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Crime Tracker: How To Handle Unexpected Guests On Your Doorstep - (SPOKANE, Wash.) - Door to door solicitors seem to pop up at your front door as the weather gets warmer. Even though most of them are honest business people, the Spokane County Sheriff's Office reminds us to take precautions when answering the door for people we don't know.
The best piece of advice if you are expecting someone: know who's coming. For example, if you schedule a window washer to come to your home, ask what vehicle they're driving and the name of the person providing the service. That way, you'll know who and what to expect when you get that knock on your door.
The Sheriff's Office also recommends a locking screen door. The door provides a barrier between you and the person on your doorstep. It allows for a conversation but provides a layer of protection. The Sheriff's Office also says to keep the door closed. It says there's nothing wrong with asking the person to leave a business card on your step and telling them you'll look at it when you have a chance.
The next tip: make yourself known. The Sheriff's Office says not to hide. Don't make it look like you aren't home. It says thieves looking to break-in don't want you to be there. If you yell through the door and let them know you're home but too busy to answer the door, the Sheriff's Office says they'll typically move on. The same goes for children who are home alone.
Finally and most importantly, trust your instinct. It's more important to be safe than to be polite. If someone is pushy and insists on coming into your home, keep the door shut and call Crime Check at 456-2233.
The best piece of advice if you are expecting someone: know who's coming. For example, if you schedule a window washer to come to your home, ask what vehicle they're driving and the name of the person providing the service. That way, you'll know who and what to expect when you get that knock on your door.
The Sheriff's Office also recommends a locking screen door. The door provides a barrier between you and the person on your doorstep. It allows for a conversation but provides a layer of protection. The Sheriff's Office also says to keep the door closed. It says there's nothing wrong with asking the person to leave a business card on your step and telling them you'll look at it when you have a chance.
The next tip: make yourself known. The Sheriff's Office says not to hide. Don't make it look like you aren't home. It says thieves looking to break-in don't want you to be there. If you yell through the door and let them know you're home but too busy to answer the door, the Sheriff's Office says they'll typically move on. The same goes for children who are home alone.
Finally and most importantly, trust your instinct. It's more important to be safe than to be polite. If someone is pushy and insists on coming into your home, keep the door shut and call Crime Check at 456-2233.
How secure is your home? Read these tips and tricks to find out how to step up your security measures and keep your home safe. Locking your front door isn’t enough to keep your home, possessions, or your family safe. Follow these tips and tricks from ADT security to ensure that your home is safer than Fort Knox.
Assess your weak points
Stand outside your property and inspect it as if you have been locked out. Are there any weak spots in your security? If you can get inside without keys, so could someone else!
Start from the outside in
Security starts at the border of the home. This may include a locked automatic gate for vehicle entry, an electronic release on the small locked front gate, an intercom, lights to illuminate the gate area and a wall or fence with electric fencing. Also all shrubs that can hide intruders should be removed or cut back.
Shed some light
Light is a burglar's biggest enemy. Installing exterior lights outside your home that are activated by movement will light your garden and deter unwelcome visitors. Perimeter floodlights can be used when you are home alone or away and can be time activated if you are on holiday. Beams can also be installed in the garden to act as an early warning system.
Cover your entrances
Next tackle the front door. If burglars can get to it, it is easier to get your belongings out! Install the best locks possible. A deadlock provides good security but a mortised deadlock is even more difficult for the burglar to overcome. Guard against exposed door hinges, as the hinge pin can be easily broken. A 180-degree peephole is another essential and the front door area should also be clearly lit at night. Fit security gates over all exterior doors including the upstairs balcony.
Install burglar bars
Relatively few burglaries involve breaking large glass windows as this takes too long, is too noisy and there is a risk of injury. However, a burglar will break a smaller window to tamper with the window catch. Consider installing keylocks on your widows and install burglar bars.
Get a good security system
The above hints plus a modern security system linked to a reputable armed response service should encourage burglars to move on to a less secure home. A good security system should include alarm sensors on doors and windows to detect intruders and panic buttons in the home to summon help from the armed response company in case of an emergency.
Assess your weak points
Stand outside your property and inspect it as if you have been locked out. Are there any weak spots in your security? If you can get inside without keys, so could someone else!
Start from the outside in
Security starts at the border of the home. This may include a locked automatic gate for vehicle entry, an electronic release on the small locked front gate, an intercom, lights to illuminate the gate area and a wall or fence with electric fencing. Also all shrubs that can hide intruders should be removed or cut back.
Shed some light
Light is a burglar's biggest enemy. Installing exterior lights outside your home that are activated by movement will light your garden and deter unwelcome visitors. Perimeter floodlights can be used when you are home alone or away and can be time activated if you are on holiday. Beams can also be installed in the garden to act as an early warning system.
Cover your entrances
Next tackle the front door. If burglars can get to it, it is easier to get your belongings out! Install the best locks possible. A deadlock provides good security but a mortised deadlock is even more difficult for the burglar to overcome. Guard against exposed door hinges, as the hinge pin can be easily broken. A 180-degree peephole is another essential and the front door area should also be clearly lit at night. Fit security gates over all exterior doors including the upstairs balcony.
Install burglar bars
Relatively few burglaries involve breaking large glass windows as this takes too long, is too noisy and there is a risk of injury. However, a burglar will break a smaller window to tamper with the window catch. Consider installing keylocks on your widows and install burglar bars.
Get a good security system
The above hints plus a modern security system linked to a reputable armed response service should encourage burglars to move on to a less secure home. A good security system should include alarm sensors on doors and windows to detect intruders and panic buttons in the home to summon help from the armed response company in case of an emergency.
19 ways to think like a burglar and prevent theft: Thinking like a criminal and anticipating their moves is your best chance of avoiding theft and burglary, law enforcement says. Davis County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Susan Poulson said people can prevent a lot of theft by thinking ahead of a criminal and taking care of neighbors. "We just recently had a case that was solved in one of our contract cities that a burglar was going house-to-house taking whatever was left unlocked or open. We had a resident who was observant and called it in." Poulson said. " He was able to give us a description of the suspect, what he was taking and where he was going." Richard T. Wright, a criminology professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, interviewed more than a hundred burglars for his book "Burglars on the Job." The patterns he found included what Poulson suggested, as well as some others.
Below are 19 things a burglar thinks according to Wright.
Familiarity
I've been in your house: I'm the carpet cleaner, the painter, the delivery person, the landscaper.
I used your bathroom. And I unlatched the back window while I was there.
I'm polite. I always knock before entering. If you answer, I'll ask for directions or offer to do something around the house.
I won't look like a crook when you see me. I'll look like I have a job to do instead.
I've looked in your windows. I know what electronics you have and where you keep your jewelry.
I'm your Facebook friend. And I saw your posts about vacation.
Familiarity
I've been in your house: I'm the carpet cleaner, the painter, the delivery person, the landscaper.
I used your bathroom. And I unlatched the back window while I was there.
I'm polite. I always knock before entering. If you answer, I'll ask for directions or offer to do something around the house.
I won't look like a crook when you see me. I'll look like I have a job to do instead.
I've looked in your windows. I know what electronics you have and where you keep your jewelry.
I'm your Facebook friend. And I saw your posts about vacation.
Scoping the site
Toys in the yard tell me you might have gaming systems inside.
You've opened the window to air out your house. That's my invitation inside.
Your garage door is open. That's an advertisement of the things you own to me.
Can see your alarm panel and whether or not its set from the window? Consider having it installed where I can't see it from outside.
Newspapers piled up in the driveway, fliers on your door: both are welcome signs to me.
Your driveway has an awful lot of snow on it. Consider getting a neighbor to walk through it or hire someone to keep it plowed if you're not home.
Keeping me out
The sound and flicker of a TV deter me better than any alarm system.
If your neighbor keeps looking at me when I'm in your yard, I'll leave.
Loud, barking dogs blow my cover and keep me away.
An armed alarm, complete with motion detectors above the kitchen sink window and on the second floor make me nervous.
Once I'm inside ...
I check your sock drawers. I'll check the medicine cabinet and bedside tables, too.
If your safe isn't bolted down, I'll take it with me and crack it later.
I don't go into kids' rooms.
Toys in the yard tell me you might have gaming systems inside.
You've opened the window to air out your house. That's my invitation inside.
Your garage door is open. That's an advertisement of the things you own to me.
Can see your alarm panel and whether or not its set from the window? Consider having it installed where I can't see it from outside.
Newspapers piled up in the driveway, fliers on your door: both are welcome signs to me.
Your driveway has an awful lot of snow on it. Consider getting a neighbor to walk through it or hire someone to keep it plowed if you're not home.
Keeping me out
The sound and flicker of a TV deter me better than any alarm system.
If your neighbor keeps looking at me when I'm in your yard, I'll leave.
Loud, barking dogs blow my cover and keep me away.
An armed alarm, complete with motion detectors above the kitchen sink window and on the second floor make me nervous.
Once I'm inside ...
I check your sock drawers. I'll check the medicine cabinet and bedside tables, too.
If your safe isn't bolted down, I'll take it with me and crack it later.
I don't go into kids' rooms.
The list may seem over-cautious, but Poulson said thieves will look anywhere for clues and have no problem striking anywhere. "Unfortunately, that's the day and age that we're in. But, you just need to make sure that you keep yourself and your belongings safe," she said. "It's too bad, but that's the way it is." Also see "Burglary via obituary a growing problem."
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