Home Security

• Equip patio doors with proper fitting safety bars.
• Make sure ground floor windows are securely locked.
• Use your initials only when putting your listing in the telephone book, or on the calling board in the apartment lobby, do not indicate your gender.
• Do not indicate in any way that you live alone.
• Before opening your door, always visually check to see who is there (in an apartment), this probably means having a peephole installed.
• Plant thorny shrubs, under windows, to discourage would-be thieves.
• Trim shrubs along the sidewalk, near the doors and windows, so that no one can hide behind the shrubs. If shrubs are quite mature and large, be sure to trim them from the ground up to about 50 cm so that no one can crouch behind them.
• Locate large trees away from the house so that they can’t be climbed to gain entry to a second-story window.
• Keep an inventory of your possessions and place it in a secure place, i.e. safety deposit box. Photographs or videotapes and good ways to keep an accurate record.
• Borrow or rent an engraving unit and put your name on appliances such as televisions, VCR units, video cameras, stereos, etc.
• Leave a spare key with a trusted neighbor, not under the doormat.
• Invest in good external lighting, i.e. sensor lights.
• Always keep the garage door closed and install a lock on it.
• Only allow people you know into your home – individuals representing the utility or telephone company will have identification and you should ask to see it.
• Never allow anyone into your home who asks to use your telephone. Instead, place the call for them while they wait outside.
• Employ individuals/workers from reputable firms only to work in and around your home.
• Never sign contracts without expert opinions.

Information received from Safe Community Coalition of Brockville & District

Securing Your Home for Vacation

• Let a neighbor know that you are going away and for how long.
• Make sure that all mail is picked up when you are away.
• Have someone mow your lawn in the summer and shovel your drive (or have a neighbor drive his car in and out a couple of times) after a snowfall.
• Don’t advertise your absence on your answering machine; simply state that you are unavailable.
• Put lights on a timer system.

Information received from Safe Community Coalition of Brockville & District