SMPD conducts about 70 home security surveys a year
By Daily Press Staff Writer
Think your home is safe? Think again, because it’s most likely full of security breaches.
An hour-long home security survey by a crime prevention coordinator from the Santa Monica Police Department’s community relations division will make you aware of what security weaknesses you might have in your home or apartment, and how to protect yourself and your property better.
The SMPD offers the free survey to any resident or business owner in Santa Monica, which entails a crime prevention coordinator coming to your home and assessing how easy or difficult it is for a burglar to enter.
“Eighty percent of all burglaries occur through unlocked or improperly locked windows,” said Lauralee Asch, a SMPD crime prevention coordinator.
The survey covers many aspects relating to alarms, doors, windows, garages, lighting and landscaping at your home. Police personnel will make recommendations on how to improve your home’s security, often at minimal expense.
“For a small amount of money, you could make it a lot safer,” Asch said.
A recent survey of my home found that I failed the security test, starting at the front door, which was weak in just about every area, making it a very desirable target for a burglar.
“Burglars are opportunists, they take the path of least resistance because they’re lazy,” Asch said.
She suggested that I get a double key deadbolt so if a burglar decided to smash in my front door window, the person wouldn’t be able to unlock the door from the inside. She also suggested that I install a “strike plate” that screws a couple inches into the door frame to prevent someone from kicking in the door.
The windows at my house also didn’t make the grade — every single one of them could be easily removed because I had nothing securing them besides a flimsy lock. Asch suggested I install sheet metal screws in the windows’ tracks, or add a supplemental thumb screw or pin above the window pane.
Better lighting is needed on my back patio, which needs a lock on the fence. And my apartment number needs to be visible on the door so police can find the place in case an attacker is in my home while I’m there.
“We could waste critical time looking for the place,” Asch said. “Someone could get killed waiting for us to find their apartment number.”
The SMPD also suggests that people keep their shrubbery and other landscaping trimmed well below windows to prevent would-be burglars from lurking in the plants. Planting prickly bushes also are useful deterrents.
Most burglaries happen during the day, said SMPD Lt. Frank Fabrega. That’s why it’s important to properly secure doors and windows while you are not home, he added.
“We encourage people to have a neighborhood watch program,” Fabrega said. “Not everyone has the same work schedule... when you know your neighbor’s schedule you can better watch out for them when they are not home.”
The SMPD gained valuable insight this past summer when a 16-year-old boy confessed to burglarizing at least 32 different homes throughout Santa Monica in a six-month period.
After being arrested by El Segundo police for possessing stolen property, the young criminal confessed to Santa Monica Police detectives that he was the burglar responsible for a slew of break-ins that stretched from San Vicente Boulevard to the southern city limits. He chronicled for detectives his criminal methods and how he chose particular homes to burglarize.
The burglar disclosed that he generally entered through open windows or doors and almost never needed to force entry, police said.
He preferred Santa Monica homes because of the abundance of unsecured residences that he found, which were more prevalent west of Lincoln Boulevard as he neared the beach. The items he was most interested in taking were wallets, cell phones, purses or laptop computers, police said.
He would first knock at the front door or ring the doorbell to ensure no one was home. He would dress casually, and sometimes carried a basketball to be less conspicuous. To be extra careful, he would remove his shoes prior to entering the victim’s residence so as not to leave footprints and to reduce the amount of noise he would make. If confronted by an occupant, he would apologize and claim to be looking for the residence of a “friend.”
Many times the burglar knew neighbors had seen him in the area, but they apparently didn’t report his suspicious presence to police.
The juvenile would fill his empty back-pack with small items, hop on a bus back to Los Angeles and give the stolen property to gang members who would sell the merchandise on the street, and then give him a cut.
In 2004, there were a total of 752 burglaries or attempted break-ins throughout Santa Monica, which includes residential and commercial places, according to SMPD’s crime statistics. In 1993, there were 1,511 burglaries.
“That’s a decrease of over 50 percent,” Fabrega said. “Those numbers could decrease if people set up a neighborhood watch program.”
The SMPD, which has offered the service for about 10 years, conducts about 70 residential and commercial surveys a year. For any would-be burglars looking to capitalize on my self-confessed security weaknesses, I plan to make my home theft-proof for less than $100.
Interested parties can contact the community relations office to schedule an appointment to take the survey. Call (310) 458-8473 for more information.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 15, 2005. Read the original PDF.