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Holiday Safety: Make it harder for burglars to take your stuff

Decatur

Holiday Safety: Make it harder for burglars to take your stuff

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The Presentburglar, a distant cousin of Hamburglar, son of Futureburglar and Pastburglar. Source: Decatur Police.

The Presentburglar, a distant cousin of Hamburglar, son of Futureburglar and Pastburglar. Source: Decatur Police.

Decatur Police Sgt. Jennifer Ross says, “To burglars, the holiday season in particular, means that your home generally has more things to steal.”

The good news is you don’t have to reenact scenes from “Home Alone” to protect your stuff.

Ross advises:

– Burglars are in a hurry. If you lock all outside doors and windows before you leave home or go to bed, you’ll slow them down and make your home less enticing. Sgt. Ross wrote this in all caps, which means it’s very important:

“USE THE DEADBOLT LOCKS, NOT JUST THE DOORKNOB LOCKS. Doorknob locks are easy to bypass.”

–  Sgt. Ross recommends installing heavy duty locks, longer screws in the lock strike plates and door hinges, and installing secondary security devices on all accessible sliding windows. Again, the point of this is slowing a potential burglar down until your home is no longer worth the hassle.

– Trim your bushes and trees so burglars can’t hide behind them all burglar-like.

– Use your burglar alarm every time you leave the home, even if it’s just for a few minutes, Ross says.

– Make burglars think someone is home. Use motion-sensor lights on the outside of your home and timed lights on the inside of your home. Ask a neighbor to park one of their cars in your driveway if you’re leaving town. You can also submit an “Out of Town House Check” to police by clicking here. If you submit an out of town house check, Decatur Police officers will check up on your home while you’re gone. I hear they like cookies and milk. Or maybe that’s Santa. Actually, both probably like cookies and milk, so be sure to hook them both up.

Thanks again to Sgt. Ross for keeping us informed.