Burglaries

Burglary has become one of the fastest growing crimes in America. According to FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, a burglary happens every 11 seconds nationally. Half of these burglaries are during the day. Two out of three burglaries are residential. According to the National Crime Prevention Institute a burglar will generally work no longer than 60 seconds to obtain entry into your house. If he cannot gain entry in that amount of time, he will move onto an easier target. There are four common myths about burglaries that you should be aware of:

Myth #1 - If a burglar wants to get in he will.

That is not true. He may want to get in, but that does not mean he can nor that he has the equipment or opportunity to get in. If your home is an easy target, it does not take much skill or effort to get in. A swift kick of the door and the burglar is in your home within seconds. Most doors give way at the door jam. A good dead bolt, a solid door and a beefed up door jam makes a hard target to penetrate.

Myth #2 - My Insurance company will cover the loss.

This is only partially true. Most of the items in your home can be replaced by either you or the insurance company. What about the items that cannot re replaced, things given to you by relatives and loved ones, the things handed down from one generation to the next that stopped with your burglary.

Myth #3 - The chances of it happening to me are slim.

Are they? Nationally one out of every six homes will at some time experience a burglary.

Myth #4 - Burglars break in when no one is at home.

While this is true in most cases, it is not true in all cases. Waking up in the middle of the night and finding a stranger in your bedroom or coming up from the basement to be face to face with a burglar is a frightening and dangerous situation. Most burglars do not want a confrontation with the home owner. They do not always know that you are there. Of course, some burglars have other ideas. Consider these crimes that are commonly associated with burglary: homicide, rape, sodomy, robbery, abductions, and assaults.

Take a little extra time and make sure your home is secure. Take one day out of the year to go through your home and check it. Practice good safety and security measures.