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When your home is alone
Crime-stopper tips when leaving your home behind
 Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images file A house illuminated with holiday decorations on Dec. 14, 2005 near Reading, England. |
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Several years ago, after returning home from a two-week cruise, I was awakened at 3 a.m. by the frantic ringing of my doorbell. At first, I thought something was very wrong — perhaps a fire, or someone in distress. Then I thought it might be some teenagers playing a joke. It wasn’t a joke. After turning the lights on, I discovered someone had tried to break into my house.
Scared, I immediately called the police. The officers discovered fresh tracks in the grass around the house’s perimeter, particularly around the basement windows. There was evidence someone had tried to force one of the windows open. After I told the officers I had just returned home from a cruise, they surmised that someone had been casing my house while I was away. This was the night they decided to break in. To make sure no one was home, they rang the doorbell first. When the lights went on, they ran.
I was baffled.
“Why would anyone break into a house with monitored security?” I asked.
“Smash and grab,” one officer said, explaining that thieves can take off with thousands of dollars worth of items in just seconds. He pointed to the laptop computer on the kitchen table and the dining room silver on display. Both were in full view from the windows.
This got me thinking about home security while I’m away on a trip. When I’m busy packing for a cruise, I don’t give much thought to protecting the house. Sure, I arrange for things to be taken care of while I am away. I put timers on lamps, and I have trusted neighbors feed the cat, bring in the newspapers and mail, water plants and cut the grass. But is that enough?
Not by a long shot.
Crime-stopper tactics
The FBI reports that a burglary occurs every eight seconds in the United States. According to the Insurance Information Institute, nine out of 10 of those burglaries are preventable. The institute offers the following tips for when you leave for vacation:
Leave blinds open in their usual position.
Have mail and packages picked up, forwarded or held by the post office.
Lower the volume of your telephone ringer and answering machine so they can’t be heard outside, and never leave an outgoing message saying you’re away.
Arrange to have your lawn mowed or your walk shoveled.
Stop newspaper deliveries, and ask a friend or neighbor to pick up “throwaway” newspapers and circulars.
Use automatic timers to turn lights on and off in your living room and bedrooms at appropriate times. Also consider connecting a radio to a timer.
And here are some other tips I’ve picked up over the years.
Ask neighbors to park their cars in your driveway and to check your doorstep for unexpected deliveries.
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