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It’s every resident’s nightmare. You arrive home to see your door has been forced open or a window smashed. You can hardly process what’s happened, fretting about what’s been stolen and the damage to your property. What should you do? Take a breath, stay calm, and follow these steps after a break-in at your Virginia Beach home.  

When things calm down, explore how to better prevent break-ins with a modern security system.

First Steps After A Burglary

Finding your house has been burglarized is unsettling. You may be furious, scared, or simply in disbelief. Whatever the case, it’s essential to act rationally by doing the following: 

• Don’t go inside. It’s not surprising that you want to run inside to assess the situation. Don’t. There’s a possibility someone is still there.
• Contact the authorities at once.  Keep yourself and others at a safe distance and hold tight until help arrives. Work with law enforcement to make an official report. 
• Don’t touch a thing. Let the police secure the area and do their job.  

What Should You Do Next?

You’ve spoken with the authorities, and it’s safe to go back inside. What are the next steps? 

• Contact your bank and credit card issuers . If an intruder grabbed personal documents, purses, or wallets, you’ll wish to contact your credit card companies and banks at once. It’s a good idea to freeze accounts and your credit. You may also request a fraud alert with the major credit bureaus.
• Contact your insurer. Start the claims process with your insurance provider. This should be done within 24 hours of the incident. 
• Take photos of the damage. Document broken windows, forced doors, and all other obvious damage.
• Document what was taken. Make a list of what’s missing and provide it to the police and your insurance company.
• Secure your house. Restore your home’s security by switching out locks, fixing doors and windows, and addressing remaining damage. If you have a keypad lock, now is the time to change your access codes.

Getting your home back in order will help ease your mind and restore a sense of normalcy. Once you do, it’s time to start thinking improving your home security.

Evaluate And Upgrade Your Virginia Beach Home’s Security

How can you keep this from occuring again? Your first step should be to take stock of your home security. A new system with these tools will go a long way to strengthening your home’s protection: 

• Security cameras: Just about every prowler will hesitate when they notice security cameras. Today’s exterior and doorbell cameras give you advanced features like AI-powered smart detection. Any time there’s suspicious activity, you’ll get an alert. 
• Access-point sensors: All doors and windows (specifically those on the ground floor) should be protected by contact or glass-break sensors.
• Smart lights and locks: These automated components can be operated from anywhere. Worried you neglected to secure your door? You can check and activate the lock directly from your mobile device. You can even have inside lighting go on if a camera detects someone lurking.

If you are looking for a modern system that alerts you and monitoring agents any time a sensor or camera is tripped, consider a package from ADT, your home security experts. You’ll enjoy the remote access, 24-hour monitoring, and convenient automation.

Prevent Break-Ins With The Top Home Security Systems In Virginia Beach

Stop burglaries at your property with an ADT home security system in Virginia Beach from Secure24 Alarm Systems. As an authorized ADT dealer, we install the latest equipment from the top name in the business. Discover your options by calling (757) 241-4673 or filling out our form today.