Keep Your Home Safe

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When it comes to preventing crime, libraries not only help residents sort through useful resources, but they also provide a pulse for what’s going on in the area. In Chicago, for instance, local branches carry the Chicago Crime Commission Gang Book, a detailed overview of street gangs in the Chicago metropolitan area by the Chicago Crime Commission .

Crimes have been on the rise in some cities and police say most people underestimate the extent to which they could be taking safety into their own hands.

“They don’t look around their house to see if individuals can break in,” says Chicago Police Officer Rudy Jordan. He suggests looking for clues that your home might be vulnerable to break-ins, such as faulty gates and broken windows, and finding out what you can do to fix those problems.

10 Ways to Make Your Home Safer

1. Don’t Leave Doors Open
“Leaving your door open is probably the number one [safety problem],” says Chicago Police Officer Ron Ruffo, who often advises his neighbors on home safety. Whether you’re mowing the lawn or taking out the garbage, he says, lock up behind you.
2. Use Dead Bolts
All doors to the outside should have a dead bolt with a minimum 1.5-inch bolt installed. Locks such as privacy locks, which have a small latch on the handle, should only be used on interior doors.
3. Check Your Windows
Have you checked your windows lately? Be sure that screens are intact and windows are locked from the inside.
4. Install Motion-Sensor Lights
Install motion-sensor lights in the front entrance to your home — they’re likely to scare intruders off.
5. Make Locks Inaccessible, Except for Keys
Make sure that locking mechanisms on doors can’t be reached through a mail slot, window or pet entrance.
6. Clean Up Your Yard
“A lot of people leave hammers, screwdrivers, bricks and tools in their back yard, making it easy to get in,” says Ruffo.
7. Don’t Give Out Entrance Codes
“People are too trusting of others with a lot of information that really does not need to be given out,” says Jordan.
8. Avoid Full Name on Mailboxes
Don’t put full name on the mailbox — especially female names. Police recommend either two initials or the first initial and last name.
9. Don’t Hide Your Keys Outside
Police say burglars are good at finding secret hiding places.
10. On Vacation? Have Friends Stop By and Use Automatic Timers
Arrange for someone to shovel your walk or mow your lawn while you’re gone. Rather than canceling subscriptions, have someone pick them up, says Ruffo. This way you avoid letting strangers know you’ll be out of town. Also, use an automatic timer to turn on lights, a radio or a television and set your phone ringer on low, “If you hear it ringing off the hook, it’s more likely there’s no one home,” explains Ruffo.

Forming a Neighborhood Watch Group

Libraries also offer a convenient meeting place for Neighborhood Watch Groups, an effective crime prevention program in which residents work with law enforcement to keep their area safe. Ruffo says he watched one such group eradicate a local gang problem by fostering a stronger presence at an intersection on Chicago’s Northwest Side that was frequented by gang members.

When about 100 area residents started hanging out on the corner, the gang members stopped showing up.

The groups offer more than just crime prevention. They also allow people to get to know each other as a community. Typically, organizers visit each house and use e-mail to gather support. The group helps keep neighborhoods clean and orderly, locate people to leave spare keys with, and keep an eye out on each other’s property.

Tips On Starting Your Own Group
Talk to a local librarian and find out what part of the library may be available for your kick-off meeting. They may also let you post fliers to raise community awareness about your new group.

1. Pass out fliers to announce the time, date and location of the kick-off meeting.
2. Delegate work — get volunteers to participate, whether it’s making phone calls or organizing their own meetings. “A lot of people have great suggestions, but you’ve got to pry it out of them,” says Ruffo.
3. Start a newsletter to keep neighbors updated with any activities. Remember to include positive developments in your updates, too.
4. Host events such as block parties to garner interest in your group.
5. Invite law enforcement and aldermen to your events. Ruffo suggests inviting different speakers — mounted police, canine police, the state’s attorney or a security company — to draw attention to meetings.
6. Support one another. If someone can’t afford to take good care of her lawn, host a fundraiser to help her out. A tidy street will help keep the rest of the neighbors safe, as well.

For more information on running a neighborhood watch group visit the National Crime Prevention Council’s Web site.