Home Security Marking.
Security Marking Your Property With Your Unique Information Gives You Three Benefits.
First
if a thief is aware that your property is marked he may think twice
before stealing it.
Usually a burglar steals to sell on, if your
valuables are prominently and permanently marked with your code it makes
it difficult for him to interest anyone in buying them.
Another advantage of having your property code marked is that it makes returning recovered items a lot easier for the police.
Security coded items are easily identifiable
and can quickly be reunited with their owners.
Also, in some cases,
security marking may help to secure a conviction of the thieves.
Security Marker Pens.
Perhaps the most common method of home security coding is the use of
marker pens to inscribe your valuable items with your unique
identification.
It is usual to use your postal code as an
identifier but first check with your insurance company and your local
police as to the exact format they recommend.
Using a security pen that marks visibly and permanently is your best option because it tells the thief that he would have a hard time disposing of your property.
Security coded items are easily identifiable and can quickly be reunited with their owners. |
However, if you feel that visibly marking your items would spoil them, or reduce their value, use an invisible security marker. The ink from these pens is (virtually) invisible unless viewed under ultra violet light.
Remember that ultra violet marking will fade and needs to be renewed about every 12 months.
Security marker pens, along with advice about their use, are often obtainable free from your local police.
Other Home Marking Systems.
Many metal items, such as silverware, can be marked with the use of
an electric engraver to etch in your identification code.
Engraving
cannot be considered absolutely permanent because it can be ground away, and doing so may disfigure the item.
Electrolytic
etching is another method of security protecting metal items that is
very suitable for things such as golf clubs, tools and the metal housing
of entertainment centers.
Chemical etching systems are ideal
for code identifying the plastic surfaces of your personal computer and
accessories, television, DVD player etc.
Wooden antique furniture
can be security tagged with a hot branding iron. However marking in this
way, even in a place not normally seen, can devalue the item.
Using chemical compounds, uniquely formulated for and registered to each customer,
is gaining in popularity for marking.
Known as Chemical Trace or
Elemental Tagging, the manner of applying the chemical trace can vary
depending on the type of item to be security coded, painting on the
chemical is one method.
The chemical can be colorless, and
therefore invisible, or can contain a fluorescent particle so it can be
seen under ultra violet light.
Microdot Marking.
Microdot technology can be employed to protect your valuables from
theft.
Thousands of microdots each one marked with your unique
identification code are suspended within an extremely strong adhesive.
This clear adhesive is painted on your antiques, laptop, DVD player,
ceramics, paintings, stereo system etc.
If a burglar steals any
of your valuables security marked with this technology he would need an
ultra violet light to locate the dots and would be extremely unlikely to
find them all. And he would have the devil’s own job to remove them
because of the tough adhesive.
The police only need to find one single microdot to identify the property and reunite it with its owner.
Microdot
home security coding is used in conjunction with warning stickers to
let the thief know that your items are branded with a unique code and
stealing them would be folly.
Once you have completed home security marking your valuables take good clear photographs of them and compile a Home Inventory List.
Keep this list in a safe place, not at the same address, so in the
unfortunate event of your security coded items being stolen you have all
the information you need to give the police and your insurance company.
When
marking your valuables don’t forget about all the tools and equipment
that you keep in your work shed or garden shed, it is well worth
permanently marking them as the cost of replacing everything mounts up.
Mark bicycles too.
Security Articles
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Home Security Marking.
Installing A Wireless Home Security System
Decide where to put the control panel, this is the heart of the system.
Most likely you will want to site it near to the door that you enter and
leave your home from. It will be good if it is near an electrical
outlet too. But . . .