L.E.A.F.F. Eastvale
By LEAFF
Eastvale – In light of a few residential burglaries that have occurred in the city and the repercussions of AB109, 12 basic steps to prevent your house from being burglarized can be taken.
1. Perform routine tasks and clean up the outside of your property on a regular basis to show you are occupying your home. Empty your mailbox on a regular basis, collect old newspapers from your driveway, and pick up discarded trash that has landed in your yard.
2. Install timed lights or leave a radio or television playing if you are traveling or will be absent from your home for long periods of time. You may want to enlist a trusted friend or neighbor to keep an eye on your property and to collect your mail while you are traveling away from home.
3. Lock all your doors, windows, garages, and sheds when you leave your home to make it difficult for burglars to enter without attracting the attention of others. Test your locks durability by trying to open your doors and windows from the outside. Install sturdy deadbolt locks on your doors to prevent thieves from breaking in easily. If you have double front doors, use bungee cords to connect the door knobs to prevent thieves from kicking the door in. Remove the red knob tied to the string on your garage door track lock. This prevents hooking the knob and unlocking your garage door.
4. Make your doors and windows visible to the neighborhood and to the street. Cut away tree branches or high shrubbery that can hide burglars when they are breaking and entering your home.
5. Store your valuables away from windows or doors where they can easily be seen from the outside. You may want to hang privacy curtains over windows to make it difficult for others to see inside. Close shutters, blinds and pull curtains to prevent thieves from peering into your house.
6. Hide or destroy any outside trash that may advertise your personal belongings to the rest of your neighborhood. For example, you may want to break down or destroy boxes that contained valuable, expensive electronic devices you may have just purchased, such as a large television or stereo system.
7. Leave spare house keys with trusted friends, family, or neighbors instead of placing them outside on your property. Burglars may be familiar with common hiding places for spare keys.
8. Park your vehicles inside a closed garage to make it difficult for burglars to determine if you are home or not.
9. Install a home alarm system to deter burglars and to alarm authorities if there is a break-in. Consult with your home insurance provider to seek discounts for alarm systems. Place home alarm signs in the front yard to alert burglars that your home has an alarm.
10. Stray away from routine schedules to make it more difficult for burglars to predict when you will be absent from your home.
11. Only use fully shielded neighbor-friendly lighting that is equipped with motion or infrared detectors. Don’t create a nuisance or safety hazard with glaring lights that impair vision. Crime Prevention through Environmental Design recommends, “Lighting that does not create glare, light trespass, or deep shadows. Lighting only has potential to act as a deterrent if witnesses are present and can counter-productively attract attention to a target and assist a burglar. FBI statistics demonstrate that the majority of residential break-ins occur during daylight hours.”
12. Alter your outside landscaping to make it difficult for burglars to navigate your property without being seen or heard. You may want to surround your windows or home with loose gravel, stones, or rocks that will make noise when stepped on. Place plants or shrubbery under your windows or on your property that are difficult to navigate around, such as rose bushes with lots of thorns.
