Breaking and Entering : Homeowners Battle Burglary

Regardless of whether burglary has increased or decreased in their neighborhoods, residents throughout the San Fernando Valley are taking steps to prevent their homes and businesses from being hit. Burglaries, which had risen 14% in 1991, went up just 1% last year. However, homeowners, renters and business people are still taking preventive measures.

According to a recent Los Angeles Times Poll, 19% have installed an alarm, 9% have purchased a weapon and 8% have adopted a dog as a means of protection. Police credit community-based policing and Neighborhood Watch programs with reducing repressible crimes such as burglary.

Senior patrol officers now spend 40 hours a week on community relations, and a vast network of several hundred citizen volunteers has been formed to report suspicious activity near their homes to police. Considered a preventable crime, most burglaries are crimes of opportunity, and few are planned in advance.

Safeguarding Your Home

* Install motion-sensitive or bright lights outside, including the sides of the home. Place them high enough to prevent theft or vandalism.

* Trim shrubbery near doors and windows to prevent thieves from hiding.

* Install locks on doors, windows and sliding glass windows. Change locks when you move to a new residence.

* Install an alarm system.

* Use timers on interior lights when away from home.

* Keep drapes and blinds closed when away from home to prevent thieves from “casing” the inside of the home.

* Keep the garage door closed at all times to prevent thieves from seeing what is stored inside or whether someone is home.

Locking It Up

* Dead bolt: Throws a bolt from a door-mounted unit into the door frame through the strike plate. A double cylinder deadbolt requires a key on the outside and the inside. Useful for doors with windows.

* Rim lock: Mounts on the interior surface of the door with a key cylinder hole to the outside. Considered an antiquated lock.

* Mortise lock: Any kind of lock unit that is mounted in the side of the door. Normally includes both a spring latch mechanism as well as a deadbolt lock.

* Spring latch: Basically only a doorknob mechanism to hold the door closed. With a key and push- button lock, it will afford minimum security.

* Tubular lock: Has a wide barrel that fits through the door usually with a spring-latch lock in the knob. Also known as cylindrical lock or a key-in-the-knob lock.

Voices

“Burglary seems to be more on the residential side than commercial side. Our overall requests are double what we were seeing two years ago. The attitude from those calling is much more serious. They are seeing it as a necessity and a way of life.”

Kurt Strasser, president of AmSec International Security Corp., formerly Westridge Security Services

“I still see a continuing problem with people leaving windows open, which becomes a bigger problem in the summer. . . . People need to inventory their stuff. . . It’s not possible to ‘burglar-proof’ your home unless you want to live in a castle with a moat. If a burglar wants in bad enough, they will get in.”

Detective Sherry Santor, burglary coordinator for Van Nuys area

“The burglars came through a doggie door that was nailed shut. They took three rings, two wristwatches, a VCR, an electric shaver but not the charger, remote controls for the TVs but not the TVs, an answering machine and my hearing aids, which won’t do anybody any good. After the burglary, I got a dog (which stays outside), fixed the doggie door and joined Neighborhood Watch. . . . I thought my house was protected--it is totally fenced with an electric-controlled gate.”

Don Tonks, North Hills burglary victim in November

Burglary Rates by Area

Percentage change in burglary rates between first quarters of 1992 and 1993

Devonshire Area:

First Quarter 1993: 848: 1.2%

Foothill Area:

First Quarter 1993: 621: -14.2%

North Hollywood Area:

First Quarter 1993: 701: -13.3%

Van Nuys Area:

First Quarter 1993: 1,049: 5.9%

West Valley Area:

First Quarter 1993: 1,019: -15.6%

Sources: Los Angeles Police Department