 The spring and summer months are prime time for burglaries. Take a moment to read through this list of prevention tips to see what further precautions you should take to protect your home and family.
- Lock your doors, garage doors and windows.
- Remove shrubs and trees that block your windows. This eliminates cover that burglars can use to enter your house. Consider planting “sticker bushes” below windows with easy access into the house.
- Close your blinds and curtains at night. Don’t leave expensive items in plain view of windows and doors.
- Video tape or photograph your valuable possessions and keep the photos/tape in your safe deposit box or at work.
- Keep your garage door(s) closed when possible and always lock the door to the house if you have an attached garage.
- Light all entry points to your house. You might want to consider using a dusk to dawn sensor for porch lights. Also consider installing motion-detection lights.
- Keep an eye on repair workers at your house.
- Consider having a security system installed in your home.
- Place a bar or wooden dowel rod in your sliding glass door runner. Install set screws in the upper casing. This prevents the door from being lifted out of its track.
- Never leave a house key in an obvious place such as under the door mat on the front porch.
- Let a trusted neighbor know you will be gone so you will have someone to watch your house. Consider giving the neighbor a key to check in side your home if needed.
- Give a trusted neighbor your itinerary, a phone number where you can be reached, and the phone number of a local relative for emergencies.
- Use your business address and phone number on your luggage rather than a home address and phone number.
- Temporarily halt newspaper and mail deliveries when leaving for vacations.
- Put several lights in your house on timers so it always looks like someone is home.
- Never tell strangers that you are going on vacation.
- Before you leave on vacation, lower the ringer on your phone. Do NOT record a message on your answering machine stating that you will be gone.
- Mow the grass the day you leave. If you will be gone more than one week, have someone mow and water while you are away.
- Install double deadbolts that lock with a key from both sides, especially in doors with glass sidelights or large windows. *It is very important to always keep the deadbolt keys in the same place, one set upstairs and one set downstairs. You and your family members must be able to get the keys and unlock the deadbolts quickly in an emergency.
- If you suspect that your house has been burglarized, do not enter it. Go to a neighbor's house immediately and call the police.
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