Theft experiences a well-known uptick during the holidays. People are busy purchasing gifts, potentially taking out more cash and there is an unarguable increase in package deliveries. People are filling their homes with high-priced items that a thief would love to get their hands on. What are some ways you can reduce the likelihood that your family will fall victim to home theft?
Make it Seem Like You are Home
One of the best deterrents to theft is simply being at home. Since being home all the time is impossible, especially during the holidays, you want to at least create the appearance of being home…even when you are not. Leave interior lights on or use timers to give the appearance that someone is inside. If you are leaving town for a few days, park your car or ask a neighbor to park one of their cars in your driveway. Find someone who will watch your house for mail, packages or snow so they can pick up and store items or do a light shovel on the walkway. Pay a neighborhood teen to bring in your trash can so your house doesn’t take on the look of being abandoned. By making some simple adjustments to the appearance of your home, you can make your house look less appealing to thieves.
Make it Hard to See What’s Inside
Close your curtains! Keeping windows covered or at least expensive items out of site while you are away. Additionally, you should customize how you receive packages. Thieves don’t even have to enter the house to grab valuables as most homes get a lot of deliveries during the holidays. If you are able to tell the delivery drivers to hide packages behind furniture or at a back door, this will keep packages from being visible from the street. You may also want to consider ordering items to be picked up at the store. Most purchased items can be picked up without leaving your car and you won’t need to worry about it being outside for several hours. Finally, break down boxes and dispose of them discreetly.
Make it Tough to Get Inside Your House
Be vigilant with setting your alarms and utilizing your entire security system. Instruct family members to set your alarm every time and make sure holiday décor is not obstructing things like security cameras. Additionally, this is not the time of year to leave a key hidden around the house. Pick those extra keys up and make sure all of your family members have a secure way to enter the house and lock it up when leaving.
With a few additional steps you can mitigate the likelihood of becoming a victim of holiday home theft. You should spend your season enjoying your family and friends and not worrying about the safety of your valuables.