• Clean.Keep YOUR yard and the street neat. Place trash in a trash can, sweep grass clippings and leaves away from the sidewalk and curbs.
• Light & Lock.Lock doors and windows, open or close curtains often, turn porch and post lamps ON dusk to dawn, install motion detecting lights and when away from your home, turn on a tv or radio and use automatic timers to turn fixtures on/off. Don’t give thieves and vandals a place to hide – keep property organized.
• Report suspicious activity.Call 696-4444 to and relay details anonymously. Be brief, but specific. Provide detailed information about vehicles and individuals. If something happens on your property always file a police report.
• Be Neighborly.Watch and talk to or call those around you; ASK if they need anything, watch for unusual activity or people and notify them and call the police.
• Stay informed.Read the paper, watch Channel 24. Participate in decisions that affect you – VOTE!
• Communicate. Contact your city representatives to ask questions, discuss issues or to say thank you.

Following these six simple tips will help make both your home and your neighborhood safer.

A Gun Safe

If you have a large safe, say a gun safe, in your home there are a couple things you should keep in mind.  First, the most obvious, you should bolt it down.  Without bolting it down even the heaviest safe could be carried out of your home by a determined team of thieves; at least with bolts you deter almost any casual thief from trying any harder.

The second tip is to put your safe in the basement (assuming you have a dry basement).  Granted, putting the safe in your basement may seem inconveinent and awkward but in the grand scheme of things it is the safest place ot put it.   Let’s imagine, for a moment, that you can’t bolt your safe down but you can put it in the basement; well, then you’ve already detered the casual thief who wouldn’t want to carry the hulking thing up the stairs.

If you don’t have the safe bolted and it is upstairs then the thief can just let gravity do the work of carrying your vault down to the first level and, in the process, doing a lot of damage to your home.

Another consideration for putting your safe in the basement, instead of upstairs, even when bolted is the following scenario.  Imagine what would happen to your home if a group of determined theives were to run chains through your house, connect them to your safe and their tow-hitch, and then use their truck to try and yank your safe out of the house.  Having the safe upstairs facilitates this form of theft while having it in the basement basically defeats it.

If you thought having the safe dropped down your stairs would do a lot of damage imagine how much that same safe would do if it were being drug through your house on chains by a pick-up?  It’s not a pretty site.

Mailbox with a Lock

I realize most people don’t have mailboxes with locks on them; but they should.  An endless stream of sensitive documents are delivered to our mailboxes daily yet almost nobody actually locks their mail.  Sure, it’s a felony to steal mail, but folks interested in identity theft aren’t too worried about the punishment for mail theft.  Credit card offers and balance transfer checks are being shipped out to people all the time and are just waiting, in their mailboxes, for someone to steal them.

A lockable mailbox might cost you $100 now, but, in the long run it could save you tens of thousands of dollars and a huge headache as you try to reclaim your identity.  Even if you just have to retrofit your standard mailbox by adding a padlock and cutting a slot in the door (just make sure you don’t leave sharp edges) it is better than leaving your mail unsecured.

You can buy a locking mailbox at Lowes or Home Depot or even online.  I have a mailbox similar to the one shown here that is mounted to a post beside my house.

The list covers topics such as exterior doors, garage doors, outdoor property, and ways to protect the property within your home.  It’s easy, free, and can only help so please download it today.