ADT Meridian, Idaho

A Home Security System Can Be Useful Even In Safer Cities Like Meridian, ID

Meridian is located near the capital city of Boise, ID and is the second largest city in the state. It’s been voted as one of the best places to live in Idaho, as it is an attractive city with a relatively mild climate for the region, plenty of opportunities for outdoor recreation and a pretty low crime rate. Perhaps this is why it’s the fastest-growing city in Idaho. Taking the crime rate into consideration, there’s still some potential benefits to having a home security system for those living in this city.

Overall Crime

The crime rate in Meridian is 56 percent lower than the average in the U.S., making the city safer than 74 percent of the other cities in the country. The crime rate went down by 14 percent between 2014 and 2015. There are 12.70 crimes per 1,000 residents each year in Meridian. This means residents of the city have a 1 in 80 chance of becoming a victim of some type of crime in any given year. Because of the higher population density in the city, it does have more than the national average of 32 crimes per square mile with 43 crimes per square mile. It’s relatively rare to find a city that has a lower than average number of crimes per square mile because the country has so many places with a relatively low population density.

Violent Crime

When it comes to violent crime, Meridian’s rate of 1.07 crimes per 1,000 residents is less than one-third of the national average of 3.8 crimes per square mile. This means a resident has just a 1 in 935 chance of becoming a victim of a violent crime in any given year.

Property Crime

In a state known for having one of the lowest property crime levels (with only New York State and Puerto Rico having lower levels), Meridian has particularly low levels, with just 11.63 property crimes per 1,000 residents each year compared to an average of 17.44 crimes per 1,000 residents in ID and a national average of 24.9 crimes per 1,000 residents. This means residents have a 1 in 86 chance of becoming a victim of some type of property crime in any given year. Property crime still makes up most of the crime in the city, however, with 69 percent of crimes consisting of thefts and another 19 percent of crimes consisting of burglaries. Protect yourself from burglary by having a monitored alarm system, shutting and locking all windows and doors, installing lights on motion sensors by all the doors and making sure to have a particularly solid and secure front door with a deep-set deadbolt. Getting a dog can also be helpful for deterring burglars and will provide you with a loving companion that will encourage you to get more exercise and stay healthy.

Safest Areas

Within the city, the neighborhoods of West Chinden Boulevard/North Ten Mile Road, East Amity Road/South Eagle Road and Sonna are the safest and West Franklin Road/North Meridian Road is the least safe neighborhood. While Meridian itself is pretty safe, some of the smaller nearby cities have even lower crime rates. These include Parma, Emmett, Eagle, Hidden Spring and Wilder. Other nearby towns, including Caldwell, Middleton, Star, Nampa and Garden City, have much higher crime rates.

Police Presence

The Meridian police department employs 97 officers and 26 civilians, with a ratio of about 1.4 officers per 1,000 residents. This is much lower than the ID average of 2.4 officers per 1,000 residents and the national average of 3.3 officers per 1,000 residents. However, the lower than average crime rate may justify the smaller police force. They seem to be doing a great job, with an overall case clearance rate of 35 percent, which is higher than the national average of 28 percent. Their burglary clearance rate is just below the national average of 12 percent at 11 percent, but otherwise, they have a higher than average clearance rate for all crimes except for robberies. A video verified alarm system will take a video whenever the alarm goes off, limiting the risk of false alarms wasting police time and making it easier to catch anyone that should attempt to burglarize your home.

Potential Security System Benefits

Most people think of home security systems as a way to prevent burglaries and don’t realize the other potential benefits they can provide. For example, these security systems can also be used to monitor the home for fires or high carbon monoxide levels. This means someone will be notified right away in case of a fire even if nobody is at home, making it so that the overall damage can be limited. These systems can also be set up so that elderly individuals or those with health issues can quickly alert someone if they have a medical problem and get the help that they need. Another potential beneficial use of this type of system is to set it up as part of a smart home system. When this is done, you’ll be able to make changes to the home whether you’re at home or not using a smartphone. These include turning on or off lights, locking or unlocking the door and changing the temperature of the home. This can be very convenient, especially if you’re one of those people that’s always driving off and then wondering whether you forgot to turn off the lights or lock the door.