5 Dorm Room Security Tips to Secure Your Valuables

With a new semester underway, the last thing you may be thinking about is your college dorm security. With so many people surrounding you in dorm life, including your roommates, hallmates, and resident assistants, having an unsecured dorm room puts you and your valuable possessions at risk. According to Campus Safety and Security, there were 38,100 reported campus criminal offenses in 2017, and 55.4% of them involved robberies, burglaries, or motor vehicle thefts.

While locking your door does certainly help prevent these threats, most college campus dorm rooms feature traditional keyed locks, which make misplaced or lost keys immediate security risks. At GoKeyless, we always recommend college administration update dorm security by switching to keyless door locks, so the hassle and security-risks that physical keys involve are no longer concerns.

If your college campus hasn’t upgraded to keyless door locks yet, there are ways you can protect yourself and your valuables with these following 5 college dorm security tips:

1. Always Keep Your Doors and Windows Locked.

Dorm life has its conveniences, for sure. It’s so easy to head down the hall for a quick chat, to use the showers, or to grab a snack from the vending machines without thinking twice about locking your dorm room door; however, while you’re away, your dorm room’s left vulnerable and exposed, leaving your valuable possessions, laptop and electronics, textbooks, and wallets readily available for potential thefts. Unfortunately, anyone is capable of theft, and not all thefts are committed by strangers. With friends, roommates, and peers constantly coming and going, it’s important to keep your dorm room secure at all times, and the easiest way to ensure you and your stuff remain protected is to keep your door and windows locked at night and whenever you’re away, even if you’re just running across the hall for a moment.

2. Install Dorm Security Cameras.

Your dorm room likely sees quite a bit of foot traffic throughout the day. By installing dorm security cameras, you can easily monitor your dorm security and ensure your valuables are protected, even when you’re not around. With wireless motion-activated surveillance cameras like the VistaCam 700, you can capture high-definition video and sound at all hours of the day and stream captured content live from your phone, allowing you to always keep an eye out for unexpected visitors. Having a dorm security camera is a great way to protect yourself in the off chance something goes missing. Be sure to check with your campus’s dorm policies to ensure you’re within the residential rules and regulations, as you likely won’t be able to drill into walls to install wired surveillance cameras, etc.

3. Keep All Valuables in a Safe.

As an extra layer of dorm security, consider investing in your own personal safe for your valuables. While you may get along with your roommate(s), you may not be in complete control over whom they invite to your room. By keeping valuable possessions, like jewelry, electronics, credit cards, cash, etc., locked inside your safe, you can rest assured that nothing will happen to the things that matter to you the most. At GoKeyless, we like the Gardall MS911-G-E for a keyless safe that’s heavy-duty and fire resistive!

4. Use a Security Bar for Additional Dorm Room Door Security.

Since most dorms use traditional keyed door locks, it’s understandable that students may worry about any lost, misplaced, or copied keys impacting their dorm room security. By using a security door bar as a second line of defense, you can prevent potential unwanted intruders from entering your room when you and your roommate(s) are sleeping, etc. Our Master Lock No. 265 security bar hooks under the door handle and uses a pivoting ball joint to assure it fully contacts the floor to prevent entry; it’s simple yet heavy-duty construction makes this an easy and inexpensive way to boost your dorm room security.

5. Protect Your Valuables Using Combination Locks.

There are so many secure storage options on the market for students, nowadays, including lock boxes, safes, locking cabinets, etc. If you have the space within your dorm, opt for one of these storage options for your more-valuable possessions and items, like your electronics, textbooks, assignments, sensitive files, etc. While it may feel over the top to lock up all of these items, it’s better to be safe than sorry, as having to replace your textbooks or redo an assignment could cost you worry, time, and money. Depending on your needs, you can also use laptop locks to secure your computers or expensive electronics and combination padlocks to secure other valuable items, like your bike, closet, etc. At GoKeyless, we love the Master Lock 1500iD Speed Dial Combination Lock because it’s as durable as it is easy to use, featuring anti-shim technology for maximum security, a great option for a dorm room lock.

Protect Your Valuables with GoKeyless

With so much to juggle during the semester, start the term by boosting your dorm room security, so you can focus less on worrying about your space, and more on what truly matters: getting the best out of your college education and experience. GoKeyless offers various security solutions to help you secure your valuable possessions and protect you from falling victim to theft.

For more information, visit the GoKeyless website, or contact one of our security-solution consultants today!