This post is by Bernie Carr, apartmentprepper.com
A few days ago, we got a notice from the apartment manager that one of our neighbor’s units got broken into. I went to the leasing office to find out the scoop. Our leasing manager has worked there for 25 years so I knew I could get some information.
Some of the most common widely held beliefs about burglaries in apartments turned out to be myths.
5 Myths about Apartment Break-Ins:
Burglaries happen at night
The truth of the matter is, most burglaries happen in the middle of the day, when people are at work. The one that happened in our complex occurred between 10 am and 12 noon. The residents were not home at the time, along with most of the neighbors so no one saw or heard anything.
Tip: Get to know your neighbors. Keep your door locked at all times.
The thief is a stranger
In truth, a large percentage of burglaries is committed by someone who is known to the resident. Our apartment manager said in the 25 years he has worked in the business, he has usually found that the family or neighbor may have an acquaintance who has visited the property in the past.
Tip: Keep your blinds closed, so that no one sees what you own inside your home. Be selective about whom you invite into your home.
They will come in through an open window
Our neighbor’s front door was kicked open. Although some thieves may break in through a window, others prefer the direct approach and just kick the front door in to gain entry.
Tip: Check your lease and find out what you can and can’t do to strengthen your front door. Harden your apartment windows and doors. See this post for a few tips.
Burglars will take the TV and other appliances
Most burglars want to get in and out as quickly as possible, and look unobtrusive doing it. In the case of our neighbor’s break-in, the only thing stolen was a laptop. Burglars may be interested in the large screen TV, but if they want to get in and out quickly, they will steal jewelry, cash, cameras, laptops – anything that is easy to hide and carry out.
Tip: Find some good hiding places for your stuff. Don’t make it easy!
The thief won’t hit the same place twice
Actually, if they find it was easy enough to steal the first time, they will come back again and again. Recently, the police department in one of our suburbs cracked a large burglary ring that hit the same neighborhoods over and over again.
Tip: Before moving to an area, check the neighborhood crime stats. Even if you think your area is safe, take the same precautions.
When I asked the apartment manager if they plan to improve our door locks, he said “No.” They felt they have done their job by keeping everyone informed, but it is up to us to watch out for our own security and be vigilant.
© Apartment Prepper 2017
This information is so true! My house was broken into many years ago, when I was a teenager. And it happened in the middle of the day, they kicked in the front door, no one heard anything, and all they took was money and jewellery. We never found out who did it, but we always suspected a friend of my brother did it. It was not a fun thing to go through, especially since I was the one who came home from school and discovered what happened.
Hi Sarah, Sorry that happened to you-I hate to be right about these things! That must’ve been rough for you as a teenager. Thanks for sharing your story.
I must be an exception. I was in my girlfriend’s apartment (we have our own apartments in the same 4-plex) one night when we heard a sharp “crack.” Thinking one of her cats had knocked a bowl or something over, I went looked in the kitchen area and found nothing, so I went back to bed. A few minutes later her daughter came in and said there was a weird man in her room. So I ran in, but the guy had already gotten out. I saw him walking down the alley and gave the police a description. Turns out the crack had come from the guy breaking the aluminum window frame for the storm window. The weird thing is they guy didn’t take anything, and I think he was later caught trying to lie down in someone’s bed with them (but not trying to get off with them).
So in that case, it WAS at night, WAS a stranger, and DID come through the window. But again, I realize this is an exception, and frankly, just a weird case to begin with.
Hey Winston, wow that is a strange story-good thing nothing was taken and no one was hurt! There are always exceptions within these statistics- yours happens to be out of the norm. Thanks for sharing the story.