TAKE PRECAUTIONS AGAINST HOME BREAK-INS, BIKE THEFTS

Warmer

summer months correlate with increased crime rates nationally and in Somerville.

Residential breaking and enterings are generally elevated from June to October,

as residents leave their windows open during warmer days, place air

conditioning units that can be removed in windows or go on vacation. Meanwhile,

almost half of all bike thefts in Somerville occur from June through August and

almost 70 percent occur from June through September.

This

year, about 85 percent of residential breaking and enterings in Somerville

occur between the afternoon from noon to 6 p.m. and the early evening from 6

p.m. to midnight, evenly split between those two time frames. Ninety percent of

afternoon breaking and enterings occur during a weekday while 55 percent occur

during the weekend, usually on Saturdays. This departs from past trends, as breaking and

enterings historically tend to be afternoon and weekday oriented.

Windows

(46 percent) are currently slightly more popular than doors (40 percent) as an

entry method for home break-ins. Approximately 64 percent of windows and 48

percent of doors were definitively described as "forced" in incident reports.

In the case of windows, this also includes when a screen is cut or pried open

to grant access to an unlocked window; in the case of doors, this includes any

door forced open, including common doors to multi-unit homes that could then

grant access to an unlocked apartment door.

For

bike thefts, almost half of all bike thefts in Somerville occur from June

through August, almost 70 percent from June through September. Thirty-four percent

occurred from the front of a residence, with those stolen bikes left unattended

for an average of 16 hours. Approximately 65 percent of thefts occurred in the

evening or overnight (6 p.m. to 6 a.m.).

Three

areas represent roughly half of all summer bike thefts in the city, starting

with the Davis Square neighborhood, especially the Square itself. Twenty

percent of thefts occurred in Davis Square proper, with most bikes taken

between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Thirty-five percent of bikes stolen from Davis

Square were left for an extended period; on average stolen bikes were left

unattended in this area for 22 hours. The other two areas with the highest

reported bike thefts are Highland Avenue and adjacent streets from Lowell

Street east; and Beacon Street and adjacent streets to Park Street, and Park

Street from Beacon Street to Somerville Avenue.

Tips to protect homes

can be found online at http://www.somervillepolice.org/index.php/143-burglary-prevention-for-the-summer,

or below.

 Steps to protect homes:

• Keep doors closed and locked, both front and
  
  back.
• If your home has an outer door to a common
  
  hallway, keep that door locked as well. Unlocked outer doors provide burglars
  
  the ability to break into inner doors to homes while out of sight of neighbors
  
  and police.
• Keep windows closed with latches closed too when
  
  the home is unoccupied. If windows are kept open for ventilation, keep them
  
  open no more than 4-6 inches, and make sure the opening is not wide enough to
  
  allow burglars to reach through to unlock a door or remove a window lock.
• Plastic window tabs will not deter a determined
  
  burglar. Locks plus a second system, such as wooden sticks or dowels between
  
  the window frame or a horizontal bar/cementer nails have the most preventative
  
  value.
• For horizontally sliding windows or sliding
  
  doors, wooden dowels or sticks can be used in the sliding tracks to prevent
  
  burglars from easily opening them from the outside.
• Leave a light or two turned on or on times when
  
  the home is unoccupied at night. In a sample of recent nighttime breaks when
  
  nobody was home at the time of the break, all respondents said the home was
  
  left in total darkness.
• If you have an alarm system, use it each time
  
  the home is unoccupied.

If you leave your home

unoccupied for an extended period of time due to vacation:

• Get to know your neighbors and agree to watch
  
  each other's home.
• Ask someone to pick up the mail, newspapers left
  
  on the front porch and put out the trash. Thieves can use overflowing mail box,
  
  trash barrels not put out or taken in and deliveries left in plain sight to
  
  target homes that are unoccupied.
• Ask a neighbor to park their car in your
  
  driveway.
• Use timers for lights, radios and televisions at
  
  night while you are away to make the home appear occupied.
• Use timers for outside lights to keep the home
  
  illuminated, both in front and back.

If residents want to upgrade

home security, options include:

• Use a solid core or metal door at entrance points.
• nstall a heavy-duty deadbolt lock.
• Install a knob-in-lock set that uses a dead latch
  
  mechanism.
• Install a heavy duty strike plate to prevent a burglar
  
  from kicking in the door.
• Windows generally have latches, not locks. Install
  
  secondary locking devices for windows, such as through the frame pins.
• Purchase a professionally installed alarm system that
  
  must include an audible horn or siren.
• Surveillance cameras are relatively inexpensive and not
  
  only act as a deterrent, but provide valuable evidence if a crime does
  
  occur. Many surveillance systems also provide the owner email notification
  
  when a camera detects motion.

To protect your

possessions in case of a break-in:

What should you report to police?

• Someone who rings your bell and asks for someone
  
  who doesn't live there. This person may be checking to see if anyone is home.
  
  Most house breakers will avoid a home that they know is occupied.
• Seeing a stranger walking in and out of
  
  yards.
• A strange car in the driveway of a home when you
  
  know the occupants are away.
• Never hesitate to call 911 if someone or
  
  something doesn't look right. Trust your instinct. You and your neighbors are
  
  part of your neighborhood's security network.

If you see something suspicious: