Crime Prevention Tips for Citizens in Duluth

HOME BURGLARIES

When out of town, fill out a Vacation House Check form with our agency. It’s free, and it lets us know that you are gone, and allows us to physically check your home. Officers walk the perimeter of your home and visually check all windows and doors for security. Again, this is a free service of your Duluth Police Department so please use it! The Duluth Police Department cannot guarantee the safety of your home or the contents while you are away, but the Vacation House Check
form allows us to keep an extra eye on it for you.

While out of town, please have someone pick up any newspapers you may have delivered while gone. If a would-be thief sees a stack of old newspapers in the drive, he or she assumes you are not home and may decide to break into your home.

While out of town, have your mail held at the post office. Criminals sometimes check mailboxes to see if they are collecting a large amount of mail with different post dates on them. This could be another clue that nobody is home.

While out of town, leave a few lights on inside the home. This could give the appearance that someone is home. If possible, a timer is highly recommended. This allows different lights to be on at different times of the day. Again, if someone sees the same lights burning 24 hours a day, for several days, it could also be a clue that nobody is home.

While out of town, leave a radio playing softly inside, just loud enough for it to be heard from the outside of the home. This would give the appearance that there is “life” inside the home.

Whether out of town or not, place motion detecting lights on the exterior of your home. Flood lights in the upper corners are best. Once motion is detected, the lights illuminate your yard, your home, your driveway, or wherever you have them aimed. You can set most of them to stay on for small amounts of time such as 30 seconds, 45 seconds, one minute, or in some cases up to half an hour. If I was “sneaking and peeking” around your home and was hit with bright lights, I would be gone!

If you have the key pad entry for a garage door on the exterior of your home, please do not code it with anything personal that would be easy to figure out. For example, do not use your street numbers, vehicle license plate, birthday, etc. Choose a code that is very unique to you, which is easy to remember but hard to crack by anyone else. Change this code at least three times a year. You can recycle your old codes if you wish, but changing it from time to time is a good idea.

Once a week, walk your home and visually inspect each window lock to ensure that they are in good working order and locked. Inspect your screens for signs of tampering. Check the wood frame around windows and doors for signs of attempted entry. Signs of tampering could be as noticeable as a shoe print on the door (from someone trying to kick it), a loose door handle or deadbolt lock, pry marks in the wood around the door or window (dents in the wood or missing pieces of the wood), or missing/torn/dented screens on windows. Some signs that are not as noticeable could be torn weather stripping around the entry/exit doors of your home. This could happen if someone were to force an object between the door frame and the door to “pop the lock”, or smudges of handprints on the outside of any window. Some windows can be opened with enough pressure around the lock and a strong steady push upward. If you see ANY signs of tampering please call the Duluth Police Department.

At night, please close blinds and/or curtains on entry level windows. While you are asleep, someone may be “window shopping” for all the lovely items you have in your home.

At Christmas time, please do not leave your boxes from the new television, computer, etc at the curb for the trash company. Break these boxes down, and place them inside trash bags. You are advertising “Look what new electronic items I have in my home now! Please help yourself the next time I am away”. Believe it or not, your trash can tell a lot about you to a would-be thief or burglar.

If you have bushes, shrubbery, or trees that have grown up around windows or are close to your home you may want to think about trimming them. At night, ask yourself if anyone could possibly hide behind them from a passing police car. If so, you have a wonderful place to store burglars until police are out of sight. Good lighting and unobstructed views of the windows are the best for police.

Many of us have GPS in our vehicles. Some are built in, and some are plug in. However, all of them have a “HOME” setting. PLEASE do not set your actual home address here. Let me give you a scenario to explain this. I find your car at the mall. I like your car. I break into it and steal your car. I turn on the GPS and press “HOME”. Your car actually guides me to your home. Guess what else is in your car? You guessed it, a garage door opener. I now can park in the garage and close the door. I kick in the door leading into your home and I now own anything I want inside. If a neighbor sees your car enter the garage, he/she thinks nothing of it. They see YOU do that all the time. We never receive a phone call until it’s too late. In my GPS, I have an intersection saved as my address. This intersection is a few miles from my home. I know how to get home from this intersection. I don’t need the GPS once I reach that intersection.

Keep nothing in your vehicle with your home address on it.

ENTERING AUTO THEFTS

Don’t leave anything visible in your vehicle that would interest anyone. Do not even leave change that can be seen from the outside of your car. Many of our entering autos are juveniles looking for anything they can get. Spare change is a hot commodity to these folks.

Do not leave the plug in GPS, IPod, etc in your vehicle when you exit. Place everything related to these items in a glove box, or utility compartment when exiting your vehicle. Place compact discs in the same containers as well. These items are called “targets of opportunity”. I walk past your car and see the new IPod that I cannot afford because I am a no good thief. And, because I am a no good thief, I take yours. Now you are out one IPod, and probably one car window, and anything else I can get my no good thieving hands on while inside your car. If you can walk past your car, look inside and see NOTHING but floor mats and seats GOOD JOB. You have given nothing to a thief.

Don’t leave sunglasses in those handy clips on the sun visors. Many sunglasses cost well over $100 these days. A juvenile thief would think nothing of breaking into a vehicle only for a pair of “cool” sunglasses. Place these in your glove box upon exiting your vehicle.

If your car stereo came with a removable face, then use it. It’s there for a reason. It takes no time to remove. If a thief wants the stereo, it does them no good without the face.

LOCK YOUR DOORS! Even in my garage, I lock my doors. Many of our entering autos are from vehicles with no forced entry to them. People walk parking lots, or neighborhoods, and try door handles. If they are unlocked (and no alarm sounds) then they help themselves to whatever they want. Don’t make it easy for thieves. In most cases, unless the theft is obvious, it could be days or weeks until you realize you have been victimized.

If you have a habit of traveling with firearms, please do not leave them in your vehicle. Get in the habit of taking them in, and out of your vehicle each and every time. Having your vehicle broken in to is a horrible thing which leaves you feeling very violated and victimized. The one thing that would make it even worse is having your vehicle broken in to and now your registered firearm is in the hands of a criminal.

REPORT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY

Be aware of your surroundings! If you are driving through your neighborhood or are walking up to your apartment, and you see a person or some activity that makes you feel uncomfortable, please call the Duluth Police Department immediately at 770-476-4151.