Protecting Your Home From Residential Burglary
Residential burglars generally are not professionals but will take advantage of an easy target. And burglaries can easily escalate to robbery if the burglar is surprised.
It doesn’t cost much to out-smart most residential burglars:
Tips on safeguarding your home
• Trim bushes and trees that hide doors and windows.
• Make sure windows have good locks, especially at ground level.
• Porches, entrances, and outside areas should be well lit.
• Maintain your yard, and keep tools and ladders inside.
• All exterior doors should have at least dead-bolts with a one-inch throw.
• Lock up when you go out, even if for a few minutes; burglars don’t need much time.
• Don’t hide your keys under the mat or in the flower pot; burglars look there first.
• Mark your valuable property with your driver’s license number.
• Keep a record of your property in a safe place.
• Install an alarm system for summoning emergency help.
• If you park your car outside, take your garage door opener in with you. By the time you realize it’s missing, the burglars have done their job.
When you go away
• Have a neighbor collect your newspapers and mail for you. Several newspapers at the end of your driveway lets the burglars know you are away.
• Put an automatic timer on at least two lights and a radio. Try photoelectric sensors to turn outside lights on and off automatically.
• Provide a trusted neighbor with your itinerary of where you will be and when you are coming home with all contact numbers.
Neighbors helping neighbors
While locks and lighting will help prevent residential burglary and robbery, there is much more to crime prevention. The front-line defenses against burglary and robbery is concerned neighbors who watch out for each other.
• Know your neighbors and discuss your concerns about your neighborhood.
• Be alert to things that invite burglary and robbery like poor street lighting, boarded-up buildings, a lack of recreational activities or jobs for teens, vacant lots littered with debris, and inadequate day-care and after-school programs. Work with law enforcement, civil groups, schools, churches and service clubs to solve the problems.
• Alert law enforcement to any suspicious activities and crimes.
• Report abandoned houses, nonworking street lights and other problems that invite burglars.
• Join a Neighborhood Watch Group. If there isn’t one, start one of your own with the help of law enforcement and community groups. This, too, will deter burglaries and robberies.
Joining a neighborhood watch
Joining a neighborhood watch is one of the most effective ways to prevent crime and reduce fear. Neighborhood watch fights the isolation that crime both creates and feeds upon. This creates positive relationships between the police and communities, forges bonds among area residents, and reduces burglaries and robberies.
Neighborhood watch groups are not vigilantes
While helping to prevent burglaries and robberies, watch groups are the eyes and ears for reporting crime and helping neighbors. Neighborhood watch builds pride and serves as a springboard for efforts that address community concerns such as recreation for youth, child care, and affordable housing.
Bernardsville NJ Real Estate Solutions - Charles "Chuck" Hendershot
I specialize in representing my clients in the purchase of Homes for Sale in Bernardsville, Basking Ridge (Bernards Township), Bedminster, Bridgewater, Peapack, Gladstone, Far Hills and Mendham, NJ. Whether you are buying or selling a new home, town house, condominium or apartment, EXIT Realty Group will help you find a property by map, MLS listing number, or price.
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