I’m a burglar – here’s how to outsmart me

The investigative team at the Portland 24-hour news station KGW conducted an anonymous survey of 86 inmates incarcerated for burglary in a state prison, and almost all of the burglars surveyed said they’d think twice if they saw a car in a driveway.
Watch out for these signs that your house is vulnerable to being robbed.

Yes, this seems obvious. Yet a lot of people actually forget to lock their doors and windows. Most burglars KGW surveyed said they tended to “break in” simply by walking through an unlocked door or climbing through an unlocked window.

Some of the burglars surveyed by KGW said they’d be willing to kick in a locked door. It’s actually not difficult to kick in a door.

Every burglar surveyed by KGW reports knocking on the front door before breaking into a home; if someone answers the door, the burglar makes up an excuse and moves on. You don’t have to open the door for the person, but definitely let the person know you’re home – you just might thwart a burglary.

Most of the burglars surveyed by KGW said they wouldn’t break into a home if they could hear a radio or see that the television was on.

Burglars value their privacy while they’re breaking and entering. Theoretically, if every house on a particular block seemed empty, a burglar would still choose to target the house that offers the most privacy. To deter would-be burglars, keep the shrubs around your house well-trimmed.

Because burglars value their privacy while robbing you, they’ll be deterred by a well-lit property. Even if burglars are relatively certain that you’re at work or on vacation, they’d still rather target a home they can approach in the dark to avoid calling any attention to themselves.

Burglaries happen much more quickly than you might think. Cleveland Police Captain Keith Sulzer tells cleveland.com that he often hears burglary victims say, “I was just gone for ten minutes.” If you keep to a regular routine and a burglar is watching your home, you can bet he or she will know when you leave and for how long – even if you’re just walking the dog. If it’s not possible to change up your routine, be sure to make it look like someone is home when you leave (turning on the TV or radio, for instance), even if you plan to be back in a jiffy.

Over time, more and more burglars are using social media to target potential victims. Don’t make it easier for them by announcing when you’re leaving for a holiday or posting from your trip. Even if you’ve set your social media settings to “private,” the information you post can still get passed around to someone outside your social circle.

“Get a camera and make it visible”, advises one of the burglars in the KGW survey. Of 57 convicted burglars surveyed by NBC 4 New York, 37 percent said they’d be inclined to avoid breaking into a house with a visible security camera positioned near a door.