Tips on Keeping Your Home and Family Safe

The first step to protecting your home is deterrence -- protecting your home by discouraging intruders from making their next target. Burglars don't want to risk being caught, so they are less likely to victimize a house that looks occupied or protected by a security system.

Use these simple techniques to keep your home safe.

• Be sure to lock all doors and windows. Forty percent of home intrusions occur through an unlocked door or window.
• All outside doors should be metal or solid wood.
• All outside doors should have deadbolts installed.
• Secure sliding glass doors with pins to prevent both horizontal and vertical movement.
• Put curtains or blinds on all windows and keep them closed at night and when you are away.
• Install a professional home security system that's monitored twenty-four hours a day. Be sure to post yard signs and decals to warn intruders that your home is protected. According to FBI statistics, a home with a professsionally installed security system is 15 times less likely to be burglarized than a home without a security system.
• Install outside lights or motion lights and keep them on at night. Thieves hate bright lights.
• Put lights and a stereo or TV on a timer to give the appearance that someone is home.
• When you travel, don't stop your mail or newspaper deliveries. Instead, have a friend or family member pick them up.
• Install a peephole or wide-angle viewer in all entry doors so you can see who is outside without opening the door. Door chains break easily and don't keep out intruders.
• Make sure all family members know not let strangers into the home. People pretending to be service people have robbed many homes. Make it a habit to require identification of all service people. If there is any question, the homeowner should call the company to verify that he is who he says he is.
• If a stranger asks to use your phone, get the information and place the call for him. Do not allow strangers into your home.
• Instruct young children never to answer a doorbell or a knock at the door.
• Do not leave a key under a doormat, in a mailbox, or other outside location where a burglar could easily find it.
• Do not give house keys to parking lot attendants or car repairmen. Give them your car ignition key only.
• On your answering machine, never leave a message that you are not home.
• Replace or re-key all locks immediately after moving into a new home.
• Make a list of your valuables -- video equipment, stereos, computers and jewelry. Take photos of the items, list their serial numbers and description. Check with the Police Department about engraving your valuables with your driver's license number or social security number.
• Keep your yard clean. Prune back shrubbery so it doesn't hide doors or windows. Cut back tree limbs that a thief could use to climb to an upper level window.
• Do not leave ladders or tools outside your house where a burglar could use them to break into your home.
• Never leave garage doors open.
• Keep valuables and presents hidden from outside view.
• Keep important papers, valuable jewelry and large amounts of cash in a safe deposit box.
• When you purchase new electronic equipment, do not "advertise it". Break down the cartons before throwing them out.
• Join a neighborhood watch program. Contact the Police Department for this and many other Departmental Programs.