Preventing burglary everyone's
responsibility
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May 6, 2013 |
By Detective Dave McClelland
Boundary County Sheriff’s Office
Burglary prevention is everyone’s
responsibility. How many times have you seen
someone you didn’t know walking or driving down
a neighbor’s driveway, and before taking time to
perceive their legitimacy, immediately dismissed
it, as you had somewhere else to go?
Your neighbor may have just been victimized. It
could have been your house.
We need to look out for our neighbors. I’m not
saying call the Sheriff’s Office every time
someone unknown drives down a neighbor’s
driveway; just take notice.
Do the occupants appear to be acting
suspiciously? Are they looking around, appearing
to be checking for potential witnesses? Is
someone getting out of a car and the car drives
away and loiters just down the road?
Write down license numbers, take cell phone
photos, write down descriptors of what you see
and date/time mark them.
This is the type of information we need to track
down the hapless individual who violated your
home and property.
Another great invention for the prosecution of
criminals is game cameras.
Not just one, but two or three. Keep the
batteries up and every once in awhile, pull the
cards and check the photos. You may only catch
some nice wildlife photos, but you may just
catch someone “casing” your property.
By the way, hide the cameras well or that will
be the first thing they steal.
Even if they haven’t burglarized your house, an
identifiable photo is certainly enough for me or
another deputy to contact the individual and
have them explain why they were on your
property.
The best defense is a good offense. What I mean
by that is make your house and property a “hard
target," and don’t help fund someone’s
illegitimate habits with your guns and jewelry.
A good Neighborhood Watch program is a very
effective tool that will raise neighbor
awareness and actually brings neighbors closer
together through networking.
Many burglaries that I investigate see an
overwhelming amount of people not writing down
and securing serial numbers of their guns,
cameras and other valuables.
No serial numbers? Make some kind of mark or
number that only you know about, somewhere on
the item and photograph it along with your other
items. Having serial numbers and photographs
also makes life easier for the homeowner
attempting to put through an insurance claim.
Think about how much money you have wrapped up
in your valuables. Is thousands of dollars worth
of property worth a few hundred dollars in
precautions? That’s up to you.
But never say, “it can’t happen to me,” because
it can, especially as our economy continues to
worsen and despite what Washington D.C. tells
us.
Want to make lifelong friends with a neighbor?
Have the information authorities need that puts
that “individual” who ripped off your neighbor
in prison.
Stay safe.
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