Consumer Tips
14 Tips for Preventing Break-Ins and Burglaries
Learn how you can make your house or apartment less appealing to thieves.
Many criminals who break into houses don’t actually break in — they enter through unlocked doors and windows. Don’t give thieves easy access to your home. Here’s what you can do:
- Invest in a quality door. A door with a glass pane may present a security problem.
- Install deadbolts on all exterior doors and the door connecting the garage to your house. inside the garage. (Deadbolts should be single-cylinder locks, at least 1 inch thick and extend at least 1 inch into the door frame when locked.)
- Secure windows and sliding glass doors with locks.
- Consider installing a home security system.
- Light the outside of your house. Consider installing motion-sensitive lights.
- Do not open doors to strangers. Always ask for identification.
- Install wide-angle peepholes in all solid doors. Don’t rely on chain locks to see who is at the door. Chains can easily be broken once a door is ajar.
- Keep your garage door locked and basement windows secure.
- Lock outbuildings (e.g., storage sheds) with deadbolts.
- Keep trees and shrubbery trimmed. Overgrown vegetation gives a burglar more privacy.
- Don’t give keys to anyone you don’t know well. Give parking lot attendants and mechanics your ignition key only, not your entire key ring.
- If people you don’t know (e.g., previous tenants or owners) could have keys to your house, change the locks.
- Always lock your doors, even if you’re gone only for a short while.
- Avoid hiding a key outside your home. Instead, leave a duplicate set with a friend or trusted neighbor.
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