5 Tips to Keep Your Home Safe During the Holidays

By: Jessica Lizza

Cronkite Special to AZLatinos.com

Most Americans get up in the morning and get ready for school or work. They fight through traffic, work all day and usually want to come home and find that little bit of peace they feel they deserve. Occasionally, there are those who come home from a tough day of work (or even a great vacation) and walk into their space only to learn there’s been an intruder.

In Yavapai County alone, in a space of approximately 8,200 square miles, there is an average of 2 burglary reports a day. Imagine how many happen in a highly populated county like Maricopa, and in a huge metropolitan space like Phoenix. According to Yavapai County Detective Daniel Pritchard, most of these instances happen during the day. He said that, “the people that commit these types of property crimes are opportunists, so they know good people are usually working during the day time.”

This statement is supported by the research Richard Wright, Robert Logie and Scott Decker did in the journal, Criminal Expertise and Offender Decision Making. This journal outlines an experiment conducted between a control group of 34 people that do not burglarize homes and a group of 47 active offenders. The experiment found that while most people think a burglar picks a house at random, really they have a different mindset.

Locks and signs did not seem to make a difference to the active offenders, however the thought of someone being home did. The non-offending citizens that were a part of the experiment first recognized locks and security signs, while offenders noticed things like lights and cars in the driveways. An empty house is the attractive target.

In Prescott, there was a woman who was a victim of this behavior. Kathleen Charriere, a 53-year-old hairstylist, went on a weekend trip and came home to a burglarized house. She described the feeling saying, “I felt very invaded, I felt kind of, raped. I felt like wow, someone invaded my space and took my privacy.” Charriere took all the precautions that she could think of previously. She put wood blocks in her windows and doors; but unfortunately, when someone wants to come in, they can still break through the glass.

Sgt. Ben Hoster of the Scottsdale police department suggests five tips to keeping your home safe:

1. Keeping all doors and windows locked always. Breaking windows risks making too much noise and the chance of someone seeing.
2. Having a dog. This does not apply to everyone because that is a big commitment, but the worry of getting bit or a dog making noise is usually enough to deter a burglar.
3. A security system, or at least even an advertisement of one.
4. Get to know your typical surroundings. If you see a strange car making rounds in your neighborhood, tell someone.
5. Mail piled up at your mailbox is also a clear sign that your home is vacant. Check your mail daily, and if you leave town have a neighbor hold it for you.

The best way to combat burglary is to make it difficult for the offender. Pritchard says, “don’t make it easy. If you make it hard for them [offenders] to commit the crime they are just going to continue on and look for someone else.” Pritchard also states that many cases go unsolved because there is no information to follow up on. Keeping serial numbers of expensive items on record and photographing jewelry are all great ways to help the police follow up on the report.