Decatur Police Sgt. Jennifer Ross said the city usually sees a spike in burglaries between May and July. At the end of this month, Ross will be hosting a special presentation on how to protect your home while you’re away for summer vacation.

The presentation will be April 29, from 6:30 pm to 8 pm at the Decatur Recreation Center, located at 231 Sycamore Street, Decatur, GA 30030. There’s no cost to attend.

“The Decatur Police Department will be hosting a burglary prevention presentation to provide an accurate overview of trends and methods seen in Decatur, show you what products and methods are available to reinforce common entry points and to provide prevention tips from a former burglar to help you make your home a less desirable target,” the announcement says.

Ross provided data on the number of burglaries reported in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Here are the numbers for April, May, June and July of those years:

2013

April: 10

May: 13

June: 20

July: 8

2012

April: 2

May: 4

June: 9

July: 4

2011

April: 8

May: 7

June: 6

July: 9

Ross said the department put the presentation together “to proactively address the potential for an increase.”

“Burglary prevention also remains a hot topic when I speak at various events and meetings around the city,” Ross said. “I am regularly asked about the uptick last summer and if the same thing will happen this summer and the answer to that is not easy. Even though we know there was an increase in residential burglaries last summer from the prior two years, that does not automatically mean we will have the same type of surge this summer. However, we cannot just hope last summer won’t repeat itself without trying to address prevention measures.”