Tips to thwart burglars when you're away from home
With the long Memorial Day weekend here and summer-travel season coming, consider these two burglary tales from one family. Mom and Dad return from a day at the beach to find a window near their front door smashed and cash stolen from their home. The window didn't need to be smashed—they'd left the door unlocked. Fast forward, and their daughter returns from a weekend at the lake to find a rock heaved through a sunroom door and her jewelry taken. She hadn't turned on the home-alarm system.
The point of these stories? Burglars succeed too often because of obvious mistakes. But there are clear steps to limit burglary risk when you're away.
Some things you can do —installing deadbolt locks or double key locks (in doors with glass), getting a dog, or installing a home-security system—require planning far in advance. Here are 16 easier precautions you can take:
Outside
Stop the mail or ask a friend to get it.
Ask a trusted neighbor to park their cars in your driveway and to come inside occasionally and change curtain positions.
Install motion-sensor lights where a burglar can't easily unscrew the bulbs.
Follow the 3/6 rule: Trim shrubs in front of the house to no higher than 3 feet from the ground, and trim trees so that the lowest branches are at least 6 feet up (less hiding room for burglars).
Don't hide a spare key anywhere that's remotely obvious.
Secure first-floor air conditioners with a bracket outside and a sliding window lock on each side of the window frame.
Indoors
Keep empty boxes (especially from pricey items) in the garage until garbage day.
Cover garage windows so that no one knows whether a car is inside.
Lock up ladders and tools that could be used to break in.
