C4-Wednesday, July 2, 1980 - North Shore News

Don't help theives rob you

Word gets around quickly
when one of your neighbors
_ gecides to take a vacation.
Naturally, you ‘telt--your-
friends and _ business
associates. Your kids discuss
the whole thing at school.
The milkman has a check list
indicating which family is
discontinuing service and for
how long. So does your daily
newspaper. Your cousin
discusses your destination
with her neighbor. By the
time you've got your bags
packed,’ several hundred
people know. If you're
lucky, those several hundred
are all honest.

Some friends of ours left

their children with a
neighbor, their ten-year-old
son opened the front door to
feed the dog. A few secords
later, he arrived hysterical at

the home he was staying.
“Everything’s gone!”, he
cried.
Indeed, everything had!

Skillful thieves had brought
a truck and removed almost
the entire contents of the
house. Entry was gained by
jimmying a sliding glass door
to the patio.

“Other neighbors saw the
truck but assumied that my
friends were either getting
new furniture -or that the
movers were from a rug and
furniture cleaning company.

‘Another family had a
similar experience. While
they were away, a truck

pulled into the driveway and
removed their television and
other electronic equipment.
When a neighbor noticed
and inquired, they assured
ber that the equipment was
going in for repairs. “Oh,
great!” said the neighbor.
“My set isn't working, either.
Can you take it too?”

The thieves
obliged.

There is only one solution
for this type of professtonal
thief! NEIGHBORHOOD
WATCH. When we go away,
our neighbors know it, and
they also know that we have
scheduled NO deliveries,
cleanings or repairs.

A skilled house breaker
can open almost any lock.
The “twist the handle”

kindly

type
are such ai cinch that 1
opened = my mother’s

apartment door with a credit
card, just to prove a point
The dead-bolt type. installed
by a professional locksmith
is more difficult but
impossible.

nol

passport

; while you wait
North Shore Darkroam

1427 Lansdale 988-9813

— Sliding glass doors are a
Ainch - any ten-year-old kid
-can rock the majority of
-them off their track.
Inexpensive safety locks can
be attached by drilling holes

tray el-

by Barbara
McCreadie

through the frame and in-

serting pins - top and -bot- '

tom. These are available for
sliding windows, too.

Even with sophisticated
locks, a thief can smash a
window, disengage the locks
and move right in. In this
case, vivid outdoor lighting
is a deterrent. A thief will
likely choose a window that
is hidden from view, such as
one behind shrubbery. Your
best bet is to install un-
breakable glass or
down the shrub.

Burglar alarms are ex-
pensive but they are a joy to
own. Not only will they give
you peace of mind while
your home is empty but they
make you feel a lot better
when your teenagersxare at
home in bed while you are
out socializing. The cost is
based on the number of
doors and windows in your
home and also on the type of
system you install.

Some systems are geared
to a silent alarm which rings
in the main office of the

alarm company. Others
(cheaper, but cffective) have
several police-type sirens
that

are triggered by any
movement of a door or
window. They are so sen-
sitive that a kid kicking your
door in disgust will set the
thing off

For familes without pets

or young children,

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1666 Robson Street
10507 K. Geo. Hwy Surray
689-7117

Reg. Travel Agent No. 157-3

chop ~

-s

pressuring sensitive mats can
be installed by doors and
windows, again elec-
tronically controlled.

All electronic systems are
backed up by _ effective
battery systems should there
be a power failure.

Never BUT NEVER get
some E] Cheapo outfit to
install-a burglar alarm. I
don’t care how clever some
basement electrician is - the
system may be excellent but
you need 24-hour, 365-day
availability on service. One
trick well known to thieves is
to jimmy one window when
the system is not operating.
When the homeowner tries
to set his alarm at night, the
thing refuses to operate

ause of the jiggered
terminal. In many cases he
says, “What the hell. Better
call the company in the

morning and get this fixed.”
Guess what happens late
that night?

I don’t usually give
commercials in this column
but - both times when our
system has misfired, repair
people have been on the job
quickly. Each time it has
been after midnight when
the Knill’s Alarms truck has
pulled up in front of our
door. The bill has never
been high.

There's no point in telling
anyone about the general
precautions for a . holiday.
Even the dopiest citizen has
the sense to have his mail
and fliers picked up and to
take anything of great value
to a storage outlet. Anyone
who would leave three mink
coats in a clothes closet and
a diamond necklace in a
bureau dresser drawer
deserves to lose e lot.

Don't ever think that hiding
your coin collection in the
freezer is going to save it
from a professional thief!
The RCMP tells.me that
juvenile thieves and vandals
make up a large proportion
of the burglaries they in-
vestigate. Usually, the
drawing card is a supply of
liquor and cigarettes left in
the house. As one of our
neighbors said, smugly, “No
kids would bother with our
place. We don't drink or
smoke and everyone knows
it!" Make sure that your
house is “dry” when you
leave and that everyone
knows it - even your own
kid’s friends. The summer
months are particularly bad
for juvenile vandals. Since
school is ouit and many
parents are both at work,
unsupervised kids from all
over town get the idea of

‘some cheap thrills. One gang
succeeded in vandalizing

scores of homes - all situated
eight to ten miles from
where they lived. Leads were
obtained from “Ins” into the
schools in the neighborhood
to be vandalized. It was a
cinch to find out who was .
going away in the area and
when that failed, they chose
homes where all the oc-

- eupants were at work from

eight till six.

Do your city a favor! Keep
a close eye on your kids
while you're at work. Your
own kid may be “Little Lord
Fauntleroy” but a couple of
bad companions can get a
bored kid to do some strange

A neighborhood watch is
particularly effective against
juvenile crime, The more
“nosey neighbors” I have,
the better I like it!

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681-7334

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588-1788

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