The Fight Against Crime: Notes From the Front : Garages Offer an Open Door to Burglars

In one out of every three burglaries in the northwest San Fernando Valley last month, the thieves entered by simply opening a door.

But not a front door or even a back door.

Much to his frustration, Los Angeles Police Detective Tom Broad says that the door of choice these days appears to be the often overlooked door from the garage to the house.

In fact, says Broad, throughout the Devonshire Division last month, 60 homes were burglarized by thieves who first broke into garages and, once inside, entered through the door inside the garage leading directly into the home.

“We’re having a lot of those,” Broad says. “The bad guy just simply walks through the door.”

It’s a common crime, Broad says, that every kid on the block knows how to pull off, but one against which most residents don’t think to safeguard until it happens to them.

And it can be an expensive lesson to learn.

Just a few weeks ago, $90,000 in cash, guns and jewelry were stolen from a Northridge home by a burglar who entered through the garage.

“Unfortunately (the resident) had a lot of things for the thief to take,” Broad said.

Broad said he noticed the frequency of burglaries through garage doors after he took over burglary investigations at the Devonshire Division about two months ago and began tracking the most common ways that thieves break into homes.

Locking the garage--the standard safeguard--is no protection.

The problem with the locking mechanism included with most automatic garage door openers is that it’s too easy for thieves to break them by simply pulling upward--hard--on the door, says Broad.

Locks placed on the outside of a garage door are also of little help, he said.

“Even if you have a standard lock, all a thief has to do is pull hard and the nails come out,” Broad says.

Probably the best way, says Broad, to thwart a burglar’s plans to break into a home through a garage is by placing a lock on the inside of the garage door, where a burglar can’t pry at it, Broad says.

Another tip is to make sure that the door that leads into the house is a solid door with a deadbolt lock.

Especially beware doors with windows. These are a burglar’s dream, because all a thief has to do is smash the glass, reach inside and unlock the door.

But sometimes, says Broad, residents make it even easier for thieves by simply leaving the side garage door unlocked.

And don’t be fooled into thinking that your house is safe in daylight, because it is far more common for a home to burglarized during the day than at night.

Entering through garage doors is just one of many easy approaches that thieves search for before burglarizing a home, Broad says.

For example, a thief will usually first knock on the front door of a home he wants to burglarize to determine whether anybody is home.

If nobody answers the door, thieves will then probably twist the handle to the front door or try to lift the garage door to see if either are unlocked. If not, they may try breaking in through a back door or a side or back window.

“We’re also seeing a lot of break-ins through unlocked sliding glass doors,” Broad said.

“The other big way they get in is by using a screwdriver to simply pry their way through the lock.”

Placing metal plates around a door lock makes it tougher for burglars to pry through locks because they can’t get to the wood, says Broad.

There are a number of devices commonly available at hardware stores that make it more difficult for a burglar to move a sliding door.

“Burglars generally don’t want to break glass because it attracts attention from neighbors,” Broad said.

Usually, it’s not the presence of an expensive television set, VCR or stereo that attracts burglars, but the ease of illicit entry, Broad says.

“What they’re looking for is the path of least resistance,” Broad says. “If they can’t get in they’ll go on to the next house.”