My mom is buying a new lock

[unlisted]

Well Evan, I know from experience if the police are called in Ontario to a residence for a break in with no visible signs, a specialist officer is called to scene to check for "other methods" of entry, including checking for the locks being picked, bumped, etc. If the local Police are not willing to do this, insurance companies have a "claims officer" show up and check on things- after all, no insurance company wants to pay out, and will do their best to prove what really happened before payout.

Also, it has been proven many, many times that bypassing/picking/defeating a lock does leave easily identifiable evidence, if you know what to look for. (which police and insurance companies do know)

Sorry to hear the American system does not have any methods dedicated to trying to find out how a place was broken into... Kinda strikes me as odd...

And finally, as I have said before in other posts, actually having your residence broken into by someone (randomly) picking a lock- slim to none. It takes too much time compared to other methods of getting in. (plus, most people do use secondary security methods, including a audible/monitored alarm system) which even after a lock is defeated, would alarm.

[jwhou]

Hmm well there are large windows next to the door, so I think as a price consideration the lock probably won't matter much, since no matter how secure it is, someone could just break the windows.

There are security films which can be glued to the glass and anchored to the frame such that an attempt to just smash the glass to unlock the door will be frustrated enough to cause the thief to just run away.

I wonder if the sidelights being installed in the new homes are as vulnerable as the old glass ones, they are often multipaned and the inside pane doesn't feel or sound like glass when tapped. I'm not about to take a baseball bat to mine to find out but it may not be the same security issue that they once were.

I do know that a friend of mine was burglared by someone who smashed the glass and unlocked the door, the thief actually cut themself on the glass. But that house was probably built in 1902 and the renovations had all been in keeping with the architectural style so it was just single pane glass. What he did to improve security was plant thorny brambles all along the fence so that blood would be drawn far before they reached the back door.

[fjardeson]

@Evan

Amen. How many police departments have a forensic lock technician around? Heck, how many local lockies have even READ LSS all the way through?

Being interesting in these kinds of things I dismantled one of my "confidence" locks and examined the pins with a jeweler's loupe. The pick marks were more obvious than a (expletive deleted) in the punch bowl.

I'm surprised CSI or NCIS hasn't used this as a plot element - very few people even know that you can examine a lock post-mortem to see if it has been picked or even attempted to be picked

[gswimfrk]

Evan,
I would suggest a Best lock with a keymark by medeco cylinder or a standard core with security pins inside. Or you could go with a brand similar Baldwin quality but without the kwikset cylinder like Emtek or Omina they are both brands that make their locks with forged brass not cheap cast fake brass.

P.S. Emtek is an Assa Abloy Company their quality is quite nice!