Photo of burgler entering living room at night, phone in foreground

While state-of-the-art home security systems like the ones sold by us at NCA Alarms can certainly be affordable, they are not cheap. A good home security system is an investment, and wise investors want to be sure that they are going to get what they pay for. Indeed, people considering installing a home security system often find themselves asking the same big question. Will a home security system actually protect my house from burglary?

It’s a good question. The honest truth is that no security system is 100% effective. However, it has been scientifically proven that home security systems drastically decrease your likelihood of becoming the victim of a burglary. Today, we’ll look at the hard evidence.

The Hard Evidence Shows Us That Home Security Systems Protect Us

1. Hear It From the University of North Carolina at Charlotte

According to a ground-breaking new study by UNC Charlotte’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology entitled "Understanding Decisions to Burglarize from the Offender’s Perspective,” wherein researchers conducted extensive interviews with hundreds of convicted burglars, visible security cameras were a huge deterrence. In fact, about 60% of respondents said that they would look for security cameras before moving forward, and about 40% said that the presence of cameras would motivate them to choose a different home. This study also determined that most burglars preferred to enter homes by breaking through doors or windows, both of which can be heavily monitored with modern security system technology.

2. Hear It From The Electronic Security Association (ESA)

According to a recent study by the Electronic Security Association (or the ESA), the deterrence factor of home security cameras was even higher than the findings by the UNC Charlotte Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology study would suggest. They determined that 83% of burglars would take steps to figure out whether or not a home has a security camera installed before proceeding with their burglary. They furthermore determined that 60% of burglars would avoid homes that are equipped with security cameras. The theme so far is deterrence!

3. Hear It From Rutgers School of Criminal Justice (RSCJ)

The Rutgers School of Criminal Justice (or RSCJ) conducted a study from 2001 to 2005 studying the effect that security systems and security cameras have on crime rates in any given American household. They were able to conclusively determine that burglaries and the presence of security systems were inversely correlated, meaning that as households implemented security systems and protocols, their likelihood of burglary went down.

4. Hear It From The Urban Institute

This theme of deterrence continues with the Urban Institute. The Urban Institute is a prominent think-tank based in Washington D.C. that carries out research in the arenas of economic and social policy. They have also performed studies to determine how to prevent burglaries and related property crimes, and also reported that the presence of clearly visible security cameras drastically decreased the likelihood of domestic crime.

5. Hear It From The London Metro Police

So the clear message here is that security systems are a deterrence, but what about when they’re not? According to a representative from the London Police Force, throughout the years of 2013 and 2014, they were able to identify upwards of 5,000 suspects thanks to CCTV and security cameras. And even in cases where they were not able to identify the perpetrator, they have stated that the video evidence these security systems provided was “useful” in more than 10,000 cases. It is often the case in these burglaries that the perpetrators do not realize that they are being videotaped.

Ready To Install A Security System Now?

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