The majority of home and apartment burglaries occur during the daytime when most people are away at work or school. The summer months of July and August have the most burglaries with February having the fewest crimes. Burglaries are committed most often by young males under 25 years of age looking for items that are small, expensive, and can easily be converted to cash. Favorite items include cash, jewelry, guns, watches, laptop computers, VCRs, video players, CDs.  Any small electronic devices are high on the list of items stolen during a burglary. Quick cash is needed for living expenses and drugs. Statistics tell us that 70% of the burglars use some amount force to enter a dwelling, but their preference is to gain easy access through an open door or window. Ordinary household tools like screwdrivers, channel-lock pliers, small pry bars, and small hammers are most often used by burglars. Burglars continue to flourish because police can only clear about 13% of all reported burglaries and rarely catch the thief in the act.

Although home burglaries may seem random in occurrence, they actually involve a selection process. The burglar's selection process is simple. Choose an unoccupied home with the easiest access, the greatest amount of take and with the best opportunity for then to escape.  

By far, the most common threat to our home is burglary. According to the FBI, a burglary occurs somewhere in the United States every 15.4 seconds. By definition, the crime of burglary is a non-confrontational property crime that occurs when we are not at home. However, becoming a burglary victim can leave a family feeling vulnerable and violated.

While Madera Police Department is committed to the apprehension of the person(s) committing these crimes, it is also our desire to prevent our citizens from becoming victims.  To avoid becoming a burglary victim, it is important to first gain an understanding of who commits them and why.  These easy, do it yourself instructions, will not prevent you from becoming a victim but will make your home less attractive to those committing the crimes. 

Neighbors

 

  Notify a trusted neighbor or Neighborhood Watch Captain of the fact that you’ll be gone for an extended period of time and ask for them to keep an eye on your home.  Good neighbors should look out for each other. Get to know your neighbors on each side of your home and the three directly across the street. Invite them into your home, communicate often and establish trust. Good neighbors will watch out for your home or apartment when you are away, if you ask them.  If on vacation, leave an itinerary of how long you’ll be gone and how to get a hold of you.  Let your neighbors know if someone will be watching your home and give them a description of the person and their name, the vehicle they drive and what they’ll be doing for you while you’re gone.  Good neighbors will occasionally park in your driveway to give the appearance of occupancy while you are on vacation.  Urge your neighbors to contact Madera Police Department with any suspicious activity they observe.  People who commit burglaries don’t like attention and will most likely move on to another residence.

 

Allowing a neighbor to have a key solves the problem of hiding a key outside the door. Experienced burglars know to look for hidden keys in planter boxes, under doormats, inside fake rocks and above the door’s ledge.

 

• Get to know all your adjacent neighbors
• Invite them into your home and establish trust
• Agree to watch out for each other's home
• Offer to occasionally park your car in their driveway
• Return the favor and offer to watch their homes

 

Windows

 

Windows are left unlocked and open at a much higher rate than doors. An open window, visible from the street or alley, may be the sole reason for your home to be selected by a burglar. Ground floor windows are more susceptible to break-ins for obvious reasons. Upper floor windows become attractive if they can be accessed from a stairway, tree, fence, or by climbing on balconies. Windows have latches, not locks and therefore should have secondary blocking devices to prevent sliding them open from the outside. 

 

Place a ½” wooden dowel in the track of your windows, leaving a space of less than three inches between the end of the dowel and the sliding portion of your window.  This will allow enough room to circulate air within the room when left open and small enough to limit access to those trying to get inside.  Make sure you can't reach in from the outside and remove the blocking device or reach through and unlock the door. In rooms where people sleep, these dowels should be capable of being removed easily from the inside to comply with fire codes. Something as easy has hammering a small nail into the long portion of the dowel will allow you to easily remove and place the dowel in the window track.  Like sliding glass doors, anti-lift devices are stressed for ground level and horizontal sliding windows. The least expensive and easiest method is to install screws half-way into the upper track of the movable glass panel to prevent it from being lifted out in the closed position.  Alarm company stickers in visible locations can be utilized as a deterrent.  Place these stickers near the latch mechanism that indicates that the alarm system, a dog, or Neighborhood Watch identification system is in place. 

 

Use window covers throughout the house, so that those who might wonder if you’re home are unable to see inside. 

• Secure all accessible windows with secondary blocking devices
• Assure accessible windows open no more than 3 inches
• Make sure someone cannot reach through an open window and unlock the door
• Make sure someone cannot reach inside the window and remove the blocking device
• Use devices to prevent window from being lifted out
• Use window covers on all windows people would be able to look into

 

Doors and Locks

The first step is to harden the target or make your home more difficult to enter. Remember, the burglar will simply bypass your home if it requires too much effort or requires more skill and tools than they possess. Most burglars enter via the front, back, or garage doors. Experienced burglars know that the garage door is usually the weakest point of entry followed by the back door. The garage and back doors also provide the most cover. Burglars know to look inside your car for keys and other valuables so keep it locked, even when parked inside your garage. Use high quality Grade-1 or Grade-2 locks on exterior doors to resist twisting, prying, and lock-picking attempts. A quality deadbolt lock will have a beveled casing to inhibit the use of channel-lock pliers used to shear off lock cylinder pins. A quality door knob-in-lock set will have a 'dead latch' mechanism to prevent slipping the lock with a shim or credit card.

• Use a solid core or metal door for all entrance points
• Use a quality, heavy-duty, deadbolt lock with a one-inch throw bolt
• Use a quality, heavy-duty, knob-in-lock set with a dead-latch mechanism
• Use a heavy-duty, four-screw, strike plate with 3-inch screws to penetrate into a wooden door frame
• Use a wide-angle 160° peephole mounted no higher than 58 inches

The most common way used to force entry through a door with a wooden jamb is to simply kick it open. The weakest point is almost always the lock strike plate that holds the latch or lock bolt in place followed by a glass paneled door. The average door strike plate is secured only by the soft-wood doorjamb molding. These lightweight moldings are often tacked on to the door frame and can be torn away with a firm kick. Because of this construction flaw, it makes sense to upgrade to a four-screw, heavy-duty, high security strike plate. They are available in most quality hardware stores and home improvement centers and are definitely worth the extra expense. Install this heavy-duty strike plate using 3-inch wood screws to cut deep into the door frame stud. Use these longer screws in the knob lock strike plate as well and use at least one long screw in each door hinge. This one step alone will deter or prevent most through-the-door forced entries. You and your family will sleep safer in the future.

Utilize a security screen door which has a dead bolt and keep it locked at all times.  Some burglars will check these doors to see when it’s locked and when it is not locked.  If they know it’s only locked when you’re gone, you will become an easy target.  If it’s locked at all times, criminals may look for an easier target.

 

Sliding-Glass Patio Doors

Sliding glass doors are secured by latches not locks. They are vulnerable to being forced open from the outside because of these inherently defective latch mechanisms. This can easily be prevented by inserting a wooden dowel or stick into the track thus preventing or limiting movement. Other blocking devices can be screwed down to enhance the capabilities of the sliding glass door.

The blocking devices described above solve half the equation. Older sliding glass doors can be lifted up and off their track and thereby defeat the latch mechanism. To prevent lifting, you need to keep the door rollers in good condition and properly adjusted. You can also install anti-lift devices such as a pin that extends through both the sliding and fixed portion of the door. There are also numerous locking and blocking devices available in any good quality hardware store that will prevent a sliding door from being lifted or forced horizontally. Place highly visible decals on the glass door near the latch mechanism that indicates that an alarm system, a dog, or Neighborhood Watch identification is in place. Burglars dislike alarm systems and definitely big barking dogs.

• Use a secondary blocking device on all sliding glass doors
• Keep the latch mechanism in good condition and properly adjusted
• Keep sliding door rollers in good condition and properly adjusted
• Use anti-lift devices such as through-the-door pins or upper track screws
• Use highly visible alarm decals, beware of dog decals or Neighborhood Watch decal

Vacation

 

When going on vacation, call your newspaper carrier and U.S. Postal Service, and stop delivery for the period of time you’re on vacation.  Utilize friends and family to care for your pets while you’re gone, activity is another deterrent to those looking for victims.  Contact Madera Police Department’s Volunteer Program Coordinator of your pending vacation and request a Vacation Watch Form. 

 

 

 

Lights

 

Interior lighting is necessary to show signs of life and activity inside a residence at night. A darkened home night-after-night sends the message to burglars that you are away on a trip.  Utilize timers to go on and off while you’re not home.  Typically, you want to use light-timers near the front and back windows with the curtains closed. This should simulate someone is actually home.  The same light timers can be used to turn on radios or television sets to further give the perception that someone is home.  Light, like noise, is not looked upon as being friendly to those who might break into your home.  Exterior lighting is also very important.  The practice of leaving the garage or porch lights turned on all day on a single family home is a dead giveaway that you are out of town.  Use motion detector lighting whenever possible.  Light up as large an area as possible to keep people from wanting to stay in this area.  A well lit area will allow good neighbors to more easily identify the person trying to burglarize your home.

 

• Use interior light timers to establish a pattern of occupancy
• Exterior lighting should illuminate as large an area as possible
• Use light timers to turn on/off lights automatically
• Use motion sensor lights on single family homes

 

Alarms

Alarm systems definitely have a place in a home security.  The reason why alarm systems deter burglaries is because they increase the potential and fear of being caught and arrested by the police. The deterrent value comes from the alarm company lawn sign and from the alarm decals on the windows. Home and apartment burglars will usually bypass a property with visible alarm signs and will go to another property without such a sign.

Alarm systems need to be properly installed and maintained. Alarm systems can monitor for fire as well as burglary for the same price. All systems should have an audible horn or bell to be effective in case someone does break in. However, these audible alarms should be programmed to reset automatically after one or two minutes. The criminal got the message and will be long gone but your neighbors will have to listen to the alarm bell, sometimes for hours, until it is shut off.  However, if you have established and nurtured your Neighborhood Watch system, you will experience a genuine concern by your neighbor.

The greatest barrier is taking the first step. You can get help by calling your local Crime Prevention Unit at Madera Police Department. Madera Police Department has Neighborhood Watch coordinators to help you set this up. You should invite your neighbors over to your home for information exchange. You'll be amazed how the process runs from there.

• Alarm systems are effective deterrents with visible signs
• Alarm systems should be properly installed, programmed, and maintained
• Alarm systems need to have an audible horn or bell to be effective
  

Shrubs and Landscaping

Keep the landscape well groomed and not overgrown.  The use of keeping shrubs cut and planting beds well raked is beneficial.  A clear view of the windows and doors from the street and from your neighbor’s homes will make it easier to report suspicious activity.  Keeping shrubs short and well groomed will make it more difficult for people to hide and easier for neighbors to identify the suspicious activity.  Should you be unfortunate enough to have your home broken into and the point of entry is through a window over a planting bed, it would be much easier for responding officers to gather shoe track evidence.

Answering Machine 

Never leave a message that you’re not at home, but something to that fact that you can’t come to the phone at this time.  Some criminals will know their victims and will have some sort of idea about when they are home.  Advertising that you aren’t home will only make it easier to determine which home to break into.  Simply saying that you’re busy away from the phone and will get back to them as soon as possible will help place doubt into the minds of those calling for that purpose.