The most common threat to our home is burglary

By: Ron Viola

According to the FBI, a burglary occurs somewhere in the United States every 15.4 seconds. By definition, the crime of burglary is a non-confrontational property crime that occurs when we are not at home. However, becoming a burglary victim can leave a family feeling vulnerable and violated. To avoid becoming a burglary victim, it is important to first gain an understanding of who commits them and why.

Here are some tips to follow to protect yourself from burglary.

Be a good neighbor

• Get to know all your adjacent neighbors
• Invite them into your home and establish trust
• Agree to watch out for each other’s home
• While on vacation – pick up newspapers, and flyers
• Offer to occasionally park your car in their driveway

Lighting

• Use interior light timers to establish a pattern of occupancy
• Exterior lighting should allow 100- feet of visibility
• Use good lighting along the pathway and at your door
• Use light timers or photo-cells to turn on/off lights automatically
• Use infra-red motion sensor lights on the rear of single family homes

Items left in vehicles:

• Make sure you have not left anything of value in your vehicle that would make it a target. Do not leave iPods, cell phones, GPS devices, etc in plain sight.

Outdoor lighting:

• Most of the houses are equipped with lights that turn on automatically when it gets dark. A number of residents have not replaced burned out bulbs thus creating dark areas on their property. If you are concerned about energy usage, purchase the coiled fluorescent bulbs which use less energy and last a long time. Keeping the lights on should help deter criminal activity.

For more prevention information go here

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.