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What
Burglars Know that You Should Know
by Nigel Smithers
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What
Professional Burglars Know that You Should Know
Professional burglars concentrate on easy targets because they know
their chances of success depend on their coming and going without
being noticed. So what can you do as a homeowner to make sure you
are not inviting someone into your home who doesn’t belong there?.
“As silly as it sounds,” says Nigel Smithers, a retired police
officer and the CEO of Watchdog Protection Industries, Inc., “the
first thing you should do before you leave home for work or play, is
make sure that all of your doors, including the garage door and side
garage entrance, are locked. An incredibly large number of burglars
don’t even have to break into a home because homeowners simply
forget to lock a swinging or sliding door.”
Smithers also recommends you remember to attend to ground floor
windows. “During the summer months especially, homeowners
frequently open windows to take advantage of the evening air and
forget to close them before they leave in the morning.”
Aside from the obvious, Smithers also recommends homeowners make
sure that they are not leaving subtle messages that no one is home.
“Unfortunately, many homeowners subscribe to newspapers that are
dropped on the driveway or front step after they depart for work.
This is an open invitation to a professional burglar who, when
canvassing a neighborhood, is observant enough to recognize an
opportunity when he sees it,” he said.
“A professional isn’t likely to hit a home the first time he
sees a newspaper on the driveway at noon, but he may take action if
it becomes a pattern,” he said.
To solve this problem Smithers recommends that homeowners either
make arrangements to have their newspapers delivered to a location
on the property that is not visible to the casual observer or that
arrangements are made for a neighbor to pick it up when it’s
delivered.
Another subtle invitation to a burglar is a security sign in the
yard but no related stickers on windows. “Homeowners all too often
think that the placement of a security sign in the yard will, in and
off itself, convince burglars to move on.
This isn’t the case,” Smithers says. “If a professional sees
that there are no window stickers accompanying that sign, he may
take a closer look. It’s an easy task to view through open
curtains to confirm the presence of window sensors and/or motion
detectors.”
Apart from the basics, Smithers also recommends homeowners attend to
the foliage adjacent to the home. “If bushes can be used to
conceal the burglar’s actions, they will be used,” he said. “I
don’t recommend cutting them down, but a good trimming once a year
will deprive a burglar the opportunity to use them to conceal his
actions.”
According to Smithers, the greatest defense lies in getting to know
one’s neighbors. “The first step to home security involves
neighborhood awareness. If everyone in the neighborhood is in the
habit of attending to the presence of strangers, the less likely the
burglar will bother to stick around,” he said.
“While I don’t recommend confrontation,” he continued,
“every stranger should know when he walks or drives through a
neighborhood that he is being watched.”
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| About
the Author |
Nigel
Smithers is a twenty year veteran of law enforcement and is the CEO
of Watchdog Security Industries, Inc., a home and business security
company serving Southern California. To learn more about crime in
your city, visit http://www.watchdog-alarms.com/html/crime_stats.html
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