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Crime Prevention Tips

Things you can do to prevent becoming a victim of crime

These are a few things you can do to make your home a less attractive target for burglars and vandals and to help recover from a crime

Keep Your Home & Valuables Safe

Always keep your doors closed and locked—even if you are at home. It only takes a burglar a moment to enter your home and take something
Know your neighbors:
- Take a moment to meet your immediate neighbors
- Familiarize yourself with their vehicles
- If you are going out of town, let your immediate neighbors know. And do the same for them
Place easily accessible valuables such as your purse and wallet out of view of windows and doors.
Participate in Operation Identification to mark your valuables
Join or start a Neighborhood Watch for your block
Invest in homeowners or renters insurance to help you recover from a burglary should it happen

Follow Some Personal Safety Tips:

Do not EVER open the door for a solicitor or invite a solicitor into your home.
- Don't answer the door if you feel uncomfortable with a particular situation
- Be cautious of strangers who want to use your phone (offer to call the police to assist them)
- Don't let anyone lure you out of your home
- Admit "repairmen" only if you know them and have an appointment with them.
If you live in an apartment or townhouse:
- Be careful in laundry rooms
- Don't buzz or allow anyone in that you do not expect or know or trust
- Don't allow anyone to follow you into a building or hall
If walking, be aware of your surroundings.

Prevent Identity Theft

Mail:
- If possible, invest in a mailbox with a lock
- Empty your mailbox every day
- Do not use your curbside mailbox to send mail. Drop off outgoing mail in a locked mailbox or post office.
Dumpster diving is one of the easiest way for identity theifs to obtain your information. Shred all correspondence that has personal information before throwing it away: bank records, credit card statements, utility statements, etc. Do not recycle papers that have your personal information.
Reduce the number of credit cards you carry to reduce the potential for identity theft if your purse or wallet is lost or stolen
Keep a list or photocopy of all your credit cards. If any are lost or stolen, immediately contact the issuing company to have it canceled and a new one issued.
DO NOT give out your Social Security Number. Release it only when absolutely necessary (e.g., on tax forms; employment records; most banking, stock and property transactions). Your SSN is the key to your credit and banking accounts and is the prime target of criminals:
- Do not have your SSN printed on checks. Do not allow merchants to write your SSN on checks.
- Until recent;y, Arizona used your SSN as your drivers license number. If your SSN is also your drivers license number, contact the Motor Vehicle Division to have it changed.
- Do not carry your Social Security Card in your purse or wallet. Keep it in a safe location along with your other important documents.
Practice Computer Safety:
- Never respond to "phishing" email messages. These appear to be from your bank, eBay, or PayPal. They instruct you to visit their web site, which looks just like the real thing. There, you are told to confirm your account information, provide your SSN, date of birth and other personal information. Legitimate financial companies never email their customers with such requests. These messages are the work of fraudsters attempting to obtain personal information in order to commit identity theft. Visit www.antiphishing.org.
- Password-protect or encrypt files that contain sensitive personal data such as financial account information. Create passwords that combine 6-8 numbers and letters, upper and lower case.