larger
than an inch into the wood frame. We have just weakened the frame at
this location. If you were to measure the amount of wood on the outside
edge of the frame to the hole it would be about 1/4 inch. That's what
is holding your door closed. Scary, isn't it?
To add insult to injury, we then place a 2-inch long brass plate over
the hole to make it look nice. The brass plate is held on by two 1/2-inch
screws lined up nice and straight in the plate. The problem, as anyone
who works with wood will tell you, is that drilling two holes in a straight
line in spruce will cause the wood to crack. Now how secure do you feel?
Yet 99.9% of homes in North America are protected in this way.
Now I'll tell you how to fix this for less than $10.00.
You can find doorframe reinforcing plates in the lock aisle of home
improvement stores. They are polished, brass-plated or silver, metal
plates about 8 inches long and 1 1/4 inches wide. They have at least
six offset holes and include screws, four of which will be about 3 inches
long. This is so the screws can be sunk right into the framework of the
house.
Once installed, the plate will ensure that force applied to the door
will be spread over 8 inches rather than 2. As well, the holes that have
to be drilled are offset, preventing the wood from cracking.
I absolutely guarantee your doorframe will be totally protected with
this plate. Force from kicking or shoving will now be transferred from
the frame to the door. Next month I'll talk about protecting the door
itself.
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Can We Help?
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Questions about securing your home or business? Send
us an email. We'll respond in the next edition of the newsletter.
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