Don’t Give Burglars an Opening

In the 19-plus years my family has lived in Southern California, we’ve been burglarized three times. In each instance we were at fault: an unlocked window, an unlocked utility door, an unlatched patio sliding glass door. Just about everybody has either been burglarized or knows a burglar’s victim.

Burglaries, like most crimes in Orange County, are down--down but far from stamped out. The county’s eight largest cities saw 8,798 burglaries total last year. That averages out almost exactly to someone in those cities getting ripped off every hour of the day, seven days a week.

For some answers I turned to Nilda Berndt, crime prevention officer for the city of Placentia and one of the most articulate safety experts I’ve come across.

Our basic problem, she said: “We’re overconfident.”

We just can’t believe it can happen to us. So we get careless. We don’t lock up properly, and we leave temptations for burglars.

If we’re gone at night, for example, we often forget to turn on outside lights--both front and back.

“Lighting is the No. 1 deterrent to an after-dark burglary,” Berndt said. “Burglars don’t want to be observed. If it’s a choice between your neighbor’s well-lit property and your place that’s dark, you know which one they’ll hit.”

But most burglaries take place in daytime, when most of us aren’t home. How many times have you had someone come to your door and ask for someone you’ve never heard of?

“Burglars almost always knock on the door first, to make sure you’re not there,” she said.

See if you’re guilty of this error: You lock up your house securely but leave your garage door up, with the utility door leading to your house unlocked. Berndt strongly recommends deadbolts for all such utility doors.

Here’s another mistake we make once the burglar has made it in:

“Where do you keep your extra cash? In a dresser drawer, right?” Berndt said. “Burglars know that. It’s the first place they look.”

She recommends placing your extra cash underneath the plastic bag your cereal is in within a cereal box.

“Most burglars won’t go through all your cereal boxes looking for money,” she said.

Some stores sell phony bathroom canisters specifically for hiding money and valuables. Berndt warns against them. Burglars can lift them up and tell right away if they’re real, she said.

The most dangerous burglaries, of course, are those that take place while we’re asleep. Berndt’s sound advice here just might save your life.

First, never confront a burglar. And certainly not with a gun. (Though I know many will stubbornly disagree.)

“Most people simply are not trained to shoot a gun at another human being,” she said. “In most burglaries, your life is not in danger; the burglar just wants out as fast as possible. But if you confront him with a gun, now he feels his life is in danger. You’re putting yourself at high risk.”

The best defense is a telephone by your bed. Call 911.

“If you can tell the dispatcher what’s going on, that’s best,” she said. “But if you can’t talk, don’t worry. The dispatcher will know where you are and the police will respond.”

You can expand on these ideas by checking out the Web site of the National Crime Prevention Council (https://www.ncpc.org).

Also, Berndt said, feel free to call your city’s crime prevention specialist (most are in the White Pages) for a home inspection.

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Readers can reach Jerry Hicks by calling (714) 564-1049 or e-mail to [email protected].