Crimes to properties happen more often then we would like.
U.S. households experienced 15.9 million property victimizations in 2016, which includes burglary, motor vehicle theft and theft.
Luckily in Florida, the rate is going down. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement reports from 1996 to 2016, Florida has had a significant decrease in both the number and rate of reported property offenses. (40.5 percent, from 928,273 offenses in 1996 to 552,513 in 2016).
Many are being proactive about securing their home and there are some simple and inexpensive approaches you can take.
Outside:
- Install motion sensor lights.
- Keep landscaping neat and trimmed.
- Remove items that may indicate you’ve been gone for a while. (Flyers, packages etc.)
- If you can’t afford an alarm, put dummy alarm stickers on your doors and windows
Inside:
- Window locks can prevent them from being opened from the outside. They cost around $3 for 4
- Place a pvc pipe or wooden stick in the track of a sliding door.
- Leave a light on or radio on while away or out of town.
Other information to know:
Thieves often strike in the middle of the day, typically burglaries happen between 8 a.m. and before 2 p.m.
The master bedroom is often the first room to be burglarized since it frequently houses jewelry, safes and hidden cash stashes.
A burglar will spend between eight to 12 minutes in a home.
If the burglar can’t find any of your valuables right away, odds are he’ll tear the house apart until he can find something he wants. Make sure to take pictures of each room, in the event you have to file a claim with your insurance.
Burglars steal items that are easy to carry and resell for the highest possible price.
The months of July and August have the most burglaries, and February has the fewest.