Most home burglaries begin with a door being kicked in. This shatters the door frame at the lock. Typical door frames are wood, 3/4” by 5”, with a recess for the lock bolt which is surrounded by a thin piece of brass (the strike plate). The lock bolt fits through the hole in the strike plate and into the hole in the door frame. The problem with this setup is that on typical doors, the screws holding the strike plate onto the door frame are a mere 1/2” in length. Replacing those short screws with 2 1/2” or 3” screws makes it MUCH more difficult to kick in the door because the longer screws reach all the way into the 2” x 4” wall studs behind the door.
Adding a second lock at the bottom of the doors, and attaching both strike plates with 2 1/2” or 3” screws creates doors which are EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to kick in.
GET TO KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS.
CALL 911 IF YOU OBSERVE SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY!