NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME PREVENTION WHAT RESIDENTS CAN DO

Residential burglaries usually occur in the daytime when no-one is home. Residents must do their part to reduce their risk by "Hardening-the-Target" against would-be-burglars.

Enact as many as possible of these risk-reduction techniques at your residence to let criminals know, while they are still planning their crime, that yours is a bad choice of target. These steps are designed to make their crime take too long or be too noisy therefore increasing the criminal's risk of being seen, heard, or caught after the fact.

The term “Hardening-the-Target” is used, which means to enact measures to make it difficult for a criminal to commit his planned crime. Target Hardening is meant to discourage or deter a would-be robber/burglar/thief by increasing HIS RISK of being seen, being heard, or being caught during or after the crime. This can be done by individual citizens, as a group of neighbors, as a business, or as a whole community.

·      Promptly Report Safety Hazards to Neighborhood President or responsible agency (streetlights, potholes, speeding/traffic)

·      Keep Outside Lights ON at Night

·      Lock Doors, Window Latches, Sliding Door Latches

·      Install and Use Peepholes in Doors

·      Know Neighbors by Name, Recognize their Vehicles

·      Resolve to Report Suspicious People and Activity to Police  IMMEDIATELY

·      Lock Cars, NEVER Leave Them Running

·      Remove ALL Valuables from parked cars (including CDs, purses, cell-phones,     change, clothing etc…)

·      Take Removable Faces off Car Stereo Equipment

·      Secure Vehicles with a CLUB or Similar Device

·      Secure Firearms in Safes with Gun Locks

·      Pay Attention when Walking Outside

·      Be More Suspicious of Strangers

·      Close Garage Doors

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Suggested Property Inventory Form

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY LIST

1.   Anyone looking into or forcibly entering a car or home. 

2.   Someone running from a car, home, or business.

3.   Sound of breaking glass.

4.   Someone carrying a weapon.

5.   Screams.

6.   Stranger offering children candy or gifts.

7.   Loiterer who doesn’t belong in the area.

8.   Persons walking around the neighborhood with items which may have been stolen.

9.   Anyone ringing or knocking at your door with unreasonable explanation (or reasonable, if they want to “use your phone”).

10. Persons loitering around school grounds.

11. Strange vehicles passing through, parked with occupants, or abandoned for several days, especially with windows left down.

12. A clean car with dirty plates / dirty car with clean plates.

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Exterior

Lighting – Dusk-to-Dawn or Timer is better than Motion

Out-Buildings / Sheds - Close Locks, Strengthen Latches

Ladders  – Secure in garage, or chain to fencing

Battering objects – Secure loose bricks and blocks inside

Unsecured property – Secure bicycles, lawn equipment

Accesses – Secure dormers, under-house accesses

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Interior

Door locks – Deadbolts, and long 3”screws in strike plate

Peep Holes – Place 41/2 to 5 feet high on door

Sliding Doors – “Charley-Bar”, Pin, Screws in top track

Window Locks – Pin Wooden Windows, Key Locks

Valuables Storage – Lock / Store away from regular locations

Property Marking – Engrave Drivers License Number

Property Inventory – List Brand, Model # ,Serial#, Value

Access to telephone  - At least one Corded Phone in house

Interior locks – Locks on Guns and Gun Cabinets, Jewelry

Keys – Who has keys?  Is it time to Re-Key Locks?

Door from Garage – Lock it. Garage door doesn’t always close.

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Vehicle

License Tag/ Vin recorded – KNOW YOUR TAG NUMBER

Valuables out of sight – Take inside or lock in the trunk

CD Players / Cases – Remove Faceplate, Take CDs inside

Locks / Keys – ALWAYS Lock the Car, Take the Keys

Parking - Park in a well lit area, turn on outside Garage Lights

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VACATION SECURITY CHECKLIST

Thieves look for “TARGETS of OPPORTUNITY”. There are many things you can do to avoid becoming a victim when you are going to be away. Mainly, try to give the illusion you are home.

• Have Deadbolt Locks installed on all exterior doors (Single-cylinder on solid doors / walls, Double-cylinder when near a window)

• Keep an inventory list and photos of all serial numbered items, engrave them with your Drivers License Number, to help get them back.

• Double-check ALL windows and doors (basements, bathrooms, kitchens)

• Leave a car in the driveway

• Use timers for Exterior AND Interior lights, TVs, stereos, etc.

• Tell a trusted neighbor about plans, leave emergency contacts and a key. Ask them to check the house and call Police if they see people around.

• Limit how many people you tell of your plans. Word may spread.

• Cancel newspapers, have mail held, or at least ask the neighbor to bring them in for you. If leaving for a week, have them put the trash can out. It is an obvious marker that you are gone.

• Upon returning, walk around the house once to look for any signs of a break-in. You don’t want to walk into a crime-in-progress. If you see something open or broken, go next door and CALL POLICE. 

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Apartment Complex Safety

A much higher ratio of crime occurs in apartment complexes than in residential neighborhoods. This is due to many factors including population density, a high concentration of cars parked together, unfamiliarity and anonymity of residents, the transient nature of some complex populations, and numerous dark corners on the property.

Apartment Complexes are historically the locations where a high percentage of crimes occur. Some have drug problems, some have behavioral problems (domestic disputes, drunkenness), but almost all experience property crimes. If your complex is quiet and has little or no crime, great. Or is it? Are you aware of what is actually happening in your area or within just a few blocks? Crime travels. It is your responsibility to make sure that when Criminals look at your neighborhood, they see too much resistance and keep going to somewhere easier. We call this “hardening the target”. Some of the issues must be addressed at the management level, some on the resident level. It can be done unit-by-unit but works much better when the whole community presents a united front against criminals.
The community is the eyes and ears of the Police Department. Your risk of becoming a victim is greatly reduced when you and your neighbors can count on each other to report suspicious people and activity. Officers cannot see everything at once, but with good information from citizens, criminals may be caught in the act, or better yet, deterred from committing the crime there at all.

WHAT APARTMENT RESIDENTS CAN DO

· Promptly report safety hazards to management (lighting damaged/missing, gaps in fences, overgrown bushes, bad door locks, etc.)
· Keep porch lights ON
· Lock deadbolts, window latches, sliding doors
· Request and use peepholes in doors
· Know neighbors by name, recognize their vehicles
· Resolve to report suspicious people and activity to police and management IMMEDIATELY
· Lock cars, NEVER leave them running
· Remove ALL valuables from parked cars (including CDs, purses, cell-phones, change, clothing, etc.)
· Take removable faces off car stereo equipment
· Secure vehicles with a CLUB or similar device
· Secure firearms in safes or with gun locks
· Pay attention when walking in public
· Be more suspicious of strangers

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A community action oriented site to help residents improve Charleston, West Virginia neighborhoods and aid in crime prevention.

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