April 14, 2011
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Question
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Hello Ken,
I realize that this upcoming question may seem trivial, but I really
would like to know.
Do you have any idea of what the percentage of homeowners get home alarm
protection before and then after they have been burglarized?
I ask this because in general, home owners feel that a burglary for them
is not going to happen. It may assist other alarm companies as a
valuable tool when discussing alarm installations when cold calling or
beating the pavement looking for customers.
Thank you for considering this question.
Regards,
Brian Gordon
DKS - Doorking, Inc.
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Answer
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This is the kind of statistic executive directors of alarm associations like to keep handy. Let's hear from some of them with the answer.
Last stats I recall is that about 15% of homes have some security systems. How many were encouraged to get a system after a loss, I don't know. It makes sense that fear, or concern for safety, is a significant modivator to get security, and alarm company advertisements play on that theme. Since every household has a TV or gets a newspaper it's likely that every consumer of alarm systems has been exposed to one ad or another offering a "secure" alarm system. I pulled the below off a web site. A bit dated but gets the point across.
According to the 2007 FBI Crime Statistics
* Number: In 2007, 17.5 million property crimes took place.
* Frequency: A burglary occurs every 14 seconds in the US. Truly scary when one thinks about it.
* Time of day: The vast majority of burglaries take place during the day: between 6am and 6pm. This the time when generally people are at work, so their houses are most vulnerable. Personally speaking, my house has been broken into twice (a long time ago – before I got an alarm system), and both times occurred during midday.
* Lost property: The average victim of a burglary lost property worth around $2,000. This is an important factor to take into account when purchasing a home security system.
* Entry points: The burglar enters through the main entrance to the house, normally the front door, in more than a third of burglaries. This was the case for my break-ins as well.
* Crime trends: Historically speaking, when the economy is not doing well, property crime and burglary have increased. This is not a surprising statistic. Since we are now in the worst recession since the great depression, this is another statistic that should be seriously taken into account.
* Biggest factor, and most interesting: homes with monitored security systems are 3 times less likely to be broken into or robbed than homes without such a system. Burglars are not stupid and can tell when it is more likely they will be caught. By simply raising the bar of difficulty, you’re pushing the potential burglar to pick a different place instead of yours.