Extend the Life of Your Holiday Gifts: Get them
Engraved
Why not set aside some time right after the
holidays to get your gifts engraved - not with your name or
the name of a loved one: get your valuables engraved with your
ID number.
With an engraving tool, you can engrave a
driver's license number or ID number on your property - and
that can pay dividends in the future. If the item is stolen,
and later recovered by police, the engraved number will allow
investigators to get that property back to you.
The
engraved number might even deter a thief from taking your
property in the first place, since the ID number makes it
harder for criminals to dispose of valuables through
underworld channels.
Of course you don't need to
limit engraving to your holiday gifts. You can engrave all of
your precious possessions, so they will be with you for many
years to come.
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The next time you leave your car, leave it empty
Criminals love to go window shopping. They walk down
neighborhood streets or go through shopping center parking
lots looking through the windows of parked cars to see what
people have left behind.
All too often, those
thieves are given an opportunity: a car owner has left some
valuables - maybe gifts for a loved one - in clear view. It
takes only seconds for the criminal to break the car window
and take off with the merchandise.
Don't give
thieves that kind of opportunity. Make sure you leave nothing
of value in plain view in your car. Take valuables away with
you, or put them in the trunk. If you own a sport utility
vehicle, cover your valuables.
Remember, when you
leave your car, leave it empty. And the thief will leave empty
handed.
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The Mail WILL get Through - and Pile Up at your
Door!
Lots of people like to complain about the Post
Office these days. It is the butt of jokes on everything from
late night TV to early morning coffee klatches. But the fact
is, all in all, the United States Postal Service gets the job
done. In fact, according to the 1998 New York Times Almanac,
the Postal Service delivers about 180 billion pieces of mail
annually. Everyday, the letter carrier in your neighborhood
delivers the mail to your door: bills, letters, junk mail,
magazines and all the rest. Even if you are not there, the
mail will be delivered - and continue to pile up - unless you
make arrangements to have it stopped, or picked up by someone
else.
Making arrangements like that is a very good idea if
you are going to be away - even for one night. Would-be
burglars sizing up a neighborhood watch for mail boxes that
are not emptied. To them it means nobody is home, and that
home might be an easy target.
Don't let your home become a
target that way. Make sure your mail is taken care of if you
are away. If you are going to be away for several days, the
Post Office can stop delivery. If you are going to be away
only one or two nights, you might want to ask a neighbor,
friend or relative to get your mail for you. That way you know
your important mail will be safe, and you won't be sending a
message to a burglar that your house is vulnerable.
Of
course this isn't the only crime prevention step you should
take if you are away. Don't forget a timer to turn the lights
on and off so the house looks occupied. Taking care of the
mail, and arranging for proper lighting both help keep a
burglar in the dark.
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Car Cigarette Lighters Can Send a Big Message, be
Careful!
In crime prevention, as in many other parts
of life, little things can mean a lot. Take, for example, a
car's cigarette lighter. It may not look like much to you, but
it can send an important signal to thieves.
Some
criminals look at the dashboards of cars. If they see the
cigarette lighter is missing, they figure there is at least a
possibility that it has been taken out to accommodate a
battery charger or power adapter for a cell phone. They're
willing to take a chance that the cell phone is not far away -
maybe stored in the glove box. So, when they don't see a
cigarette lighter in a car, some thieves will break the
passenger side window, and open the glove box, hoping to find
a cell phone inside. If you don't have a cell phone, the
criminal will just move on, looking for another opportunity.
But he - or she - has left behind a mess of broken and
shattered glass for you to clean up, and a colossal headache
until you get the car repaired.
Don't give criminals an
opportunity. Whether or not you have a cell phone, keep that
cigarette lighter just where it belongs when you leave your
car. If you do, you're much less likely to encounter a rude
surprise when you come back.
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Don't be left out in the cold, Don't leave your car
alone
Cold weather is here, no doubt about that. Just
dressing to go outside in the morning to warm the car seems to
take forever. It would be so easy just to start up the car,
run back into that warm, cozy house and have a little more
coffee. Not a good idea. In the amount of time it takes to
walk into your home someone can steal your vehicle.
Car
thieves wait and watch for people to walk away and then
strike. They are not only in your neighborhood, but at
convenience stores waiting for you to run in to get a quick
cup of coffee. You may think that locking your keys in the car
will dissuade these criminals but it doesn't. They can pick a
lock often times faster than you can open it with your key.
There are many reasons not to leave your car unattended;
walking in the cold is not fun, making car payments on a car
that is no longer available to you, insurance that probably
will not pay for your mistake, and lastly you could get a
ticket. So if you don't want to be left out in the cold, ice,
freezing rain or snow, don't leave the car unattended.
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Turn on the lights, a bright idea in crime fighting
It can cost about $200 to replace a stolen VCR; $500 to
get a new color TV if the old one is stolen; and $2,000 or
more to get a new computer if a burglar takes the one you own
now. But it costs only about a dime to keep a light burning
all night on your front door - and another dime for the back
door.
Those dimes could be very well spent if they protect
all of your other valuables, and that small expense can be an
important investment in crime prevention. It is a simple fact
that burglars and thieves don't like bright places. They work
in the dark. If one house is brightly lit, and another has no
lights, criminals generally head for the dark one.
So, deny a burglar the opportunity to rip you off. Turn on
exterior lights around your house through the night. It is a
bright idea - in more ways than one.
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Put Your Mail in a Mail Box, Not on it
Many
people, especially the elderly, have gotten into the habit of
putting their outgoing mail on top of their home mail box for
the letter carrier to pick up as part of the daily rounds.
This practice is convenient for the resident - but it can be
even more convenient for would-be thieves and con
artists.
Unscrupulous individuals can easily walk up
to your door, quickly grab your mail and walk off with it. In
those envelopes might be the names and addresses of family
members, the names of banks and credit card companies with
whom you do business, and, of course, your account
numbers.
This sort of information can be invaluable
for criminals attempting to pull off various scams and frauds.
Don't help them out - take your mail to the post office or
corner mail box. Or wait for the letter carrier to arrive, and
give it to him or her in person. That may seem like an
inconvenience, but becoming the victim of a fraud is a much
bigger headache.
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Accessorize Your Bike With a Photo!
The next
time you buy a new bike, make a snapshot of that bike one of
your very first accessories. Ask a family member or friend to
take two photos of the bike, with you standing next to it. Put
the first photo in the family album. On the back of the second
photo, print the make and model of the bike, plus the serial
number. Then put that picture with other important papers -
such as family insurance policies. This doesn't apply only to
new bikes. Smart bike owners will do the same thing to bikes
they already own as well.
If that bike - new or old
- is ever stolen, the photo will make it easier for police to
find it. If the bike is stolen and recovered, the photo, with
you in it, will make it easier to prove you actually own
it.
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Lock your car and block a thief
It may take you
only a minute to run into a convenience store for a cup of
coffee or a morning paper. But if you leave your keys in the
car with the motor running, it takes a thief only seconds to
drive off with your car.
A surprising number of people,
however, do just that: they leave the keys in the ignition,
and let the motor run, while they run into the store. That
practice wastes gas, doesn't help the environment, and could
result in a stolen car. A 1996 survey by a Regional Auto Theft
Team showed that 25 percent of stolen cars were taken when the
driver left the keys in the ignition.
Leaving your
keys behind like that is an open invitation to criminals, so
don't give them that opportunity. When you park your car, take
the keys - and let the thief take a hike.
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Never Tell Strangers About Your Home Security
Don't give information to anyone asking about your home
security. If someone claiming to be a sales person comes to
your door or calls your home asking about YOUR home security -
politely turn them away. The individual may be a legitimate
sales person from a home security firm hoping to make a sale,
or that caller could be a would-be burglar hoping to find
unprotected houses.
Don't tell a stranger whether or
not you have a security system. If you do have a system, don't
reveal anything about it. Simply tell the caller you don't
discuss information like that with strangers. And don't be
swayed if the caller mentions the name of a neighbor who may
have purchased a system. Just knowing a neighbor's name
doesn't make a caller legitimate.
If you don't have
a home security system, but would like to get one, shop
around. Check with your neighbors, carefully look for
established, local firms. Don't jump into anything.
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Your Garage Door Opener: A Great Deal Depends On It
Always treat your garage door opener the same way you
treat the key to your front door: keep it out of sight and
away from strangers, because a smart thief can use the garage
door opener to get into your house.
Thieves can break into
cars all too easily, and if the garage door opener is out in
the open, on the front seat or the dash, they can use it to
open the garage. That allows them to rifle the garage, taking
power tools, bikes, and other valuables stored there. What's
worse: if there is a door into the house from the garage,
thieves might then be able to get into your home, and get to
the valuables stored inside.
This can be prevented if you
simply keep the garage door opener out of sight - even out of
your car. Carry it in a briefcase or a purse, away from prying
eyes and hands.
While you are thinking about garage
security: if you do have a door to the house from the garage,
make sure it has a sturdy lock. A high-quality dead-bolt is
the best kind. It will slow a thief down, and maybe even
discourage that thief completely.
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The Key to Crime Prevention is Often - a Key!
Lock Doors and Windows to Stop Burglars
Historians say
that people have been using locks and keys for roughly 4,000
years. The first locks, in fact, have been traced back to 2000
BC in the ancient town of Nineveh in the Middle East. Even
then people knew they needed to secure their homes and
property against intruders and burglars. Unfortunately, some
people today still haven't gotten that message.
Burglaries
- along with the financial loss and emotional stress that go
along with them - can be prevented. Residents and businesses
need only to take a simple step: lock your doors. Lock front
and back doors and windows of homes. Lock the doors to sheds
and garages.
Don't make a burglar's life easy with your
own open door policy. |
