Specializing in DSC Security Products

The best way to keep your home from becoming a target is to keep it from being obvious that you're gone. Burglars don't want to come face to face with homeowners, so they will go for the easier target first, the house where clearly no one is at home. Here are some tips for making sure it's not easy for burglars to tell you're away:

• Don't tell people the dates you're going to be on vacation unless they need to know.
• Put a few of the lights in your house on timers so they go on automatically at night. Use a program that suggests the element of randomness (lights go on at different times on different days), so a burglar who might be staking out the place won't know for sure if anybody is there or not.
• Cancel your newspaper delivery so papers don't pile up on the stoop.
• Have a friend or relative pick up your mail (or you can arrange to have it held at the post office).
• Leave a car parked in the driveway.

Before you leave home, don't forget to...

• Doublecheck the locks on your doors and windows before you leave. Make sure you set your alarm if you have one.
• Store your valuables in a secure safe that is hidden from anyone who may be peeking in a window.

If you return from your trip and find that you have been burglarized, don't touch anything. Immediately leave the premises and call the police from the nearest phone. Remember, the burglar could still be inside.

Sourced from: Tom Patire's Personal Protection Handbook