With the Summer vacation season drawing near, we want to be sure that our homes are secure while we are away. Now may be the right time to evaluate our overall home safety practices in order to minimize the chance of a burglary at any time.
There is only so much a homeowner can do to protect against a burglary. Fact is, if someone wants to get into your home, they will. But, most residential burglaries occur during the day time working hours, while everyone is anticipated to be at work. A burglar does not want a confrontation with the homeowner. Just make sure that all doors and windows are locked, if you have an alarm system- use it. Dogs also make a good deterrent.
Knocking on the door or ringing the doorbell prior to forcing entry is a common tactic used by burglars. Remember, they usually do not want contact with the homeowner. If the homeowner makes their presence known, the burglar will most likely leave or make up an excuse for their presence without further incident. This typically occurs during the daytime when the burglar would expect the homeowner to be at work.
Rather than opening the door, turn up the TV and / or communicate through the closed, locked door. Most parents tell their home alone kids not to answer the door. That is still good advice, but they should, in some other way, let the other person know that there is someone home - "My dad is in the shower, can I tell him who's there?" Have a phone in your hand so that they know you have communication with the police. Whatever you feel is best for your situation.
Please remember that a knock at the door or a ringing of the door bell could be from someone legitimately attempting to contact the homeowner such as UPS, FedEx, etc. But failing to acknowledge the person at the door could also falsely lead a criminal to believe no one is home resulting in an uninvited entry into your home.
Pull your garage doors down at night and keep the interior garage door locked. That does two things, it keeps a burglar out of your house while you are asleep and it keeps them out of your garage stealing items from your cars parked inside. Keep in mind that a neighborhood with open garage doors looks like a neighborhood that feels safe and may not lock their car doors or house doors. That would be the neighborhood then that the criminal will choose to strike.
Open garage doors are an advertisement to a thief.
Please record serial numbers to all of your electronics, power tools and firearms. Photograph the electronic items both front and then take one of the serial numbers. Photograph and otherwise document any expensive jewelry.
Keep your digital photographs of your valuables and documentation on an external hard drive and lock it in a safe (bolted to the floor) or a safety deposit box.
Be mindful that many of the things that we take for granted may be an invitation to a thief to cause harm to our homes and ourselves. Be safe year round!
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