” SENIORS are eften tars
. tect themseives.

NEWS photo Mike Wakefield
ets of thieves, and should take extra precautions te pro-

ic
:

Safety

Crime against elderly focus of anti-violence seminar

Deana Lancaster
News Reparter deana@nsuews.com

AS often-targeted victims of crime,
seniors mus¢ take special precautions
to protect themselves — but safety
advice directed at them makes sense
for all of us.

As part of Together Againse Violence
Month, North Vancouver RCMP Const.
Barry Mattock spoke last week about “Satety
for Seniors” at Silver Harbour Centre.

About a dozen seniors attended the sem-
inar.

Mattock told them to cack conduct a
“security check” of their home, to determine
possible entry points or weaknesses.

“Imagine yourself as a burglar,” he said.
“You aren’t going to want to be scen as you
break in. It’s nice to have privacy but it also
makes it private for a criminal to break in.”

Mattock suggested homeowners trim
back shrubbery and hedges, and trim off the
bottom branches of any trees that obscure
doors and windows.

For apartment owners, he suggested extra
reinforcement for sliding glass doors or win-
dows.

“People feave them open at night for
air, they think they're safe because
they’re above the ground.”

But he said in recent vears, th have
been cases on the North Shore in which a
burglar has gained access to the roof of an
apartment building and lowered himself
down to a suite that had an open door or
window.

Common se

chasing good-quality high security locks

th a fong deadbolt and installing a wide
view peephole. He also suggested leaving a
radio on during the day, or setting it on a
timer with lights.

Do not keep large amounts of money at
home, mark valuable items for identification
and trv to keep valuables in a safety deposit
box.

One of the most important suggestions
he made is also one of the casiest to carry
our.

“If someone knocks, you must answer,”
he said. “Leave the door closed, but ask the
person knocking what they want.

“(Thieves) always knock. If they get no
answer they go around the back and break
in.”

Mattock said a recent home invasions in
East Vancouver was actually what the police
term an “interrupted B&E.” The elderly
woman living in the home didn't answer the
knock because she was scared.

He added that would-be criminals often
respond to questioning with a dumb ques-
tion of their own, such as “Where's the near-
est bus stop?” or by saying “Ihave your
newspaper here for vou.”

Call the police if a visitor at your door
says or asks something that doesn’t make
much se :

on should have :roper creden-

“Don't be buffaloed by hard-sell people,”
said Mattock, You don’t have to talk to them
if you don’t want to.

Mattock also said that one of the best
precautions against home invasion -— if you
can afford it — is a perimeter alarm system
with an audible it when
are at homme.

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