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Burglary Prevention
Home Burglary Prevention
To Help Prevent Your Home From Being Burglarized:
To Help Prevent Your Home From Being Burglarized:
- Make your home look occupied and make it difficult to break in to.
- Make sure that when you leave, your curtains or blinds are closed so that a burglar can't see inside to "shop" or realize that the house is empty.
- Install motion activated lights around your home's exterior. This means when someone approaches, the lights will automatically come on. This accomplishes 2 things: a) it lights up the area and most criminals don't like to work in the spotlight; b) it makes a potential burglar unsure if you are really gone.
- Leave lights on when you are gone. If you are going to on a trip, use automatic timers on your lights - burglars notice lack of lights, but they also notice when a light has been on for too long.
- Make sure that your home is visible from the street. This means keeping your property free of high grass and weeds, overgrown trees and shrubs and other clutter. If a neighbor or an officer can clearly see your home and property, a burglar has fewer places to hide from view.
- Make sure that all of your windows and doors are properly secured. Look into different types of door and window locks at your local hardware store or call a locksmith, there are many types and only you can know which is best for your home and family.
- If you are going on a trip, either stop mail and newspaper deliveries while you're gone or ask a trusted person to collect your mail and newspapers on a daily basis. A stack of mail or newspapers is a sure sign to a burglar that no one is home.
- Pushbutton locks on doorknobs are easy for burglars to open, use a deadbolt.
- Sliding glass doors are vulnerable, check into specialty locks to make them more secure.
Other Helpful Hints
- Lawn mowers, weed eaters, barbeques and bicycles are best stored out of sight.
- Always lock your sheds and garages.
- Never leave notes on your door indicating that you are gone or when you will return.
- Never leave keys under doormats, in mailboxes or in other hiding places. Burglars know where to look for "hidden" keys.
- Be a good neighbor - if you see a suspicious person or activity, call the police immediately.
- Keep a detailed inventory of your valuables. The list should include make, model and serial number or other identifying information for each item. Take photographs or video of family heirlooms or antiques that have no make, model or serial numbers, your insurance company may be able to help with this. Keep the list in a safe place where it can be easily located if needed.
- If you have items with no serial number on them, mark them with your driver's license number. Marked items are difficult for a burglar to pawn or sell and easier for police to locate.
- Consider installing an alarm or video surveillance system.
Vehicle Burglary Prevention
To help prevent your vehicle from being burglarized:
To help prevent your vehicle from being burglarized:
- Lock your car. Regardless of how far away you will be from from your vehicle or for how long.
- Take your keys. This will also help prevent your vehicle from being stolen.
- Hide your belongings. This means do not leave any items in plain sight in your vehicle. This would include GPS systems, radar detectors, cell phones, purses, shopping bags, loose change, CD's, etc. Place these items in your trunk, under a seat, or take them out of the vehicle when you get out. Merely "covering" items with a jacket, towel or other similar item does nothing more than peak a thief's interest into what is under that cover.
- If at all avoidable, do not park your vehicle on the street overnight or while no one is home. Thieves feel more comfortable approaching a vehicle parked farther away from a residence or building as it makes it less likely that they would be noticed or recognized by people, pets or security devices.
- If you own a pick up truck, don't leave items in the open bed of the truck. If you own a vehicle with a convertible style top, don't leave the top down.