Dear PoP – Security Options after a Break-in

Photo by PoPville flickr user dynagroove1

“Dear PoP,

Got home to find my ground level condo had been broken into. I live on 13th street, nw – and since moving in have witnessed fairly low levels of crime aside from the occasional visible auto theft on 13th street (broken glass). My rear door was kicked in today. The kids clearly were in a rush and went through drawers, closets, etc, and settled on stealing my laptop. My question to you, and all PoP readers, is, do you think installing ADT or other similar security systems is a deterrent to these crimes, and does anyone know good security door installers? I recall an earlier post about french door installers, but would like more specific/company responses. MPD was on the scene within 15 minutes and was helpful – but reinforced the conclusion that the perps were likely 15 years old and would never be caught.”

We talked about some alarm company recs here and had a discussion on alarms vs security bars here. Do you think alarms are a good deterrent?