This post is by Bernie Carr, apartmentprepper.com
I’ve been reading our neighborhood social media reports and I notice there are more reports of criminal activities in areas were people usually say “That never happens here.” These crimes rarely get reported in the evening news, but they are still worth noticing as they can happen to anyone.
I know official reports in many areas show crime is down overall, but it really depends on what type of crime and where they happen. No matter how low a statistic might be, you would still be quite the unhappy one if it happened to you.
So based on the recent reports, eliminate these 3 common, and seemingly harmless habits and you would cut your chances of being a victim of property crime:
Leaving your purse in the bin of the shopping cart
Last week, the crime report featured a woman who was loading groceries into her car’s trunk left her purse on the shopping cart bin. A car approached her and the driver grabbed the purse. She tried to grab it as well, but the man was already speeding off and she got dragged a few feet with the shopping cart, resulting in cuts and bruises. She was lucky nothing worse happened to her, other than the stolen cash and credit cards in her purse. The authorities tracked down the credit card numbers and found that the thief had racked up several hundred dollars worth of credit within half an hour and he is still at large.
Leaving items in your vehicle within plain view
One of the music teachers in a nearby strip mall sent an email bulletin that a student got his car windows broken while attending class. Apparently, some items were left in the front seat that attracted the robber. No matter how worthless you think an item might be, the criminals do not know what it is and anything that attracts their attention would make you a target.
Keeping your home’s windows wide open
Some of the residents have reports strangers parking in their neighborhoods and actually filming the area. People have started making their doors more secure and installing cameras on their front doors. One brazen character came up to his doorstep and filmed his front entryway, presumably to figure out how to pick the lock.
I know it sounds a bit paranoid but home invasion robberies are on the rise, and neighbors in the victim’s neighborhood usually describe the home that got targeted “had a lot of nice things.” Even if it is a mistaken impression, a little comment like that from one of the neighbors is all it takes to get the thieves’ interested.
I know there are so many other ways to avoid becoming a victim, but the above behaviors are things we have all done at one time or another and never even give it a second thought. Now, even these innocuous actions can have unintended consequences. Be careful!
About the author:
Bernie Carr is the founder of Apartment Prepper. She has written several books including the best-selling Prepper’s Pocket Guide, Jake and Miller’s Big Adventure, The Penny-Pinching Prepper and How to Prepare for Most Emergencies on a $50 a Month Budget. Her work appears in sites such as the Allstate Blog and Clark.com, as well as print magazines such as Backwoods Survival Guide and Prepper Survival Guide. She has been featured in national publications such as Fox Business and Popular Mechanics. Learn more about Bernie here.
I like to have a locked mailbox. This way only I can see what I am receiving as mail. The Mail carrier inserts my mail though a slot in the top of my box and my mail is out of sight of anyone else
Hi oldguy, Good tip. We have locked mailboxes in our apartment; but if we didn’t have that I’d get one as well. Thanks for the comment!
It’s why being so inconspicuous when we decide on our gear bags is also so important. I use several water tight junk looking containers for my first aide kit as to make people think oh theirs nothing of value in them. Everyone forgets the art of stealth is the most valuable tool that exists. This article is very good on the fact people turn their backs to their shopping carts or when they run out to a store they forget to close a window. As for the car thing you can never be too careful as much as you’d like to be theirs always something that makes a car the target of theft.
Hey Mitchell, Good idea making your gear bags/first aid kits as uninviting as possible. Glad you like the post. Thanks for the comment!