INC NEWS - Home Safety Tips (out of town, too)

[Laura Drey]

Home Safety Tips
 Checklist For Going Out-of-Town:
 
 
* Leave a light on somewhere in the house, preferably on a timer;
* Have someone move your garbage can, yard waste cans, and recycling bin
back into place; 
* Have someone pick up your mail, packages, & newspapers (even if you have
called and requested that these things be held;)
* Run a radio loud enough to be heard upon entering the home;
* Let your neighbors know the dates you will be away;
* Check your motion detector lights to make sure they are working before
leave; 
* Never have a recording on your answering machine that tells the caller
that you are away from home. An alternative is: "I'm not available now."
* Have a neighbor park in your driveway or in front of your home;
* If away for an extended period of time have someone take care of your
yard.
* Request that the C.O.P. (Citizen Observer Patrol, a community policing
program sponsored by the Durham Police Dept.) check your house
while you are away. C.O.P. will also check on the elderly or infirm while
patrolling your neighborhood. Call the Crime Prevention Officer at your
police substation.
                   


Home Safety Tips
Checklist  For Making Your Home Safer Everyday:
 
* Have a security survey done of your home through your neighborhood police
substation; 
 
* Get to know your neighbors and join your neighbor watch;
 
* Watch to see who is unfamiliar, get their license # if possible, report
suspicious activities to the police by calling 911;
 
* Install motion detector lights;
 
* Run a radio loud enough to be heard upon entering the home;
 
* Use double cylinder dead bolt locks with extra long screws in the strike
plates; 
 
* Permanently mark valuables with an engraver and can get window sticker
from the police station to indicate this action has been done;
 
* Keep garage doors and storage buildings locked;
 
* Trim bushes below the window sills;

Learn self defense in a workshop or class. (One such program in Durham is
SafeSkills. SafeSkills also offers programs specifically designed for
women, children, and businesses. Their phone number is  493-7233.)

        Petition the city for street light(s) if your street is dark.
www.ci.durham.nc.us/forms/works_trans_midblock_light.pdf
 
* Become involved with the Citizens Observer Patrol (COP) program, if it is
in effect in your area.  The COP program provides a marked  car to patrol
with flashing lights adding more eyes and visibility to the  neighborhoods¹
prevention efforts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compiled by Laura Drey
Updated November/2004
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