Your yard probably does more to tell a potential burglar that your home is a target than any other part of your home. Leaving your newspapers on the front porch, mail in the mailbox, uncut grass and unkempt shrubbery all point to someone who isn't home or who doesn't care much about the way their house looks, much less about home security.

The yard also includess unusual areas like the garage and attic. A good home defense plan takes all of this into consideration, both in securing your home and planning for when your security isn't enough.

Many experts recommend that you not have trees that overhang your roof, bushes that block sightlines to your windows and keep bushes trimmed. I'm not quite so fanatical about that because there are ways to incorporate security measures to make the point moot.

Take bushes for example, a simple motion sensor activated light will be enough to deter a burglar, especially when they are no longer hidden because of the huge spotlight now aimed at their hiding space. Then there's the obivious security measures. Don't leave ladders and other helpful items out where someone can get to them. Don't leave your garage door open.

The garage door requires special mention here. While a part of the house, most people consider the garage apart from the house. Garage door openers can be the bane of a home security plan. Since you probably use it every day, disconnecting is is only useful if you're going to be gone for some time. Also beware keypads. At the house we lived in as teens, our friends found out the code to our keypad by noticing which keys were dirtier and began punching in combinations until they got it.

The door leading from your garage to the house is an especially weak point. make sure the door is metal or a sold core door that is resistant to someone just kicking in. Also be sure to have a bolt lock on the door as well. If you do have a door leading to the side of the house make sure it's built to the same standard as all of your outside doors.

A lesser known threat is attics and attic crawlspaces. If you do happen to have trees that can potentially give somene access to your roof, pay attention. Make sure that someone cannot access your attic from the roof. If you have windows in the attic or some sort of roof access door make sure they're alarmed and resistant to damage. In addition the attic access should be locked from the inside of the home. That way if someone does break in, they'll have nowhere to go.

Granted that was a liquor store, but he was pretty persistent wasn't he?  Criminals and thieves are prone to do stupid things.  Let's face it, if they didn't do stupid things they wouldn't be criminals.  So please, look into ways to protect yourself and your family.