"A more wretched hive of scum and villainy you will never find," said Sir Alec Guiness about the massively urban spaceport in Star Wars. The same could be said of virtually any major city, and if you live in a major city, you've got to be concerned with burglaries. Here are some tools for beating big-city burglars, assuming that you have a good fire escape ladder and some common sense.



It's that common sense that's the most vital in the long run. On any given city block, there are easily 200 apartments for a potential burglar to choose. And with the advent of burglar alarms and hidden security systems, it's no longer a good option for a thief to go from door to door, trying the knobs until he or she finds one that works. They need to make their decision about which houses to rob based on one question: is the risk worth the reward?

If your expensive possessions are all obviously visible from your windows--like, for example, the computer you're no doubt using to read this article--the answer to that question might well be yes. So follow common sense: keep your best possessions well out of sight from the street.

In fact, it's best to keep your apartment off of the street altogether. It doesn't take much effort to break into a first-floor or basement apartment, and it takes even less effort to remove the valuables from one. If you're on the third floor or higher, the ability of a thief to gain access to your home depends on one of two things: your leaving your door unlocked, or his willingness to risk a three-story or more drop by scaling the wall. It's not always an option to "live high"--but whenever it is an option, take it!

So why is the fire escape so important? If you do the sensible thing and live well above-ground, your apartment fire escape becomes your single most effective weapon against burglary. Modern fire escapes fold up against the window when not in use, usually allowing you to lock the ladder across your window from inside. This not only prevents people from accessing your fire escape for illicit purposes (smoking, barbecues, spitting on hapless passers-by), but it provides a perfect barrier against anyone who manages to scale your walls and get at your windows. What's more, a folding, locking ladder helps keep burglars from being able to scale your walls in the first place--sort of a perfect storm of burglary protection.

Big city burglary is a major issue, and not one you want to deal with. There's no way to foresee every eventuality, of course, and the lockpicks are always exactly as good as the locks. But a fire escape ladder and some common sense will help you weather the worst dangers of urban living.