Home sweet fortress?

Another way the rich are different: They can afford elaborate home security systems.

That makes it all the more frustrating when burglars get in.

"We've had cases where people came home and saw the red light" still glowing on their alarm systems, said Lt. Ray Lombardo, head of the Los Angeles Police Department task force investigating burglaries in the Bel-Air area. "It was like nothing was wrong.

"Then they go in and see the place was ransacked."

The majority of upscale Westside homes that were hit in a recent rash of burglaries -- netting thieves nearly $8 million in cash and jewelry, according to victim reports -- had alarm systems.

Those systems were often inadequate or outdated, Lombardo said. And even if they were relatively extensive and new, thieves found ways around them.

"We are dealing with modern-day, sophisticated burglars," Lombardo said. "Professional burglars know alarm systems and have the ability to bypass them."

Last week, movie director William Friedkin and former Paramount Studios chief Sherry Lansing sued the nation's largest home security company, ADT Security Services Inc., charging it with negligence in connection with a burglary of their Bel-Air home in December. Thieves got in, even though the home had a $25,000 system, according to the suit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

ADT spokeswoman Ann Lindstrom said the company did not comment on pending litigation.

At best, experts say, an alarm system should be viewed as only one aspect of home security -- and maybe not the most important part.

"When I do a security survey of a house, I first make recommendations that are relatively inexpensive," said Lauralee Asch, a crime prevention coordinator for the city of Santa Monica. The city offers the surveys free for residents.

Her suggestions focus on matters such as proper locks, exterior lighting and keeping shrubs cut low. She normally doesn't suggest an alarm unless the resident brings up the topic.

"I advocate alarms when people really want them, when it gives them a good sense of security," she said.

For those who take the electronic alarm route, Asch suggests making a lot of noise.

"The 'silent' type of alarm will just send a signal to a monitoring station," she said.

"But if an alarm is also audible, there is a better chance a neighbor might look out and get a description that might aid the police."