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Community Corner

Burglar-Proofing Your Home

Make these minor changes to protect your house from theft.

FBI statistics say that a house is broken into every 15 seconds in the U.S. That’s a lot of burglaries. While you may want to look into an alarm system to protect your home from theft, there are a lot of common sense measures that you can take to thwart burglars.

Burglars don’t put a lot of time into planning a burglary, according to State Farm Insurance, and often burglars are simply looking for opportunity, like a home that is clearly not occupied or provides simple entrance, or a home that obviously contains many valuables. And while you may think that most burglaries happen at night, most occur during the daytime because that’s when many homeowners are at work or at school.

So, what can you do to prevent break-ins? Consider these tips:

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1. Put lights on timers and set them to go on at night when you’re not at home. A dark house is a clear giveaway that nobody’s home. You might want to consider putting radios on timers as well, so they can be heard outside the house.

2. Park in the garage, not in the driveway. If you do park in the driveway, robbers will be able to determine the pattern of when you’re out and when you are at home.

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3. Don’t leave clues about your absence. Think about having your mail and your newspaper subscriptions put on hold while you are away. You should keep your answering machine on low (so it can’t be heard outside), and forward calls from your land line so a robber can’t find out you’re not at home by simply placing a phone call. By all means, don’t leave a note on your door for a neighbor, mailman, etc. about your absence.

4. Keep valuables a secret. Don’t tell others about any valuables you may have in your home, as you don’t want word to get out to potential robbers. Good Housekeeping magazine suggests keeping drapes and blinds closed while you are away so burglars can’t see expensive valuables or furnishings from the outside. However, if you normally keep your blinds open when at home, but shut them when you are away, this could be a tip off. You might want to keep your drapes slightly parted to give an at-home look, ADT.com suggests.

5. Put outside lights on motion sensors. Motion sensors on lights will make it likely that if someone does approach your house at night, they will be seen.

6. Don’t hide windows behind bushes (since they can provide coverage for a robber), or if you do have bushes by your windows, plant potentially painful ones like rosebushes or bougainvilleas to thwart robbers. Also, consider placing beds of gravel around your home so burglars can be heard more easily, suggests Consumer Reports.

7. Keep all windows and doors locked. This suggestion sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t lock their windows and doors. Don’t leave keys in “secret” hiding spots around the home – a burglar is likely to find them. Hollow exterior doors should be replaced with solid wood or steel-wrapped wood-core doors, and all entry doors should have dead locks.

8. Be neighborly. Offer to keep an eye on your neighbor’s home when he or she is away, and ask that he or she do the same.

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