While You are on Vacation --
Home Protection Tips

As you head away from home for your much needed vacation, there are a number of thing that you must do to protect your home from burglaries.

Keep in mind that you are the first line of defense in preventing any kind of home burglaries.

1. Your home alarm systems sould be turned on during a vacation.
2. Have glass-break protection for master bedroom and bathroom windows.
3. Stop all deliveries, including newspapers, bottled water and dry cleaning.
4. Ask a trusted neighbor or friend to watch your house and ask them to check periodically on whether any packages were delivered.
5. Bring in trash cans.
6. Set timers to turn on lights inside the house.
7. Tell neighborhood watch members that you will be away on vacation.
8. Store jewelry and other valuables in safes.
9. Enlist your local police department's help. The police offer a program called Vacation Watch in which patrol officers check on homes while residents are away. 

Even if you are staying home the weekend, you can reduce your likelihood of being burglarized if you close your home's garage doors -- even while you are home.

Your vacation checklist is:

1. Turn on alarms.
2. Suspend all deliveries, including newspapers, bottled water and dry cleaning.
3. Lock doors and windows.
4. Tell neighbors you'll be out of town.
5. Bring in trash cans.
6. Store jewelry in a safe place.