Sheriff's Department Issues Crime Prevention Tips

Editor's Note: The following news release was posted Monday by the Los Alamitos Police Department. It was issued by the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Crime Prevention Tips for Home Security

Most burglaries can be prevented by following a few simple tips:

• Always lock your doors and windows, even when leaving for “just a minute.”
  
• Never leave a house key under a doormat, in a flower pot, or on the ledge of the door.
• Be sure to use the dead bolt lock.
  
• Attach the strike plate (the jamb fastening that receives the bolt in the locking position) for the dead bolt to the door with four to six 3-inch brass wood screws that penetrate through the frame to the structural wood.
• Lock your side garage door at night and when you are away from home. Lock your garage door leading into the house.
• Keep your garage door closed. Thieves steal items from open garages in less than 30 seconds.
• Do not leave items of value outside your home. Thieves may take items from your porch, patio or yard.Use “ventilation” locks as well as auxiliary locks on sliding doors and windows to bolster security.
• All sliding glass doors and windows should be equipped with anti-lift protection.
• Remember, many burglaries occur with no force—burglars enter your home through unlocked doors and windows.
• Going Out? Lock all doors and windows at all times.
• Take your garage door opener with you.Use timers so that lights, radio, and TV go on and off throughout the house to indicate someone is home.
• For vacation, be sure to stop mail and newspaper or have a neighbor collect mail and newspapers daily. Make your house look “lived in.”
• Remember, if you come home and see a broken window or jimmied door, don’t go in.
  
• For your safety, phone Sheriff’s Dispatch at 9-1-1 or 949-770-6011 for a deputy to respond.
• Please use your lens viewer in the front door at all times before answering the door.
  
• Never open the door without knowing who is there.
• Install motion sensor lighting around the perimeter of your house.
• Keep your porch lights on dusk to dawn.
• If you have an alarm system, use it at all times.
• Consider laminating windows and sliders to prevent breakage of windows.
• Consider having your locks changed if you give the key to someone performing any work in your home. When you have any type of work done on your home, even housecleaning, make sure all doors and windows are locked before you leave the home or when at home. 
• Mark your valuables, using an engraver, with your driver’s license number preceded by “CA” for California. This makes your property more difficult to pawn and helps law enforcement identify your property if it is recovered.
• Consider renting a bank safe deposit box or purchasing a safe for the home to safeguard valuables, such as jewelry, cash, coins, passports, birth certificates and other important documents.
• Keep landscaping around your home trimmed down around doorways, windows and light fixtures.
• Never leave a purse, wallet, or other valuables in plain sight.
• Always lock your car and take the keys out even when it is parked in your garage or driveway.
• Be alert and aware of your surroundings at all times.
• To report suspicious activity, call Sheriff’s Dispatch at 714-647-7000.

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