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Prevent Home Invasion
Home
invasions can be scary. For anyone. Are you
at the office when your twelve-year-old
child comes home from school? Do you let
them stay at home alone during the summer?
Talk to your child about safety issues. You
might not want them using the stove or
having friends over when you are not around,
but what about strangers who come to the
door? Sure you might have told them not to
answer the door. But unfortunately I have
heard about home invasions during the day
when burglars think no one is home. Thus, if
your child does not answer the door, a
burglar could see your house as a potential
target. Let us discourage these criminals.
Let us prevent home invasions from
occurring. I have been to neighborhood watch
meetings and talked to the police there. One
way to deter home invasions is to get an
alarm. You can get an alarm response service
(many give you a sign to put in your yard
telling people you have such a service) or
you can buy window and door alarms. You
attach the alarms to your window and door.
Call garden or hardware stores to find them.
Or check the Yellow Pages or go online.
One police officer
said the best home invasion deterrent is a
dog. If a burglar hears a dog barking inside
a home they might have second thoughts about
invading it. It is easier to burgle a house
that does not have a dog. If you do not have
a dog put a big bowl of water out front with
a few dog toys. And put a Beware of Dog sign
on your side gate. I have seen metal ones
with a growling Doberman.
I also have
seen ones with German Sheppards with
Guard Dog on Duty. Just tell your
gardener or pool man, if you have one, not
to be afraid of the dog(s). You can also think
about putting a dog dish on the side yard
with a big dog bone next to it. One senior,
who did not have a dog, told me she had "Big
Daddy the Best Great Dane" put on a dog bowl
for her. She put this bowl on the side of
her house.
Another idea to keep unwanted individuals
away is to make a tape of a friend's barking
dog. When scared, your child can play this
tape when some unknown person comes knocking
at the door. Also, put up a No Soliciting
sign to discourage unknown people from
knocking. And tell your child there is no
reason for a stranger to turn the door
handle. Some burglars do this in the off
chance you forgot to lock your door. Your
child should know about 911. And remember to
inform your child about any cable or
telephone repair workers who are scheduled
to come. This could be an unnecessary scare
for your child if you forget. To be extra
safe, I suggest you be there when the
workers come. Even if they are only working
out back.
Methods
burglars use to get into your house: A new
method burglars are using is to pretend to
leave business cards or flyers at the front
door. They even carry real cards just in
case. They ring the door bell. If no one
answers they go to the side gate. If it is
unlocked they will go through the gate and
break a back window. They will steal cash,
laptops, jewelry, wallets, and anything that
is easy to move. One neighbor told me her
house was hit like this. Her neighbor across
the street saw a man running across her
front lawn with her small bedroom safe. The
police told her criminals will look to see
if there are any cars parked in the
driveway. If there are not any, they will
assume that could be a good house to burgle.
She was away at work so her car was gone.
She now has a neighbor, who works at home,
park her car in her driveway during the day.
This could make your child feel safer. If
you have a good neighbor you can trust you
can tell them when your child comes home
from school, or when they will be staying
home alone during winter or summer break.
Another trick
is what I call the uniform scam. The burglar
dresses up as a tree trimmer, electrician,
meter man, or DWP worker. They knock on the
front door. If no one answers they enter
through the side gate. None of the neighbors
think twice about this because they look
official. If it is a team burgle, one might
go to the front door. When the teen or
senior opens the door the criminal says they
need to look at the trees in back because
the back neighbor is trimming their trees.
The criminal will be congenial, even make
you laugh. They will keep you occupied out
back while their partner goes through the
front door that was left unlocked. He does
the stealing. If an unknown person in a
uniform asks to be taken out back, just say
no. If they say they are police, tell them
you want to call their station first. If
they say they are a tree trimmer say you
will gladly call your neighbor now and talk
to them about the trees. You might see the
burglar high tail it out of there if his
cover can be exposed. One very sad story an
officer told me about was how two men in
security uniforms went to a home of an
elderly gentleman. They told him his
neighbor's house, a few houses down, was
just burglarized. They said they thought the
burglar could be in his backyard. The nice
elderly man was of course distressed. He
went out back with one of the pretend
security officers. The other stayed out
front. That is until he saw they were out of
sight. Again, this elderly man did not
relock his front door. This time because of
naturally being distressed. The second man
went though the home stealing cash and
jewelry while his partner kept the elderly
gentleman busy. The elderly and young are
easy targets. Keep your ears open for any
neighborhood scams you hear about and notify
others. One woman in my area, after her
house was robbed, made flyers of what
happened to her and what the criminal looked
like. She taped the flyers on lampposts.
Lastly, when
you take a trip do not announce it to the
world. Yes, a couple of neighbors should
know just to be on guard if anything fishy
goes on. Have them call the police if they
see anything odd. Leave a phone number where
you can be reached. I had a friend whose
aunt's house was robbed during the day when
they were on vacation. A moving van pulled
up in their driveway and some men took their
furniture away. One of the neighbors saw it,
but just thought they were moving. It ended
up the aunt told their maid when they would
be on vacation. The maid innocently told a
friend who told a cousin who sadly was a
thief. Take this tip into consideration:
Make it look like people are living at your
house while you are gone. Think about hiring
a neighbor kid to pick up flyers and cards
off your stoop, and to take the trash in and
out on trash day. Plug in light timers. Stop
all mail and newspapers or have a neighbor
pick them up. Consider having a friend stay
at your house or at least stop by at
different times.
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