How do you stop burglars?

[MartyH]

There's an article doing the rounds that suggests the things that robbers look for when looking at houses to rob. It has things like rundown front doors with single locks, overflowing mailboxes, dark and overgrown areas and visible interiors. All pretty obvious things that would make a house enticing for a robber. 

I'm more interested to hear of things you can do to actively help stop burglars. I'm not sure investing in an alarm system is worth the expense and hassle, but I'm open to feedback from others. What other things do you do or have you installed as a deterrent to burglars?

[Kermit]

[ProjectPete]

Burglars are generally opportunists so the simple things like taking your mail and bins in, having a car in the drive, etc (including (especially) when on holiday) are actually really important things to do.

Security alarm systems have proven to be an effective deterrent, in fact I remember reading that somewhere in the vicinty of 70-80% of burglarly claims (for insurance) come from houses without an alarm system and those with monitored alarms accounted for less than 5%. My system with sufficient sensors, cameras, control and monitoring from my mobile, and central control room monitoring all make my house safer.

Dogs can definitely be a strong deterrent.

[Kermit]

How reliable is your system @ProjectPete? I hate the idea of an overly sensitive alarm going off when we're not around because the wind blew or a cat walked past or something and annoying the neighbours. And I don't think I could stomach the ongoing cost of a monitored system.