Most crime can be prevented by taking the proper precautions. By eliminating the opportunity, you can stop crime before it occurs. Follow these helpful tips to eliminate opportunities for crime.
- Make sure vehicles are locked
- Do not leave anything of significant value in a vehicle
- Use external lights that are activated by motion
- Be alert for any suspicious vehicles or persons
The following Crime Watch articles were written by Captain Dale Kittles of the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office
Crime Prevention Tips – Home Safety
Safety experts agree that the best way to deal with crime in the home is to take every step possible to prevent it from happening to you. Every person should know – at the very least – basic yet important crime prevention tips that will keep you and your family more safe and secure.As explained in greater detail in this section, law enforcement and security experts will tell you from years of statistics and experience – criminals will almost always look for the easiest possible targets. While no one can be guarantee 100% that no one will break into your home, these tips will definitely reduce the likelihood significantly.
Read through the tips and advice of experts in how to burglar proof your home to avoid being the victim of a robbery or theft. The information here about basic crime prevention techniques will be very effective in making your home unappealing to any burglar. For example- by doing a few simple things such as keeping exterior lights on at night, making sure there aren’t tall bushes that someone can hide behind, keeping all of your doors locked and installing safety windows, you can turn your house from a target into something a predator will not want to even attempt breaking into. There is also good information about how adding a burglar alarm or even simple home security devices can give you extra security that deter a criminal from choosing you as their next victim.
You can also work with your neighbors to keep each other safe. For instance, a neighborhood watch group is a great way to show everyone that they are being watched and will not have an easy time on your block. You can put up signs that indicate you have people watching for suspicious behavior. We recommend that you contact your local police department for more information.
Make Your House Look Occupied
The best way to keep a burglar away from your home while you are gone is to make it appear that you never left. Start by temporarily stopping the delivery of the daily mail and newspaper. When papers are allowed to pile up on the front porch or mail boxes start to overflow, criminals are alerted that people have gone out of town. Put timers on lights inside the house so they turn on every night. The same can be done for television sets will help give the appearance that people are at home. Once you have things in place to make the house look occupied, remember to do one final thing: turn off the ringer for your phone. All the work you have done to create the illusion that you are home can be shattered by a ringing phone that is never answered.
Ask a friend or relative to stop by your home periodically if you will be gone for several days. This allows them to keep an eye on the place, and will show any criminals who might be watching that someone is going inside on a regular basis. If no one is able to do this for you, try to leave a parked car in the driveway while you are away to make it seem like someone is at home.
Burglars who think they have found an easy target can break into your home quickly. One way to discourage this is by to put up signs or stickers that state you have a working security system in place. The last thing a criminal wants is to set off an alarm, and if they see the signs the will think your home is not worth the effort.
Safety When You Are Home
Just because you don’t leave home don’t mean your house is automatically safe. A very common mistake is to make it obvious that you have expensive items in your home. Of course most people would assume that every home has a variety of expensive property in the home, but if a criminal can actually see them they will be far more tempted to break in. Never place left over containers where they can be seen in the trash. Doing so lets a criminal know exactly what you have of value in the home, and they may be inclined to break that window, grab what they can and run off.
By that point, criminals are not as active about looking for goods they may want to steal.
Always keep you vehicles locked. Many times a thief will walk around neighborhoods and look for an easy grab. Unlocked vehicles are a sure target.