Avoiding Theft. Advice to avoid being a victim of crime

Your home is your castle, and you want to protect your castle from thieves and burglars. One never knows who is traveling up and down the street, who is at the neighbors house and often we don�t even know who our neighbors are, so protecting our homes and our things becomes an important part of life.

How to keep your home from being a target of a burglar
Make it seem like you are home even when you are not.
Do not come and go at the exact same time every day if you can help it.
Schedule different days off if possible so even if your house is being watched you are not on any given schedule.

When a burglar sees that your home is empty, they will watch your home to see if your home is empty at the same time every day so they know for sure how much time they have to go through your home and get what they want without being caught.

Prevent a break in by using signs that say your house is under surveillance or that your home is protected with an automatic alarm, this alone can prevent a break in if the burglar sees it. Even if you don�t have an alarm system, the sticker can make a burglar think twice about wanting to get caught in your home.

Get a dog that loves to bark. Even if you know that your dog is never going to bite anyone, a bark is a deterrent from someone entering your home. If you don�t want a dog, you can get a big sign that states, Beware of Dog, and put them in very obvious places on your property, which will make a burglar think twice about entering where a vicious dog lives.

Leave a note on the door that states, We don�t Answer Solicitors. This gives every one that comes to your home the notion that even if they are going to knock on your door and you don�t answer it is because they don�t know you, it doesn�t mean that you are not home. A burglar won�t be able to tell if you are home or not just by knocking on the door.

Leave a note on the front door (that you make again and again so it looks fresh) that tells your repairperson to please come back tomorrow because the tarantula has escaped and you have to catch it before they can come in the house. This will keep burglars from wanting to come in your home!

If you have to be away for a few days, leave a large dog bone laying in the front yard. This will make anyone coming up to your home believe that you do have a very large dog.

If you have a sliding glass door, be sure to put a stabilizing stick on the bottom track of the door so it cannot be opened from the outside at all. If someone is going to break the glass, the neighbors will hear them and the police will come.

Be sure to lock all of your doors and windows before you leave. If anyone does need in your home to feed the dog or cat, birds etc, be sure to give them a key so your home is always locked up tight.

Leave a few lights on at night, even when you are going out for the night so that everyone thinks that someone is home even if they don�t hear any noise coming from the house.

Some burglars will hit you in the middle of the night when you are sleeping. Put some type of wind chime or clanging decoration on the doors that are located at the back of the house. If someone does try to come in during the middle of the night, you will wake up.

Use motion lights around your home. Motion lights can be set to turn on only when someone is within feet of the house, and when the lights pop on this will scare anyone away who isn�t supposed to be there because the burglar will think you turned on the light.

If you are worried about someone cutting your phone cord or telephone line before your house is burglarized, keep a cell phone with you so you can call out no matter what happens with your landline. If you have an old cell phone, you can still dial 9-1-1 and get help even if you are not a subscriber at the time.