Home owners, who are leaving on summer vacation, are being reminded to protect themselves from burglars. Radio Iowa’s Jim Saunders with the Iowa Department of Public Safety says burglars look for signs that a family might be out of town, such as newspapers stacking up at the front door or a large pile of mail. He suggests putting those deliveries on hold or having a neighbor pick it up. Another sign of an empty home is darkness.
Saunders suggests purchasing timers, so lights are periodically turning on and off. He says it’s also a good idea to contact neighbors, or even police, and ask them to keep an eye on the home. "Particularly in some of the more rural areas of the state and smaller police and sheriff departments, you can contact them and they often keep a list of addresses of people that have said they’ll be gone," Saunders says, "and they’ll increase patrols in those areas."
Recently, a Des Moines family returned from vacation and noticed someone had broken a window and stole over $2,000 in property.