[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Alarm systems are just like door locks. They stop casual theft, and amateurs. A pro thief will overcome just about anything shy of Ft. Knox.

That's it exactly.

Years ago, I was thinking about doors getting kicked in and thought "it would be great if there was multiple bolts or bolts on both sides of the door." THat's when I discovered that there are special pins that you can replace the hinge screws with that add more security on the hinge side of the door. Then I realized, in an ordinary house, that's probably unnecessary hassle since a regular house is full of windows that can be broken, and 9 times out of 10, the back door has glass in it that can be broken to allow someone to reach in and open the door. Even if you have both sides of every deadbolt keyed, and you don't leave the key on the inside permanently, there's still the windows.

As with most other things, if a thief isn't targeting you specifically because they know you have some specific item that they want, you need to make yourself less appealing than your neighbor (alarm, dog, lights, etc...).