Vacation House Watch Form - The West Fargo Police Department will make an attempt to check your house while you are gone on vacation.

The facts about burglary

• More than six million residential burglaries occur every year in this country. That's one every ten seconds!
• Nearly half of these burglaries are committed without force — that is through UNLOCKED doors and windows!

Most of these burglaries could be prevented

• Always lock your doors and windows even when leaving for “just a minute.”
• Never leave a house key available: under a doormat, in a flower pot, on the ledge of the door. These are the first places a burglar will look.

If you would like to make life even harder for crooks — remember the following tips:

• Exterior doors should have “dead bolt” locks with a 1 inch strong metal bar extending into the frame.
• Sliding doors and windows should all have “ventilation” locks as well as auxiliary locks to bolster security.
• Be sure to include good locks for garage, cellar, patio or other doors that lead out through storage areas or a spare room.
• For more information on locks, contact the West Fargo Police Department or a local locksmith.

Going Out?

• Lock all doors and windows.
• Use timers so that lights, radio, TV, go on and off throughout the house to indicate someone is home.
• For longer trips be sure to stop mail and newspaper delivery or have a neighbor collect them daily.
• In short make your house look, “LIVED IN.” Remember, if you come home and see a broken window or a jimmied door, don’t go in. Confronting a burglar can be dangerous. Phone the police immediately.

Other Tips

• Install a wide angle lens viewer in the front door. Never open the door without knowing who is there.
• Consider alarm systems or trained security dogs for additional protection.
• Whenever you move to a new home, have the locks changed.

Operation I.D.

Another deterrent to “would be” burglars is Operation Identification.

• Mark your valuables with your driver’s license number preceded by the letters “ND.”
• Post Operation I.D. stickers in doors and windows to warn housebreakers to stay away.
• Burglars don’t want marked merchandise because it is difficult to fence and evidence of guilt if they are caught.
• So mark your items as conspicuously as possible without defacing them.
• Photograph those items that cannot be engraved (jewelry, silverware, antiques).
• Operation I.D. also facilitates the return of stolen property when it is recovered.

Don’t let them knock your block off!

Want to know the best crime prevention tool ever invented? A GOOD NEIGHBOR!

• Law enforcement officers can’t be everywhere at once, but you and your neighbors can. You’re the ones who really know what’s going on in the neighborhood.
• Put that neighborhood know–how to work. It’s simple: just use your eyes and ears — then your telephone. If you spot something suspicious, call the police or sheriff immediately.
• Don’t try to stop a criminal yourself —it can be dangerous.
• Neighbors working together in cooperation with law enforcement make one of the best crime fighting teams around.
• For more information on how to start your own NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH GROUP — contact the West Fargo Police Department

Vacation House Watch

Vacation House Watch Form - The West Fargo Police Department will make an attempt to check your house while you are gone on vacation.

Crime and Violence Prevention Center California Department of Justice