Historical October 1981 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
These days it seems like everywhere you go there is a newspaper article or television documentary about crime and what to do about it.
For instance, there was the recent front-page article in the Wall Street Journal (even financial barons are vulnerable) about hundreds of “citizen patrols” being organized in suburban enclaves throughout the country. Or how about the article which appeared in the Lafayette Square neighborhood newspaper instructing you on the finer points of protecting your home, such as: “reinforcing the door strike by removing the inside trim molding and inserting a flat piece of steel about 18 inches long”? Citizen patrols (or our own indigenous version called “crimeblockers”) and intricate directions on securing your home are all well and good, but these responses to crime are not enough.
All the crime prevention measures in the world won’t help unless we practice good security habits. Simply put, we have to live right if we are going to stop crime.
First, the locks for your doors and windows have to be used to prevent burglars from entering your home.
It is amazing how many break-ins occur because someone forgot to lock a door or a window. Eve if you are just going across the street in broad daylight to chat with a neighbor – lock all doors!
And surely by now we ought to know that many (probably most) daytime break-ins are executed by burglars entering a basement opening from the backyard. Then there are unsecured fences which enable burglars to get into backyards where they are unlikely to be spotted by a neighbor. Or how’ about gates between houses which are left open, converting the gangway into a convenient escape route? Ladders left in backyards can also be used by burglars to enter a home from an upstairs window.
Not to be overlooked either is the suspicious character you saw in the alley behind your house who you decided not to report because you might be wrong. I could drag this on endlessly but I hope the point has been made. Too many crimes occur in our neighborhood (and others for that matter) because we are careless and negligent. More cops on the street and expensive security systems may make you feel safe, but good security habits will do the most to make you safer.
Originally published in The Paper, October 1981.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1981_10.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
