The holidays pose unique home and business safety risks. With so much travel, gift procurement and giving, thieves have an excellent opportunity to strike our homes and small businesses.

A recent Boston 25 article states the challenge like this: “While the holidays are a great time to sit back, relax and enjoy time with family and friends, it is also prime time for criminals to act. Whether it’s an online scam or breaking into your home, when December rolls around the rule of thumb is to sleep with one eye open.”

New England Grinches and Trolls

Just this month, three thieves robbed the Christmas decorations from a Norwell, Massachusetts, garden center. According to 7 News, the act was caught on video. The stolen objects are valued at $150. “We don’t know why they would do it to us,” says the store’s co-owner. “We’re honest people here, we work hard and we just want everybody to be happy.”

Naturally, the risk to our homes and businesses exists year-round, as the Boston 25 piece explains. One of Boston’s Back Bay residents, who operates a fitness studio on the first floor of his apartment house, installed a camera at his building’s entrance.

The results of his surveillance were shocking, amounting to “a revolving door of criminal activity.” He also says he lost count of “recent run-ins with trespassers and thieves in his front vestibule.” The holidays can exacerbate these dangers.

The Home Alone Scenario

Given this background, it’s no wonder one of the most popular of the season’ movies is “Home Alone,” which actually offers us some tips on holiday best practices (you can read more on the subject on this blog).

The Boston police department (as the story cited above explains) urges the public to extra vigilance. The department is reminding “people to be mindful that thieves are just waiting for the right opportunity to make their move. If you don’t give them a chance, they’re less likely to commit the crime.”

Securing Our Holiday Homes

Luckily, we have the means to protect ourselves. Among the available steps we can take to secure our homes and property this holiday season:

• Don’t announce to the general public that you’re going away on the holidays — that includes social media
• Anyone who wishes to enter your house must provide credentials
• Work with neighbors to create a mutual security watch network
• Install/rig internal lights to activate, creating the impression your house is occupied
• Implement external lighting systems — and illuminate dark areas around bushes and the like in front of your home
• Install a security alarm

Overall Holiday Safety

Besides thieves and other criminals, there are also other seasonal risks we should address. These include fire-related dangers from Christmas trees and their ornaments. We should also be prepared to deal with hazardous traveling conditions.

Overall, for complete safety, a high-resolution camera implementation, with video monitoring service, can go a long way to protect our homes and businesses. This can help keep our Christmases merry and bright, as well as secure.

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