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Around The Home
- Use secure locks on doors and windows. Lock the door even if
you leave the house for only a short time.
- Use a deadbolt instead of a key in your doorknob lock.
- Never open the door to a stranger. Always ask for a
photo identification to be slid under the door.
- Leave extra keys with a trusted neighbor — not in the mailbox
or under the doormat.
- Install good exterior lighting. A burglar is more likely to avoid
a home or business where he can be easily observed.
- Keep shrubs and landscaping trimmed below window height. Don’t give a
thief a hiding place.
- Trim back branches that can be climbed to reach upper floor windows.
- Secure sliding glass doors and windows with a broomstick or metal
"Charley Bar."
- Don’t leave tools exposed in an unlocked garage. A burglar
could use them to enter your home.
- Be sure door hinges cannot be removed from the outside.
- Store ladders inside.
- Keep valuables in a safe deposit box.
- Don’t give strangers information over the telephone. Report
annoying calls and repeated wrong numbers to the police and
phone company.
- Report broken streetlights.
- Record your credit card numbers and serial numbers of valuable
documents and store them in a safe place or safe deposit box.
- Keep emergency telephone numbers near the phone.
- If you are in the backyard, upstairs or basement, be sure to
lock the front door, day or night.
- Close and lock all garage doors.
- Women living alone should list only their last name and first
initial on mailboxes or in the telephone directory. Never use
‘Miss’ or ‘Ms.’
- Call your local law enforcement agency and ask for a home
security survey. This is a free service that will tell you exactly
how secure your home is.
- Mark your property with an ‘Operation I.D.’ number. Operation
I.D. is a free service provided by local law enforcement agencies
through which you permanently mark or engrave all of your valuables
for identification. Contact your local law enforcement authorities
for more information.
- If you come home and find that your home has been
burglarized, don’t touch anything! Go to a neighbor’s home
immediately and call the police or sheriff’s department.
While You’re Away From Home
- Notify neighbors when you’re going on vacation or if you
expect to be away from home for any length of time. Ask them to watch
for strangers who might be near or around your home while you’re
away. Cancel newspapers and other deliveries. Accumulated newspapers
tell a burglar you’re not home.
- Ask a neighbor to pick up your mail and packages while you’re
away, or ask the Postal Service to hold them for you at the Post
Office until you return.
- Arrange to have your lawn mowed or sidewalks shoveled while you’re
away.
- Many police departments offer a "Dark House" service. You
simply notify them of the period of time you will be away, and give them a
phone number to be used in order to reach you in case of emergency. The
police responsible for patrolling your section of town will make regular
checks on your home in your absence.
Your Car
- Lock your car at all times. Never leave the keys in the ignition,
even if you’ll only be gone for a minute.
- Don’t leave packages on the seats or where they’re visible. Put
valuables out of sight or lock them in the trunk.
- Use your Operation I.D. number for your car and its
accessories as well as for valuables in your home (SEE TIP NUMBER
21).
- Never pick up hitchhikers.
- When you have your car serviced or parked by an attendant,
leave only the ignition key with the car. Your house keys should
be kept separate and taken with you.
- If you’re followed or harassed while driving, drive to a police
station. If the police station is too far away, drive to a gas station,
shopping center, or other well-lit area, and call the police or sheriff’s
department.
Teenagers
- Always lock your bicycle.
- Engrave your bicycle frame with your Operation I.D. number
and record it in a safe place.
- Don’t hitchhike.
- Use a strong, secure padlock on your school locker.
- Drinking while driving is a crime, and it could cost you
your life. Don’t accept rides from friends who have
been drinking.
At The Office
- At closing time, be sure that all desk and important file cabinets are
locked.
- Keep a minimum amount of petty cash, including "coffee money."
- Get an Operation I.D. number for the office. Mark typewriters,
postage machines, calculators, adding machines — anything of value
that’s easily stolen.
General Tips
- Set up a buddy system or Neighborhood Watch in your community.
- Avoid walking on poorly lit streets — especially if you know
the area has a high crime rate or bad reputation.
- Have your government checks directly deposited to your
bank. Direct deposit is a free service.
- Try not to carry a purse, but if you do, keep it close to your
body with a firm grasp, not dangling by your side where it can be easily
stolen.
- Large sums of money should be carried in a secure undergarment or
money belt.
- Don’t flash large amounts of cash. It’s an open invitation to a
thief.
- Report to police if you see someone trying to pry open a
car window or door.
- Tell your children not to accept rides or candy from
strangers.
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