Home and Neighborhood Safety (PART 1)

Home and Neighborhood Safety

PATROL-911's Crime prevention and personal safety tips to help keep you and your community safe from crime
In these times of economic distress, many people are concerned about the threat of rising crime in their communities. Fortunately, there are ways to help protect your home and your neighborhood from crime. From simple steps like keeping your doors locked to starting a Neighborhood Watch program, there are plenty of things you can do to                                                          prevent crime.


Work with your neighbors to keep your neighborhood clean and orderly. Keep spare keys with a trusted neighbor or nearby shopkeeper, not under a doormat or planter, on a ledge, or in the mailbox. Set timers on lights when you're away from home or your business is closed, so they appear to be occupied. Illuminate or eliminate places an intruder might hide: the spaces between trees or shrubs, stairwells, alleys, hallways, and entry ways. With many law enforcement agencies cutting costs, it has never been more important for citizens to work together to prevent crime.

Essential Crime Prevention Tips Every Homeowner Should Know


Smart homeowners plan for the worst–natural disasters, rusty pipes, burglaries, and the like. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the rate of household burglary decreased by more than half from 1994 to 2011, from a peak of 63.4 victimizations to 27.6 victimizations per 1,000 households. But the median financial loss during completed burglaries went up, from $389 in 1994 to $600 in 2011 (numbers adjusted for inflation). 

No matter where you live, you can protect yourself more effectively by planning ahead–and it doesn’t have to involve putting steel bars over your windows, adopting a dog, or investing in an expensive security system (though those may help too), or even as a community retain the service of a private Patrol service. PATROL-911 suggests that homeowners looking to burglar-proof their homes should take a three-fold approach: deter, detect, and delay.

Tip #1: Look. Walk around your home with the eyes of a burglar. Look for weaknesses–sliding doors that could be jimmied off the track, glass that could be broken to gain entry, window unit air conditioners that could be easily removed,

Tip #2: Lock the door.

It may seem obvious, but the BLS reports that more than 40 percent of burglaries don’t include forced entry–meaning people are leaving doors and windows unlocked. Install deadbolts on all doors; double cylinders are best, since they require a key on both sides of the door, and it prevents burglars from breaking a pane of glass, reaching around, and unlocking the door.

Tip #3: Don’t hide a key.

One day, you forget your keys, and you decide it’s a good idea to hide one under the doormat or one of those fake rocks. BAD idea.  pretend you never even considered it. Give a spare key to a neighbor instead. If your closest neighbor lives 10 miles away, and you absolutely must leave a spare key outside, put it in a combination lockbox.

Tip #4: Don’t label keys or your mailbox.

If you lose your key and it has your address written on it, well–you do the math. It’s pretty easy to become a target. Also, don’t write your last name on your mailbox. It’s easy to look you up, find your phone numbers, maybe even your workplace, and begin to track your movements in preparation to enter the home when you’re not around.

Tip #5: Secure windows and sliding doors.

Many sliding doors can be popped off the frame, even when locked. Prevent this by placing a strong steel bar or two-by-four in the back groove, which prevents the door from sliding along the groove and opening. You can do the same with windows: Install a nail in the frame to prevent the window from opening more than a few inches.

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