Keep Your Home Safe When on Vacation

• Notify the police department that your house will be vacant for the duration of your vacation
• Stop deliveries of mail or newspapers, or ask a friend to pick up deliveries while you are gone
• Arrange to have the lawn mowed
• Give your house a lived-in appearance
• Put automatic timers on several lights and a radio. Set the timers so they will turn on and off at random times in different rooms
• Do not leave notes indicating your absence
• Shut and lock your garage door. An open garage door absent a car is an invitation to a burglar
• Keep jewelry and other valuables in places other than the master bedroom. This is the first place a burglar looks
• Have a neighbor park his/her car in your driveway
• Ask a neighbor to use and put out your garbage cans
• Secure all valuables
• If, upon your return, you see signs of a burglary, do not enter your home; call the police from the nearest phone
• Install an alarm system