With two burglaries in the past few weeks and much misinformation about these and other incidents on social media, here are the facts and tips to help you stay safe. Today, there was a forced entry through a back door of a Prospect Street home. Items were stolen from the home while the owners were away. On August 16, there was a burglary on Brentwood Drive. The home was entered through an unlocked back sliding-glass door and items were stolen from the home. No internet or utilities were cut as was erroneously stated in some social media posts. Two other incidents, one on Stratford and one on Stow, were alarm drops. There were no break-ins at those locations.
To help minimize your risk of being burglarized, here are some tips from the Hudson Police.
- Lock all doors and windows, even when you are home. Use deadbolt and other types of security locks that make it harder to enter the home. Keep garage doors down.
- Burglars often knock several times to make sure no one is home before they enter your home from the back or from an area that is hidden from the street. If you answer, they will have prepared excuses as to why they are knocking. They might ask for someone by a random name or ask if you need a landscaping service. If someone comes to your door and their reason doesn’t sound legit, call the police immediately so we can get there while they are still in the neighborhood.
- Another ploy is one thief comes to the door and distracts you with questions about your utility services or services they could provide, while their accomplice enters your home from another entrance.
- Don’t put information on social media letting people know you are on vacation or that no one is home. Criminals use social media to determine their next victims.
- Make it difficult for someone to conceal themselves while breaking in. Avoid tall/thick shrubs around your windows and doors. Avoid privacy fences.
- Make sure there’s sufficient lighting near entrances, particularly in the rear of the home where break-ins are most likely to occur. Having good exterior lighting on a timer helps, but the best thing is a motion sensor floodlight. When a motion light kicks on, it can alert neighbors that something’s going on, and let the intruders know they can be seen.
- Use timers on interior lights when you will not be home. The same kind of timers you use on lights can also be used to turn radios or TVs on and off to make it look like you’re home.
- Keep valuables out of sight from windows or doors. Valuables or items that make it look like you have valuables inside, make you a more likely target.
- Watch your neighbors’ homes and activity in the neighborhood. If you see something suspicious, call the Hudson Police immediately. We often receive calls about incidents hours later after the suspect is long gone.
