Safe in the house?

And maybe a very fast running dog with the key on his collar????

I don't whether or not it's "common practice to have a safe..." either on STX or STT or STJ but I assume rather not.

I can only assume that you're concerned about crime and break-ins. A local t'ief will quickly figure out if you're an easy take, and you need to look at it from their perspective. First of all, most of them are pretty stupid and not high-tech to say the least.

If your house is dark on the outside, remote from other houses, doesn't have security lighting or a security system and has open slider doors or windows which are easily accessible from the outside, then you may well have a problem.

Although I could facetiously say that nobody in their right mind would leave their apartment or house that vulnerable, it too often happens. Trust is something not taken for granted throughout the Virgin Islands. Gone are the days when you could leave your house, car or business unlocked with not a fear - these are most different times.

So, not even knowing you and probably having scared the bejazers out of you, I answer as follows:

Yes, you can obtain through various local companies various safes which can be either bolted to the floor or placed below floor level. Check with local security companies and they'll be able to give you an abundance of information, including information on how to basically secure your home.

Frankly I'm not a big fan of such as ADT which rely on sensors and available power. Been there done that, and went another route!

Hope this helps, at least for a start!

I don't know if it is the norm. but we put one in our condo, just to be sure.

terry: maybe I'm just over-tired, but WHAT did you put in your condo? And, if it was a safe as Jeff originally posted about, and if you're on STX, could you please give some details about who Jeff might call to get more info?

I was considering Brinks, why don't you like them? Who would you recommend for security and why? My thoughts about adt and brinks was that police would be slow to respond? The average thief isn't going to beat the adt system I don't think?

WE bolted down one of those small floor safes. I brought it from the states. But I have seen ones like it at either the hardware store or K-Mart. On STX.

I've had a lot of experience with ADT over the years but should qualify that this was in business situations where the premises were locked up for the night and nobody was left on site. The major problems I had involved locking up at the end of a long day, getting home and going to sleep and then getting a call from ADT saying that the alarms had gone off and that I should go down to the premises and wait for the police who had been alerted.

Not once was there ever a real problem in all the times I blearily crawled out of bed, got dressed and drove off into the night (or early dawn!) and only a couple of times did the police ever show up. Either something glitched the system or, in one instance, a carton had fallen over setting off the motion detector. To say it got tiresome is an understatement!

A residence system is probably a whole different ballgame but with that I don't have any experience so I'll leave it up to others on the board to make their recommendations in that regard.

Police departments everywhere HATE these systems. The rate of false alarm caused by wind, animals, family member coming home, etc are extremely high. After your home or business gets the reputation for false alarms, you can kiss the chance of police responding good-bye.