10/22/2023
Securing Your Home in the Coachella Valley
by Sharman Dow
Given the fact that crime in the Coachella Valley has risen, I thought I would share some security things each of us can do to protect our families and homes.
Before he finished college for 2 years, my husband Bruce was a policeman in Southgate. A high crime area, which bordered the LA Watts Projects. Given his background in police work, he naturally has always been conscious of making our home secure and taught me these things.
First, let's understand whom you are dealing with when it comes to crime in your home. Basically, there are two different groups of people that commit crimes in the home. A Burglar is typically a criminal that wants to get in and out without confrontation. Oftentimes, they are the ones that do daytime crimes when people have gone to work and no one is in the home. They do not want conflict. A Robber committing a robbery can be an entirely different person. They are likely to enter a home at night and oftentimes can be violent. They do not care about confrontation. In fact, they will use threats of fear or harm to their victims.
With this in mind, here is a list of things you can do to better secure your home.
1. This should go without saying, but get an alarm and USE IT!! After 20+ years in the desert, we found Desert Alarm to be the most responsive; but find your own, if you don’t have one. Also, get outside and inside cameras, they are not that expensive.
2. Make sure you turn your alarm on every time you leave your home. We even turn our alarm on when we walk our dogs. It's just a good habit to get into. If you set your alarm each time you leave, then you know for sure no one is in your home when you return; especially when you return home late at night. Without an alarm set before you leave, you could walk in on a perpetrator.
3. Aside from keeping your garage door closed, lock your garage door that goes into the house each night before you go to bed.
4. Go to Lowes or Home Depot and have them cut sticks to fit in every one of your windows, including shower windows. It's very easy for a prowler to break your window lock.
5. The side door in your garage to the outside can become vulnerable when your workers use it, as many of them forget to lock it up. Make sure you check it on occasion. Also, we changed that particular door to metal, as a wood door can easily be kicked open.
6. Pull your shades down at dark, as living on a golf course, you never know when someone could be looking inside your home watching you. They can see you, but you can't see them.
7. The most vulnerable place to your home is in the side or back yard. Most prowlers want to get into your home and get out without incident. Get some low-level lighting and keep them on in your side and back yard all night. Also, keep your front door porch light on each night, as well.
8. Don't leave your purse or jewelry out where someone can see it through a window or when your housekeeper is in your home. Sometimes break-ins have been inside jobs.
9. In addition, in all the years we have lived in the desert there have been cars broken into and some have even been stolen. If possible, keep your car in the garage overnight. Should you have to park it outside, make sure you lock it and do not leave anything of value in it.
One final thought, the police recently told one of our neighbors that people who live in a gated community sometimes have a false sense of security. It’s easy to become complacent and forget to stay vigilant. BE SAFE!!!!
