Crime Prevention Tips|Sexual Assault Prevention|WPSN

Keeping yourself safe in your home also means keeping your home
safe. Of course anyone determined to enter your house may find
a way but it is a fact that burglars would rather deal with a house
without an alarm than fool around with one that is armed.

Because of the continuously evolving nature of crime as well as new techniques or technology
in crime prevention, be sure to check this page periodically for new or updated tips.

ATTRACTING ATTENTION

Make your valuable possessions less conspicuous and harder to sell yet easier to identify by police by engraving an
identifying number on them.
Flatten all boxes from new equipment and fold inside out.
If you hide valuables, keep a map of their locations in a safe deposit box or with your attorney (do not use the kitchen or
toilet tanks - burglars know all about these places).
If you have an answering machine, DO NOT reveal your name, whereabouts, or other personal information. Simply say
that you cannot come to the phone right now.

OUTSIDE YOUR HOME

Car keys should be on a separate chain from house keys - for a valet parking or car repairs.
Do not hide keys around the porch.
Do not put your name on your mailbox.
Trim foliage near windows (especially cellar windows) and doors often so it cannot camouflage a burglar's activities. On
the other hand, prickly bushes may help keep people away from windows.
Protect a secluded yard or entry with spotlights and an alarm.
Prune tree branches and remove trellises if they provide access to second floor windows.
Keep tools and ladders indoors or well locked.

DOORS AND LOCKS

Before you move into a new house or apartment, have the cylinders of each door lock changed.
Keep your garage door closed. If you garage or garage door has windows, cover them with curtains or shades.
Install solid wooden and steel doors with firm frames.
All doors, including those leading to the basement, cellar, garage, and storage rooms should be secured with a dead
bolt lock rather than a latch lock. A dead bolt should be approximately 1 inch thick and have a throw of at least 1 inch
(longer is even better).
Lock apartment windows or doors that lead to balconies, fire escapes, and rooftops. If you live on the first or second
floor, lock all windows even when you are home.
On windows that are accessible from the outside, install window dead bolt locks and secure the window when closed as
well as providing an addition receptacle about 5 inches up to secure the window when opened to let air in - this provides
the security to have a window open in one room while you are in another, knowing that no one can open that window
further.
Be sure to secure any sliding glass doors you have. Burglars don't just get through the slider side of the door but have
also been successful getting through the stationary side of the door.

WHEN AWAY FROM YOUR HOME

Before leaving town on a long trip, ask a friend, neighbor or relative to park a car in the driveway. Be sure to mow the
grass, shovel snow, and put out garbage on pickup days. Arrange to have mail and newspaper deliveries halted until
you return.
Use automatic timers when you are away from home to create the illusion that someone's at home; use them on lamps,
TVs, and/or radios.

Finally, install an alarm system. You can decide on the accessories such as motion detectors or glass detectors but arming
your doors and accessible windows is the least you can do for the piece of mind that when you enter your home, no one is still
their robbing you. A caught robber can become a murderer or rapist by opportunity!