Extended vacations provide burglars with ample time to enter your home and search for valuable items. If you are planning to take a trip, please remember these practical tips so that you may enjoy a worry-free vacation.

• Transfer valuables to a safety deposit box.
• Have a friend or family member check your home, inside and out, each day or ask police to patrol your neighborhood more closely while you are away.
• Lower the sound of your telephone ringer so it cannot be heard outside.
• Don't indicate on your answering machine that you are away from home. Also, try to remove messages from your telephone answering machine daily so the "beep" is always short.
• Stop mail and newspaper deliveries, or have a trusted neighbor collect them while you are away. Also, have any advertising flyers that are deposited in your mailbox or around your door, driveway or lawn removed.
• Place timers on indoor lamps and appliances to illuminate your home at night. Leaving lights on all the time is a dead giveaway that you are out of town.
• Set timers to turn on radios and televisions randomly during the day. The unexpected noise can trick burglars into thinking someone may be home.

*Source: Burglary Protection Council.

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