1. Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your carpets, painting your shutters, or delivering your new refrigerator.
2. Hey, thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in your yard last week. While I was in there, I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier.
3. Love those flowers. That tells me you have taste …. and taste means there are nice things inside. Those yard toys your kids leave out always make me wonder what type of gaming system they have.
4. Yes, I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway. And I might leave a pizza flyer in your front door to see how long it takes you to remove it.
5. If it snows while you’re out of town, get a neighbor to create car and foot tracks into the house. Virgin drifts in the driveway are a dead giveaway.
6. If decorative glass is part of your front entrance, don’t let your alarm company install the control pad where I can see if it’s set. That makes it too easy.
7. A good security company alarms the window over the sink. And the windows on the second floor, which often access the master bedroom-and your jewelry. It’s not a bad idea to put motion detectors up there too.
8. It’s raining, you’re fumbling with your umbrella, and you forget to lock your door-understandable. But understand this: I don’t take a day off because of bad weather.
9. I always knock first. If you answer, I’ll ask for directions somewhere or offer to clean your gutters. (Don’t take me up on it.)
10. Do you really think I won’t look in your sock drawer? I always check dresser drawers, the bedside table, and the medicine cabinet.
11. Helpful hint: I almost never go into kids’ rooms.
12. You’re right: I won’t have enough time to break into that safe where you keep your valuables. But if it’s not bolted down, I’ll take it with me.
13. A loud TV or radio can be a better deterrent than the best alarm system. If you’re reluctant to leave your TV on while you’re out of town, you can buy a $35 device that works on a timer and simulates the flickering glow of a real television. (Find it at faketv.com.)
8 MORE THINGS A BURGLAR WON’T TELL YOU:
1. Sometimes, I carry a clipboard. Sometimes, I dress like a lawn guy and carry a rake. I do my best to never, ever look like a crook.
2. The two things I hate most: loud dogs and nosy neighbors.
3. I’ll break a window to get in, even if it makes a little noise. If your neighbor hears one loud sound, he’ll stop what he’s doing and wait to hear it again. If he doesn’t hear it again, he’ll just go back to what he was doing. It’s human nature.
4. I’m not complaining, but why would you pay all that money for a fancy alarm system and leave your house without setting it?
5. I love looking in your windows. I’m looking for signs that you’re home, and for flat screen TVs or gaming systems I’d like. I’ll drive or walk through your neighborhood at night, before you close the blinds, just to pick my targets.
6. Avoid announcing your vacation on your Facebook page. It’s easier than you think to look up your address.
7. To you, leaving that window open just a crack during the day is a way to let in a little fresh air. To me, it’s an invitation.
8. If you don’t answer when I knock, I try the door. Occasionally, I hit the jackpot and walk right in.
Thanks Gene
Recent experiences:
When classes are canceled due to snow – keep an eye on older kids with snow shovels knocking on doors offering to shovel. Turns out they’re looking for homes without anyone home (regardless of whether the drive/walkways are already shoveled).
Also, if someone you know has published an obituary – make sure someone stays in the home of the deceased during the funeral.
This is awesome! Wish I’d seen it two years ago…
Previous owners had a security system installed. I cancelled it, but left the stickers on the windows and the sign in front. I suppose you could print your own stickers.
I have locking screen doors front and back, practical and another line of defense.
Also have motion sensor lights front and back, you can “tune” them so small animals don’t set them off.
And, I put bells on the backyard gate (a wind chime thing would work). Soon gonna get a “Beware of Dog” sign for the gate.
Simple, cheap stuff.
“Proud member of the NRA” stickers help also.
Loud dogs.
On the inside of a house.
I like my odds of NOT getting robbed.
But just in case, the Ithaca company in New York made a very nice 12 gauge shotgun with two barrels. That’s like having forty .32 caliber pistols going off at one time.
as an officer, this is pretty much dead on. thou i have seen kids rooms get ransacked (kids nowadays have computers, tvs, game consouls). also if you are building a house, watch out, a lot of sites get hit for tools, or building materials (such as copper wiring)
The loud dogs work, that’s a fact, especially if when you do let them out they run the fence, and are known not to like strangers. (medium sized) I also have two loaded guns in my home, and I keep them that way. A wise man once told me there was no point in having a gun if it wasn’t loaded.
the 3 most useles things:
1.an unloaded gun
2.a dull knife
3.wet toilet paper
those three are according to another good friend of mine.
I never would’ve thought about the Facebook/vacation thing. Something my single aunt used to do – she was single kept a set of muddy men’s size 13 workboots outside the back door. It was enough to even fool family into wondering what behemoth of a ironworker she had living there.
Buy one light fixture with a remote motion sensor. Mount the motion sensor in a tree and wire a plug onto the fixture. Locate the fixture on a piece of plywood and set it in a spare room. When someone walks through your yard a light comes on in the house.
that1chick
kewl!
Yippers. that1chick.
Thanks, I’ve known some wise people.
Used to be a guy on my block when i was a kid. He made his money dealing with deadly animals. Had a 10 fett tall fence with sheet metal behind it. 4 very loud dogs and a sign on his door that was a picture of him next to his gun collection.
I admire that man.
I wouldn’t suggest anything advertising the NRA. Stealing firearms through burglury is one of the easiest ways for a criminal to obtain a weapon he wouldn’t be legally able to obtain otherwise. Most gun enthusiasts have more than one firearm but only take one or two with them when they leave the house, meaning they’re leaving one in the nightstand or closet. When my husband is out of town I usually have a friend come over occasionally while I’m at work and just hang out for a bit, or I’ll move my husband’s car into the driveway for the day etc. The 4 giant pissed off-looking dogs help too.
NRA sticker. A sure sign that a burglar need only wait til you’re not at home, then he can steal something he can hock for MORE money, and arm a dangerous criminal. Thanks NRA.
My place was burgled once. The guy went through all my drawers, under my bed, and the top shelves of all my closets without taking anything. WHy? The cops said one of my neighbors had been in a gang. The burglar was LOOKING for guns!