Back-to-School: Keeping Your LA Home Secure During Empty Daytime Hours

Here's a fact that surprises people: most residential burglaries happen in the daytime, not at night — because that's when houses are empty. Once school starts and the whole family is out the door by morning, your LA home goes quiet for eight or nine hours a day, five days a week. That predictable empty window is exactly what opportunists look for. Here's how to cover it.

Cover the real entry points

Burglars use the front door, back door, and first-floor windows far more than dramatic break-in spots. Make sure those are actually in frame — not just a wide, pretty shot of the yard that captures nobody's face. If you're not sure your coverage hits the right spots, our camera placement guide walks through it.

Turn "empty" into "watched"

The advantage of a modern system is that an empty house isn't an unwatched one. Person and package alerts let you glance at your phone from work the moment something happens on your property — and being able to see it live, then speak through the camera, is often enough to send someone walking. Just tune those alerts so they're meaningful and not constant; we cover that in features that actually matter.

Don't forget daytime deliveries

School-year afternoons are peak porch-pirate hours — packages sit on the step for hours with nobody home. A visible entry camera plus a few smart habits goes a long way; we rounded these up in how to stop porch pirates.

Make the house look lived-in

• Smart lighting on a schedule so the place isn't obviously dark and empty at dusk if you're running late.
• Keep the yard active-looking — mail picked up, no packages piling up.
• Pair lights with cameras; motion-triggered light plus a recording camera is a strong deterrent, as we explain in lighting + cameras.

Teach the kids the basics

If older kids get home before you do, a simple routine helps: lock up behind themselves, don't disable the alerts, and know how to reach you. A video doorbell lets them (and you) see who's at the door before opening it — see are video doorbells worth it.

Get covered before the routine sets in

The start of the school year is the perfect moment to close the gaps, because the empty-house pattern is about to repeat every weekday for months. If you want a second set of eyes on the house during school hours, we can usually set you up in a single day.

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