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It’s every family’s nightmare. You pull up the driveway and find your door has been kicked in or a window smashed. You can hardly process what’s happened, worrying about what’s missing and the harm done to your property. What should you do? Remain calm, take a deep breath, and follow these steps after a break-in at your Memphis home.  

Once the dust settles, see how to better prevent intrusions with an advanced security system.

First Steps After A Break-In

Finding your house has been broken into is traumatizing. You could be frightened, angry, or just in disbelief. Regardless, it’s important to stay level-headed by doing the following: 

• Don’t go inside. It might be tempting to run inside to look around. Don’t. There’s a possibility an intruder is still inside.
• Call law enforcement at once.  Keep yourself and others at a safe distance and wait for emergency services. Work with the authorities to make an official report. 
• Avoid touching anything. Let officers take charge and do their job.  

What Do You Do Next?

You’ve made an official report with the police, and your home is safe to re-enter. What are the next steps? 

• Contact your bank and credit card issuers . If an intruder snagged personal documents, purses, or wallets, you’ll want to contact your credit card issuers and banks immediately. It’s smart to freeze accounts and your credit. You might also place a fraud alert with credit bureaus.
• Contact your insurance company. File a claim with your insurance company. This needs to be done within 24 hours of the break-in. 
• Take pictures of damage. Document broken windows, forced doors, and anything else that’s been damaged.
• Inventory stolen goods. Write down what’s missing and provide it to law enforcement and your insurance provider.
• Secure your house. Make your home safe again by switching out locks, fixing doors and windows, and taking care of other damage. If you use a digital lock, now is the time to update your access codes.

Cleaning up will bring you some peace and make things feel normal. After you do so, it’s time to think about upgrading your home security.

Strengthen The Security At Your Memphis Home

How can you prevent this from occuring again? Your initial step should be to evaluate your home’s security. A modern system with these devices will go a long way to keeping your home safe: 

• Video cameras: Just about all would-be burglars will hesitate when they see security cameras. Modern exterior and doorbell cameras provide advanced functionality like AI-driven smart detection. Whenever there’s suspicious activity, you’ll get an alert. 
• Entry-point sensors: All doors and windows (especially those on the ground level) should be shielded by contact or glass-break sensors.
• Smart locks and lighting: These automated tools can be controlled from anywhere. Concerned you neglected to lock up? You can verify and operate the lock from your smartphone. You can even have inside lights switch on if a camera detects someone lurking.

If you want an integrated system that notifies you and monitoring representatives any time a sensor or camera is triggered, look into a package from the home security specialists at ADT. You’ll enjoy the smartphone access, round-the-clock monitoring, and advanced automation.

Prevent Break-Ins With The Best Home Security In Memphis

Stop break-ins from happening with an ADT home security system in Memphis from Secure24 Alarm Systems. As your authorized ADT dealer, we install modern equipment from the top name in the business. Learn more about your options by calling (901) 250-6841 or completing our form today.