Tips for Preventing Home Robberies

Thousands of homes are broken into every summer and many of the robberies could have been prevented.

Crime consultant Ray Johnson gives some beat-the-thief tips in Family Circle magazine:

--Make your house look lived-in: Stop all deliveries. Ask a neighbor to pick up the mail, and use timers to operate your lights.

--Don’t give a burglar privacy: Light property with flood lights, trim hedges so windows can be seen from the street and install a loud alarm system.

--Check all locks: Make sure door hinge pins are inside the house.

--Dead bolt garage doors, and block both the top and bottom tracks of sliding glass doors.