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$tatFon Freventlon Tips

l-he San Francisco

PoliceDepartment and SanFrancisco SAFE
want to helpreducethe chanceof vehiclebreak-insandvehicletheft.

l"{ereare sometipsto minimize

the chanceof beingtargeted:

*_3 . Don'tleaveANYpersonal'or
valuable
items
^3. ;- vrsrurernsrue ii venrure.
@r; o Lockall valuablesinsidethe trunkbefore
arrivingat yourdestination.
a Doorsshouldbe loekedandwindowsup.
o Useanti-theft deviceslike"TheClub"or an
alarmsystem.
Rerhovable stereosvstemsshouldneverbe
leftin a vehicle.
GPSmapping devices-dashor windshield mounted
shouldneverbe leftin a vehicle.
Reportbreak-ins andtheftsto theSanFrancisco Police
Depadment at (415)553:0123, policestation,
at anydistriet
or onlineat www.sfgov.org/police.
Callthepoliaeif youseesomeone wltha
tanrpering
vehicle.

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in partnership
Tarawa$Stafxeln Pr,everaticnT'frps

The San Francisco

SeenringYour Ftrorne

PoliceDepartment
and San Francisco
to securingyourhomeagainstburgfaries,
SAFEworking

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ForAdditional SafetyTips,
PieasecontactProjectSAFE(41b)673-SAFEor Taraval.orq (weiositet_
 HomeBurglaryPrevention
Tips

Protectyour homefrom burglary

Mostpeopleonlythinkaboutmakingtheirhomesec,;reaftera burglary hasoccurredA.ccording to
crimereports cornpiled oneoutof everysixhomeswillbe
by theFederalBureauof Investigation
burglarizedthisyear.lt hasbeenstatedthatburglarsonlyneed60 seconds to breakintomost
homesFBIstatistics claimthatonlyoneoutof everyfourburglaries involveforcedentry.Most
burglars
enterhomesthrough an openor unlockedwindowor door.By makingit moredifficult
for
to getintoyourresidence,
intruders youcangreatlyreduceyourchances of beingburglarized.The
morea burglar hasto workto getintoyourhome,thelesschanceyouhaveof becoming hisvictim.

To determine howsecureyourhomeis,thinklikea burglar. Fromtheoutsideof yourhor1e,consider

howdifficultit wouldbe to breakin.lf youlocked
yourselfout,couldyoueasilybreakin or climbin
throughan unlocked window?lf youanswered yes,thena burglarcouldansweryesalso.Carefully
observe anyitemsor objectsin youryardthatcouldofferassistance to a would-bethief.Arethere
anyitemslyingaroundyourhomethatcouldactually enticea burglar?A ladderpropped up beside
yourgaragecouldoffereasyaccessto a secondfloorwindow.A toolsuchas a screwdriver or
hammerleftoutside couldbe usedto breaka windowor pryopena windowor door.A privacy fence
or largetreesandshrubscouldprovidecoverfora burglarwhileheattempts to breakin.

Herearea few otherthingsto consideron the outsideof your home.

ExteriorDoors
Takea goodlookat yourexterior doors.Dotheyappearsolidandsturdy?Yourexterior doorsshould
be constructedof solidwoodor metalforthemostprotection Tryinserting
againstbreak-ins. a
pinintothedoor,if it goesin withoutmucheffort,youhavea hollowdoorthatcaneasilybe
straight
kickedin by burglars.

to yourdoorknobor keylock,you
Makesurethatalldoorsarekeptlockedat alltimes.ln addition
shouldhavea highqualitydeadboltlockinstalled
on allentrywaydoors.Deadboltscanwithstand
thepryingandpoundingthoseregularkeylockscan't.

lf youhaveglasswindowson yourdoorsor nextto yourdoors,consider a doublecylinder

installing
deadbolt.Thistypeof deadbolt
requires
a keyto openit fromtheoutsideandtheinside.
Notallburglaries house,youmayalsoconsider
occurin an unoccupied a peephole so youcansee
whois at yourdoorbeforeyouopenit.

Windows
Windowsshouldbe closedandlockedanytimethatyouarenotin yourhomeor anytimeat night.
Manyburglars,
andworse,haveeasilyenteredhomesthroughopenwindows whilethehome's
occupants
sleep.

Consider installing
windowlockson allwindowsto helppreventthemfrombeingbrokeninto.lf you
havedouble- hungwindows, onesthatslideup anddown,youcanutilizewindowpinningor track
fillersto addinexpensivesecurity.

Windowpinningis doneby inserting

a pinor nailabove
a windowso it can'tbe openedTrackfillers
areitemssuchas a woodenpolethatis placedintothetrackof thewindow.

SlidingGlassDoors
Slidingglassdoorscanbetheeasiestplacefor a burglar to gainentryintoyourhome.Sincethese
doorsprovide theeasiestopportunities
forthieves,
specialconsiderationandexpense, if necessary,
shouldbe usedto properly securethesedoors.To improve thesecurityon yourslidingglassdoors:
1. Haveeyedloclcing devicesthatsecurethedoorsto theframeor trackinstalled by a professional
locksmith.
2. Adiusting thedoor'strackclearancesso theycan'tbe pushedor liftedoutof theirtracks.
3. Placea strongmetalor woodenbar,suchas a metalpipeor broomstick handle,insidethetrackto
preventthedoorsfrombeingopened.
4. Installlockinghingesthatslideoverthetracksto preventthedoorfrombeingforcedopen.