Modern appliances, plenty of great amenities, and a peaceful neighborhood are all considerations when choosing your next apartment. Safety and security are also two factors to think about. You want you and your family to live in a peaceful and quiet neighborhood.
We’ll show you how to know if your chosen apartment complex provides the best safety and security for your lifestyle. All of our apartments in Joplin and beyond offer a secure environment for you and your family.
Research Crime Statistics
Start your search with local law enforcement agencies like the Joplin Police Department or Jasper County Sheriff’s Department. The City of Joplin has a list of crime statistics.
Online databases like the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporter (UCR) or the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). These platforms provide comprehensive crime data for cities, counties, and even neighborhoods.
Another way to go about this is to consult with neighborhood watch groups. They possess firsthand knowledge of local crime trends, offering insights that statistics might miss.
Consider using apps designed to analyze crime data, such as Citizen or Nextdoor. These tools often provide real-time alerts about incidents in the area. Another place to look is on social media while reading reviews on Facebook and Google. Locals might post about crime in the area.
Lighting
Look over several areas of an apartment complex to see if it has enough security lighting.
First, inspect the parking lots and pathways. Look for bright, consistent lighting that illuminates each corner, minimizing shadows where someone could hide. Next, check entrances, especially near stairwells, doors, and elevators. These spaces often attract foot traffic. Strong lights above and around these areas create safer zones for residents.
Beyond these areas, look for lighting along fences, shrubbery, and other exterior boundaries on the outskirts of the complex. Pay attention to light fixtures in these areas. Most, if not all, of them should be LED bulbs that provide clarity and brightness.
When you take a tour, which is normally during the day, look at the stairwells or hallways leading to the front door of your prospective apartment. Light fixtures should be placed to provide light in dark corners at night.
Security Cameras & Surveillance
The best way to assess a complex’s security cameras and surveillance system is to ask management about it. Where are the cameras located? They should cover key areas such as entrances, parking lots, stairwells, and elevators.
Cameras should be high-definition to capture details more clearly during the day. Cameras may be fixed at one angle, or they could have PTZ cameras that shift the view back and forth. All of the mounted cameras should be out of reach unless maintenance needs a ladder to make repairs. For viewing at night, HD cameras should have FLIR (forward-looking infrared) capabilities to see people and any animals that move in front of the cameras.
Ask the property manager about the recording system and its storage duration. Continuous recording provides the most security. Confirm the system retains footage for at least a few weeks, allowing adequate time for reviewing past events if needed.
Security Patrols
Likewise, ask property managers if there are regular security patrols that come by the complex. Another thing to enquire about is what the name of the security company is so you can research reviews of that company. Ask how often local police drive through the neighborhood. Again, you can call the local police station to find out more information about patrols in the area.
Beyond security patrols, find out what the emergency number for the complex is so that you can reach someone after hours. 9-1-1 is the go-to for the initial emergency response. But it’s a good idea to call the property manager after the emergency is over to let them know what happened.
Secure Entryways Into the Apartment Building
Sometimes, apartment buildings have separate entryways from your front door. This is an added security measure to keep residents safe. A secure entryway often includes a controlled access system, such as keycards, key fobs, or keypad entry, which restricts access to residents and authorized personnel only. As you take a tour of our apartments in Joplin or Webb City, see whether the doors automatically close and lock behind each entry to prevent unauthorized persons from following residents inside.
Look closely at the structure and durability of the doors themselves. Heavy-duty materials, like steel or reinforced glass, increase resistance to tampering or forced entry. Doors with reinforced frames and quality locking mechanisms further improve security. Some complexes may have a vestibule or double door system to create an extra layer of protection, requiring visitors to pass through two locked doors instead of just one.
Check for security measures around the entrances, like strong lights and security cameras. Every entrance and exit to your building should have enough lighting at night.
Deadbolt Lock
Evaluate the effectiveness of a deadbolt lock on an apartment door by looking over the bolt’s construction. A solid deadbolt extends fully into the door frame, making forced entry much harder. The lock should move in and out easily when you use a key and the latch on the inside.
Ask maintenance about a stronger strike plate for the deadbolt. This upgrade strengthens the area where the deadbolt locks into the frame, reducing vulnerabilities. High-security strike plates use longer screws, anchoring them deep into the wall studs, much like the home security lock for a metal door.
Sturdiness of the Door
Metal or wood, the front door to your apartment must be made of solid construction rather than hollow. Knock on the door to hear if it makes a hollow, echoing sound. When you open the door, is it easy to open, or does it have some weight to it? Solid doors typically have heavy-duty hinges, doorknobs, and locks. Doors made from reinforced wood or steel offer the best durability and significantly better protection than hollow doors.
Examine the door frame to see if it’s reinforced with wood or steel. Reinforced frames are less likely to warp over time. Look over the hinges. Secure hinges with strong, long screws make the door even more secure. On outward-swinging doors, check for tamper-resistant or concealed hinges, which prevent tampering from the outside.
Peephole for the Door
Does the door have a peephole? If so, can you see clearly through it? A well-placed peephole allows you to see the entire hallway or entry area without opening the door, giving you a clear view of visitors. Ideally, the peephole should sit at eye level for all adults, or some doors may include dual peepholes to accommodate different heights or people in a wheelchair.
The peephole should have a wide-angle view, reducing blind spots and allowing you to see anyone standing to the side of the door. High-quality lenses made from glass rather than plastic deliver clearer images, improving visibility, especially in low light. When taking a tour, have a buddy stand outside the door so you can look through the peephole to get a view of what you might see when visitors come to your place.
Security Door Chain or Equivalent
See if there are additional locks on the door’s interior, such as chain locks and swing bars. Chain locks prevent the door from opening fully, allowing you to verify visitors without letting someone in. Swing bars offer similar security but typically withstand more force.
If you have a metal door, you’ll need a different kind of lock on the interior of your door. Consider a home security lock made of high-grade steel that screws solidly into the studs of the wall and not just the door frame.
Covered Parking
Not all of our apartment complexes have covered parking. 20th Place has limited parking spots that are covered, and you can rent one for an extra fee if one is available. Look for bright, consistent lighting across the covered parking area. If you’re taking a tour during the day, search for the light fixtures near and by the roof of the covered parking spots.
Next, check for visible security cameras around the covered parking area. Cameras should have enough coverage for all parking spaces and key access points, as well as walkways and entrances to the parking area, helping track who enters and exits.
Fire Extinguishers & Fire Alarm System
Modern construction requires buildings to be up to code. Depending on where you live, codes may require fire alarms, smoke detectors, or fire extinguishers.
All of our apartments in Joplin have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. You will find manual fire alarms in common areas. We can show you where these items are on your tour.
Also, make sure to outline the fire escape routes should a fire break out in your building. There should be a map in your apartment and in the hallway. Interior hallways should have exit signs and emergency lighting that activates in the event of a sudden power outage.
Neighbors in the Building
If you see any neighbors in the building as you take a tour, ask them about the safety and security of the place. They might have some additional information that you haven’t seen online.
Read the reviews on Google and Facebook. Yes, some of the reviews might be from former residents who are not happy in general. But if many reviews say the same thing over and over, pay attention to those because they are consistent.
Live in a Safe Place at Our Joplin Apartments
Our Joplin apartments support your lifestyle in a safe, inviting environment. 20th Place is in a vibrant, growing community nestled within a strong Midwestern metro area.
Contact us or call (417) 622-0391 to schedule a tour of our apartments. We look forward to meeting you at your new home.
