Protect your home from daytime break-and-enters
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Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Norfolk County Detachment is reminding residents to be as vigilant during the daytime hours as they are when the lights go out when it comes to protecting their homes.
The Norfolk County OPP Detachment investigated 10 reports of break and enter occurrences in the month of May 2014 and of those, over half were during daytime hours.
Police are encouraging residents to take the following steps to help protect their homes:
* Have a trusted neighbour keep an eye out while you plan to be away.
* Have your news flyer delivery suspended temporarily.
* Arrange to have your lawn cut if away for an extended period time.
* Install motion-sensitive lighting around the home.
* Put lights and television on timers.
* Secure all doors and windows every time you leave your home or when in the back yard or doing work in the field…remember, if you can’t see the door or hear the door, you need to secure the door!
* Let your neighbours know who belongs at your house while you are away.
A great way to prevent break and enters from happening is by getting to know your neighbours.
“When we see strange people in our neighbours’ yards in the middle of the night, it triggers something in us to contact police but when we see those same people in the same place in the middle of the day, we often assume they belong there and can be reluctant to contact police. We have been successful in making arrests as a result of a neighbour calling when something didn’t look right in the middle of the day. If you see a suspicious vehicle or a suspicious person, we want you to call us,” said Constable Ed Sanchuk, Norfolk County OPP Detachment, in a media release.
Anyone with information regarding any break and enter occurrence should immediately contact the Ontario Provincial Police at 1 – 888 – 310 – 1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1 – 800 – 222 – 8477 (TIPS) or leave an anonymous online message at www.helpsolvecrime.com where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000.
For more information on how to protect your home this summer, visit the OPP website and follow the OPP SafeGuard link at: http://www.opp.ca/ecms/index.php?id=516.