Homeburglaries increase around the holidaysfor obvious reasons: youre gone, and your house is empty and vulnerable.
If theres newly fallen snow that hasnt been shoveled, they figure the home is empty.
If thats not possible, youll at least want to verify your home is maintained while youre away.
Many of them said they look for overgrown shrubs and large fences:
Burglars dont want to be seen.
They looked for homes with big fences and overgrown trees or bushes.
Its a good reminder to double-check your bushes and shrubs are trimmed before you leave.
Make It Look Like Someones Inside
Yep, its time to getKevin McCallister on your home.
At the very least,put your lights on a timeror leave a radio on.
One burglar called it a deal-breaker.
Of course, there are apps that allow you tocontrol your setup remotely, too.TeamVieweris our favorite.
You might also consider leaving a car in the driveway.
Again,KTVB reported:
As a homeowner, this is one of the best precautions you might take.
Almost all of the burglars said theyd think twice if there was a car in the driveway.
Most of the time that is a sure-fire sign of someone being home, wrote an inmate.
Social media is a great thing for people but its a great thing for criminals too, said Holliday.
Criminals stake out the Internet.
You canfilter your vacation responderto only send to certain people in your contact list or from certain email addresses.
Ask a neighbor to check on things.
Illustration by: Angelica Alzona.
Photos by:Paul Inkles,Tom Ipry,Alexander Lyubavin.
