We just got a report of an attempted break-in in Hillcrest West. The homeowner was not at home at the time. Someone tried to pry open the front door.

We have had reports of several other attempted or actual break-ins in the past few months. It seems as though whoever is doing this has a pretty good idea of when people are or are not home. 

Following are some things you can do to help protect your home and your belongings:

  1. Dial 911 for police help. Even if you just suspect something is not right call 911 and ask them to send someone by to check. You pay taxes for this service!
  2. Talk to your neighbors. Let them know what’s going on in the neighborhood. Write down the emergency telephone numbers of neighbors you know you can call if something is not right. Keep the numbers by your telephone(s).
  3. If you see a crime being committed, you should immediately call 911.  You should never try to resolve the issue yourself.  Try to get a good description of the perpetrator and/or the car’s license number and description for the police. If the crime has taken place in your residence, do not enter the dwelling but immediately call the police instead. 
  4. Keep lights on around your home, especially if you will not be there. Use timers to turn lights on and off at various times and at different locations throughout your home.
  5. Keep the outside doors to your home locked at all times, including when you are at home.
  6. Don’t leave house keys hidden outside your home.
  7. Hide your valuables. If you store valuables within your home, hide them and do so in the most unlikely places possible.
  8. Make sure shrubbery and trees don’t hide doors and windows. Shielded entrances can provide greater cover for burglars to enter your residence unnoticed by neighbors and passers-by.
  9. Don’t open your door to a stranger. By opening your door, you could be giving a would-be burglar easy entrance into your home.
  10. Don’t make it common knowledge that you are going to be away from your home.
  11. When you are away from your home, don’t leave notes on the door such as, “I will return at 4:00 p.m.,” or “I will be back in town next Tuesday.” Such notes let burglars know their break ins won’t be hampered by the residents.
  12. If you are going to be gone from home for several days, stop your mail, newspaper, and various other regularly scheduled deliveries. An alternative to stopping deliveries is to ask a friend to pick up such items each day from your house and keep them until you return. A box full of mail and a pile of newspapers alert a potential burglar that the residents probably are not at home and, therefore, that they will not foil an attempt at entry.
  13. Consider leaving a radio running inside your home when you are away.
  14. Use light-sensitive devices to automatically turn lights on at the appropriate degree of outside darkness and off at the appropriate degree of outside lightness.
  15. Ask police to patrol. If you plan to be away from home for more than a few days, consider asking the police or sheriff’s department to check your house regularly while you are gone. Such checks, if observed by a would-be burglar, could discourage the planned break in. The checks could also stop a break in while in progress.
  16. Make sure outside door frames are solid, substantial, and firmly attached to your home.  
  17. Use dead bolt locks with at least a one-inch throw on all outside doors of your home, including the door leading from the garage to your house. If glass is near enough to a lock to allow someone to break the glass and reach through to the lock, make sure the lock requires a key to unlock it from the inside.
  18. Have heavy-duty night chains on all appropriate outside doors of your home, and make sure they are mounted so as to withstand an attempted forced intrusion. Heavy-duty night chains provide added protection. (Ordinary night chain systems are relatively easy to break through.)
  19. Make sure windows and sliding glass doors are securely constructed and have strong, dependable, and tight-fitting locks. Consider additional locks and latches.
  20. Join your Neighborhood Watch or form a group if your neighborhood does not have one.

Take action to prevent this from happening!