Break-ins around the holidays aren’t just movies that feature a kid who needs to protect his homes from silly burglars. While Home Alone is a great movie to watch around this time of the year, there’s also an important lesson behind it: Burglars enjoy taking items from people’s homes during this time of the year because it’s easy. This time of the year is one of the most popular for break-ins because a lot of people are out of town and there are a lot more items that are floating around due to people buying presents.
As a defense lawyer in the Fort Collins area, we want to ensure that you’re protected during this time of the year. While we are defense attorneys, this time of the year can be dangerous if you don’t take the necessary precautions. Take the time to educate yourself on what you need to know about break-ins. For more information on our defense attorneys, contact Roselle & Breitigam, P.C.
AREAS THAT ARE TARGETED AROUND THE HOLIDAYS
In-Home Alone, one of the burglars poses as a police officer to help case the houses. The neighborhood that they decide to rob is very affluent; however, burglars don’t always decide to rob neighborhoods that are well off. As a matter of fact, burglaries have a tendency to happen anywhere from houses to cars and even to you while you’re walking across the parking lot to your vehicle. The areas that are targeted around the holidays can occur anywhere as long as the burglar thinks that you’re an easy target. With the holidays, there can be so many new gifts floating around and extra cash that’s stuffed in your pockets to give to loved ones, so this time of the year is an easy target for anyone. Burglars have a tendency to rob houses that aren’t occupied and seem to have easy access. Additionally, they’ll rob houses that don’t have dogs because dogs can be very difficult to get around for a burglar.
HOLIDAY BREAK-IN STATISTICS
To help keep you safe this holiday season, learn about some of the statistics to learn what you should and shouldn’t do during this time of the year.
- A burglary occurs every 18 seconds within the United States. This is about 200 per hour and 4,800 every single day.
- A burglar will avoid a home with security systems because it alerts the police to someone breaking into your home. If you don’t have the money for a security system, then you can also use a yard sign or a window sticker to warn potential intruders away from your home.
- Did you know that a burglary will take place during the day instead of the night? Most burglaries take place between the hours of 10 am and 3 pm. They occur during daylight hours instead of at night because you’re at work and your children are at school. When a home is robbed during the day, the robber has a smaller chance of someone noticing him or her. If you’re worried about people robbing your home during the day, then invest in home security cameras with motion detectors to help you keep your home safe.
- About 30 percent of intruders will make their way into your home through a window or a door that’s been left unlocked. In addition, about 34 percent of burglars will enter through the front door of a home. Open and unlocked doors and windows are something that people simply forget to take care of, but it makes it easier for someone to find their way into your home.
WILL ANYONE NOTICE A BREAK-IN?
Now that you know some statistics, you’re probably wondering if anyone will notice a break-in during the day or any other time. Will your neighbors see something strange happening at your home and call the police? Will a mail person notice that someone is trying to enter the house in an unusual way? From the outside of your home, does anyone see what’s going on? These are all excellent questions to ask and the answer is a simple one: Since it’s the holiday season, your neighbors may assume that whoever is trying to make their way into your house is a friend or a relative staying with you for a few days.
As for the outside of your home, there are so many people who are rushing around doing last-minute Christmas shopping and preparing their own homes for their guests that not a lot of people are paying attention to what’s going on. Additionally, because you’re probably getting packages sent to your home, a delivery person will leave a notice because you weren’t home, which gives a potential intruder more information on whether you’re home or not.
At Roselle & Breitigam, P.C., we have a variety of focus areas. One of them is theft and property crimes. This includes shoplifting, burglary, embezzlement, and other financial crimes. Because we are defense attorneys, we want to successfully defend our clients who are wrongly accused of a crime. By creating an aggressive negotiation strategy, we’re able to help each client who comes to us. When you contact our defense attorneys, we’ll make sure to fight for our client’s rights.
