 o protect your home from burglars, consider these prevention tips from the
National Crime Prevention Council: |
 | Always re-key the locks when moving into a new house or apartment. |
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| Install reliable locks on all external doors. |
| Stick a broomstick or dowel rod in the track of sliding glass doors. |
| Drill a hole through the slide door frame and fixed frame of sliding glass doors, and insert a pin in the hole. This can prevent someone from lifting the door off its track. |
| Use key locks for double-hung windows. Or, drill a small hole at a 45- degree angle between the inner and outer frames and insert a nail that can be removed. |
| Cover garage windows with frosted contact paper. Sunlight can come in, but no one will be able to see inside. |
| Prune or remove bushes around doors and windows. Cut tree limbs that could be climbed to enter a window. |
| Install motion-sensitive lights outside or lights with photo cells that will turn on when it’s dark and off when it’s light. |
| Remove your last name from your mailbox. That way someone can’t look up your name in the phone book and call to see if you’re home. |
| Park a vehicle in the driveway. Not only will your house look occupied, but a burglar also won’t be able to back up and load a van. |
| Invest in an
alarm system from a reputable company. Or, have a dog to discourage intruders. |
| Keep all doors locked, even when you’re at home. Keep garage doors down and locked, too. |
| Give an extra key to a neighbor you trust. Avoid hiding spare keys outside the house. If you can “break in” to your own home, someone else can, too! |
| When you travel, ask a friend to pick up your mail and newspapers or ask the post office to hold your mail. |
| Use timers to turn lights on and off in different areas of your home while you’re gone. |
| Check that valuables such as expensive furniture, stereo equipment, paintings or coin collections aren’t visible from outside windows. |
| Take pictures of your valuables and write down their serial numbers and a description of them. |
| Make sure your telephone and answering machine can’t be heard outside. Record an answering machine message that says you’re unavailable to take the call rather than not at home. |
Copyright
© 2007 The City of Huntsville, Alabama 
03-19-2008
