Burglary Basics

1. Make your home look occupied and make it difficult to break in.
2. Leave your lights, TV and/or the radio on when you leave the house.  If you are going to be gone for any length of time connect some of your lamps and small appliances to automatic timers that will turn them on and off at various times of the day and night.
3. Lock all outside doors and windows before you leave the house or go to bed.  Always lock your doors even if you are only planning on being gone for a short time.
4. If you must leave your windows open for ventilation while you sleep install devices that will not allow the window to open wide enough for someone to enter or reach in to remove the device.
5. Keep the door from the garage into the house locked.
6. Never leave your garage door open.
7. Arrange for a reliable friend or neighbor to pick up newspapers and mail daily while you are away or stop all deliveries of mail or newspapers while you are gone.
8. If you will be gone for an extended time, arrange for your lawn to be mowed.
9. Check the locks and doors on your windows and replace them as needed.  Push-button locks on doors are easy for burglars to open and should be replaced with deadbolt locks on your outside doors.
10. Sliding glass doors are vulnerable but there are special locks available to secure them.

Don’t tempt a thief

1. Keep lawn mowers, barbecues, bicycles stored out of sight.
2. Always lock garden sheds and garages
3. Cover basement and garage windows with curtains or blinds.
4. Never leave notes on the door  (back soon, gone shopping, etc)

Locks will help, make sure they are high quality

1. Change your locks immediately if your keys are lost or stolen.
2. When you move into a new home change the locks immediately; you have no way of knowing who may have keys to your new home.

Outside prevention tools and activities

1. Never leave your door under the doormat, in flower pots, mailboxes or secret hiding places – burglars know where to look.
2. Trim your shrubbery around windows and doors so burglars don’t have a place to hide.
3. Install lighting with motion detectors.

Alarms are always a possibility and are often provide peace of mind to homeowners when they are home or on vacation.

If your home is broken in to:

1. Do not enter your home if you see visible signs that your home has been broken into – the perpetrator may still be inside.
2. Use your cell phone or a neighbor’s phone to call police – Rio Vista dispatch 374-2300.
3. Do not touch anything or clean up until after the police have instructed you to do so.
4. Write down the license plate and a description of any suspicious or unfamiliar vehicles in the area
5. If you see a suspicious person in the area, make notes so you can provide the police with information, clothing, heights, weight, ethnicity, hair color etc.