"Each day, more than 16,000 homes
and apartments are ransacked by thieves. Burglary is a very big business.
Break-ins cost Americans about $3 billion each year."
Ninety percent can be prevented with some basic precautions. Here are
some common sense tips:
- Make your doors more secure! Sliding glass door braces and deadbolts
are a great place to start. Make the burglars job more difficult.
- Spring-catch locks can be opened easily with a credit card. These
locks are common, therefore it's best to add a deadbolt or switch to
a more secure locking mechanism. A single-cylinder deadbolt lock is
enough to discourage many thieves. And you might be able to lower your
insurance premiums in the process.
Burglars also like unprotected windows. 
- Key-locks on windows add an extra measure of security; so do steel
or wooden rods in the channels of sliding-glass doors.
- A dark house is an invitation to a thief. Install timers on your
home's lighting systems, indoors and out. Newer "motion detector"
lights are relatively inexpensive and further deter burglars while conserving
energy.
- Prune your shrubs and bushes. Overgrown shrubbery offers camouflage
and a place to hide. It is also a good idea to lock up tools like ladders
and anything else that might help a burglar break into your home.
One of the best ways to deter burglars is to organize a neighborhood
blockwatch program. Keeping an eye on each other's home helps prevents
crime while promoting a sense of community. Neighborhood watch sends a
message to burglars; "Go somewhere else".
One last piece of advice:
- Don't "hide" spare keys. Burglars are usually smart
enough to look under doormats, flower pots or in the mailbox. Worse
yet, people who use the "fake rocks" used for hiding keys
fail to realize that the burglars have seen those catalogues too.
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