Sherman Oaks Crime Alert reported in L.A. Times

An email from Public Saftey First shared that 45 crimes were reported for the week of April 8 through April 14, compared with the area's weekly average of 34.1 over the last three months. Studio City and Toluca Lake have also shown an increase.

As the owners of Flam's Lock and Key, we feel passionate that you be educated about the difference between 'real' security and 'feel good' security, and the difference is between high security locks and common locks.

High security locks are both pick and bump resistant and, if sold the proper brand and style, also come with key control. This means the keys cannot be duplicated because other security professionals do not have access to your key blank, unlike "Do Not Duplicate" keys that most unethical locksmiths will cut to make a few bucks.

Let me back up a moment and say that I agree with most of you that if a professional wants to break into your home or business, they will, regardless of good locks, alarms, dogs, etc. But here is the deal; we are protecting ourselves from random break-ins which account for 98 percent of burglaries. The goal of security is really quite simple: if your place is harder to break into than your neighbors, then you have accomplished your goal! It is is not neighborly but it is true.

Another important fact is that we believe in alarm systems and have them ourselves. However, they are your second line of defense. Physical security is your first line of defense. The idea is to keep them out, not have the alarm go off after they are in.

I can also tell you from our own personal experience that the one friggin' time I forgot to set my alarm, we had an attempted break in.

Most manufacturer's make their own brand of high security locks, and a good security professional should carry them all. Our favorite is Medeco because that is all they do. Medeco didn't jump on the bandwagon, they invented it.

I know we will see the usual comments fromm "I have a gun, let them try," or, "I have a big dog", etc. But in the real world, everything I said above is the truth, the least messy, and doesn't require a court defense. There will also be others who say this is advertising but to that I respond...where do you draw the line between advertising and educating and informing? There are really a lot of people in our community who appreciate this information and for them, this is written.

Yours in Security,

Jack and Vikki Flam