The growing belief that today no one is safe, even in the suburbs, has fueled an explosive rise in the number of home security alarms over the last 20 years. Today, 1 in 6 homes has such a system, with 1 million new homeowners coming on line each year.
And more and more builders are installing them in new homes. A survey of 428 builders in February by the National Association of Home Builders, a trade group in Washington, found that alarm systems were offered as standard features in 13 percent of new homes and as options in 63 percent of new homes.
"Some people predict that someday there will be as many home security systems as there are telephones in America," said Joseph Freeman, founder and owner of J. P. Freeman and Co., a security consulting firm in Newtown, Conn.
Installing an alarm system used to be an admission of vulnerability, he said, now it's like buying a video recorder. During the 1980s building boom, for example, home security systems and Jacuzzis were the two most popular home accessories, he said.
But is all the money spent on alarm systems and monitoring services worth it?
Experts in crime prevention say alarm systems are only one way to prevent burglaries -- and not necessarily the most important one.
"People may not realize that an alarm system is actually the last line of defense when it comes to home security," said Georgette Bennett, a New York criminologist who has written widely on this topic. "If your alarm goes off, someone has already gotten into your home. Yet, quite often, people think of alarms as their only line of defense against burglars."
A study by two Temple University economists of three Pennsylvania suburbs found that home alarms help to combat thieves. (The study was partially funded by the Alarm Industry Research and Education Foundation.) Homes without security systems were about three times as likely to be broken into as homes with security systems.
But of the homes with alarms, those that were robbed relied solely on an alarm and did not take other precautions.
The professors, Andrew Buck and Simon Hakim, recommend combining measures that prevent, deter and detect burglars. Burglar alarms, said Mr. Hakim, serve only to detect thieves.
Capt. James Yeasted, of the crime prevention unit in Baltimore County, said the first step his office recommends is to improve a home's visibility through landscaping and lighting; the next step is to improve locks and windows; then consider buying a home security system.
"We talk about electronic security systems as the Cadillacs of things people can do to reduce vulnerability," he said.
The Temple study also found that home alarms worked best when owners put up yard signs and hooked their homes into a monitoring service. "Burglars know that neighbors now ignore audible alarms," Mr. Hakim said.
The growth in the alarm industry has been fueled by lower prices for alarm systems and the general perception, even in the suburbs, that no one is safe from crime, according to Linda S. Gimbel, director of communications at the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association, a trade group in Bethesda.
Crime and health care topped the American public's list of important national problems, according to the most recent New York Times/CBS News Poll, taken in mid-July. Of 1,339 respondents in the nationwide telephone poll, 19 percent cited crime as "the most important problem facing this country today," replacing unemployment and the economy, while another 19 percent nominated health care.
Residential burglaries nationwide have decreased, from 7.4 percent of all American homes in 1981 to 4.2 percent in 1992, according to the Justice Department.
And Mr. Freeman attributes the decrease partly to an increase in home security installations. The company predicts that by 1997, 1 in 5 homes in the United States will be protected electronically, compared with the 1 in 6 homes now covered.
But others say studies are inconclusive.
In a 1988 survey, Figgie International, a security firm based in Willoughby, Ohio, asked 589 people imprisoned for property crimes to rate the effectiveness of various security measures. The prisoners' responses were tabulated on a scale of 0 (not effective) to 2 (very effective).
Most effective methods
Alarm systems linked directly to police stations ranked highest, at 1.5. (Most alarm systems are now linked to central monitoring stations. If the alarm company sends a car to respond to each alarm, that is probably just as effective as a hookup to the police station, Dr. Bennett said.).
Electronic sensors in windows ranked second, at 1.35. Exterior lights were rated at 1.2, and barking dogs, 1.1. Burglar alarms that function like car alarms -- simply creating a lot of noise -- were rated at 0.83, while deadbolt locks were rated near the bottom, at 0.78.
"I've interviewed prisoners about this," said James Garofalo, a professor of criminal justice at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. "The professionals say alarm systems are no big deal -- they can get in and out in a hurry. These alarms do stop the nonprofessional burglars, but so do good, strong locks and windows."
The Ward family in Northeast Baltimore agrees.
In the 19 years Marcie Ward has lived in her Northeast Baltimore rowhouse, not far from Memorial Stadium, her house has never been robbed. Mrs. Ward does not own an electronic alarm system, nor does she think an alarm system is necessary. Instead, she and her husband have installed deadbolts and sliding bolts on their doors, and have double panes on their windows.
They keep their doors locked and know their neighbors. They also live on a block where their older neighbors like to watch the street and alleys and call in any suspicious activity, a major factor in preventing crime.
"Burglaries are mostly done by kids," said Lt. Col. J. Patrick Ogle, a teacher of private security administration at Coppin State College. Children "go in and try to carry things they can get
quickly and easily. It is a case of opportunity, what home gives the proper opportunity."
Creating a bad opportunity for a thief -- making your house seem too tough to crack quickly and therefore increasing the burglar's risk of getting caught -- is the secret to preventing theft, say police and other security experts. An experienced burglar can beat any security system.
Break-in prevention begins on the ground floor because that is where burglars start. Thieves strike homes most frequently when homes are empty in the afternoon.
According to the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association in Bethesda, a trade association of home security businesses, a burglar spends less than one minute trying to break into your home. The most successful entry for most thieves -- almost half -- is the front door, followed by the back door, and then the first-floor window, the NBFAA says.
Making your home safer
To improve home security, here are issues security experts say to consider:
* Assess your home and property.
Police crime prevention units frequently offer individuals or neighborhood groups seminars on home security. In Baltimore County, an officer will come to your home and assess problem spots and suggest steps to take to improve them, Capt. Yeasted said.
* Lighting
Improving lighting around the perimeter of your home. Consider putting in floodlights or proximity switches (lights that turn on when someone approaches). Lighting around your home should permit neighbors to observe someone working on doors, windows or sliding back doors.
* Landscaping
Keep hedges and trees down around the house and windows. You want your house to be visible to neighbors and major streets, and have few hiding places for burglars to maneuver doors and windows.
Make your house appear occupied. Keep a car out front, the grass trimmed and newspapers picked up. * Doors
Use deadbolt locks and remember doors are only as good as their frames. "Burglars do not crash through doors," said Mr. Freeman. * Windows
Secure windows with better locks.
* Neighbors
If you have neighbors, get to know them and set up systems to watch each others' houses when you are away on vacation.
Home alarms are more effective if your neighbors pay attention when the alarms go off.
* Big dogs
Burglars -- just like the rest of us -- are scared of big, loud dogs.
Another strategy would always be to move next door to a cop. "Home security systems come down to individual choice. I personally don't have one, but I have a very big dog, strong
locks, my neighbors know who I am, and I also have a police car parked out in front of my house," said Colonel Ogle.
Home alarms have moved beyond accessory items in many news homes, says Nancy Hubble, president of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors. Five years ago, wiring a home for a security systems was the exception, not the rule, she said, now just the opposite is the case.