Community Roll Call
Members of the Wauwatosa Police Department's Community Support Division, with backup provided by the folks at WauwatosaNow.com, are now blogging. We will be providing you with an ongoing series of crime prevention tips, any current crime trends as well as pertinent news and notes as it relates to your Police Department.
Garage Burglaries
Lately there seemed to be an unusual amount of garage burglaries and as I looked at the reports what struck me is how the vast majority of them could have been prevented with a few simple maintenance issues.
First, in some of the cases the doors were left opened, unlocked or secured with faulty locks. Okay, the easy fix for opened doors is to always keep them closed and locked. In the case of the service/pedestrian doors with faulty or inferior locks here are simple tips:
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Install a good dead bolt, one where the bolt is a 1" - 1 1/2" long.
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The strike plate which is the metal plate the bolt goes into on the door jamb should have 3" - 3 1/2" screws securing it.
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If the door has glass on it, put a security screen on the inside of the door mounting it with screws that are as long as the door is thick.
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If the door hinges are on the outside of the garage, replace them with security hinges that prevent the hinge pins from being removed.
Second, if you awake in the middle of night or even during the day notice doors or windows that are open and you know you closed them, contact the police and have them come out to investigate. Who knows, we might be able to catch a burglar in the act.
These are just a few simple items that can and should be applied to every structure you own or are otherwise responsible for. If you do, you will reduce your chances of becoming a victim. And if we all make it difficult for a bad guy to commit their crime they will give up on your neighborhood all together.
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