How to Reduce the Opportunity of Burglary
1. Lock all your doors and windows. Install dead bolt locks, pins in your windows and peephole in your house door.
2. Leave a light burning upstairs and downstairs. Exterior areas of your home also should be lighted.
3. Use a timer to switch lights on and off if you are away.
4. Never leave notes on your house doors for family and friends. Burglars look for easy targets and a note is a signal that no one is at home.
5. Join a neighborhood watch program. Neighborhoods looking out for each other is the best deterrent to burglary.
6. If you think prowlers are in your home, don't enter. Go to the nearest neighbor, call the police and watch your home until the police arrive.
7. Valuables should be engraved with an Operation ID Number which is assigned by the Community Crime Prevention Unit of your local police department.
8. Never open the door to a stranger. Require proper identification.
9. Stop milk, paper and other deliveries "until further notice", whenever leaving town.
10. Have a neighbor pick up your mail and advertising circulars daily. Also, arrange for lawn care.
11. Keep trees and shrubbery near the house trimmed. Don't give the intruder a place to hide.
12. Have a Home Security Survey completed by your local police department.