Crime Prevention Tips

How To Protect Yourself While Using An Automated Teller Machine (ATM)

• Try to avoid using an ATM by yourself. Either take someone with you or only use an ATM when others are around.
• If possible, avoid using an ATM after dark. If you must, choose one that is well lighted and does not have tall bushes nearby.
• When you arrive at an ATM, look around. If you see anything that makes you uncomfortable or anyone who looks suspicious, do not stop. Either use an ATM at a different location or come back later. Notify the authorities.
• Have your access card and any other documents you need ready when you approach an ATM. While you are fumbling with a wallet or purse, you are easy game for a thief.
• If someone else is using the ATM when you arrive, avoid standing right behind them. Give them enough space to conduct their transaction in privacy.
• Even while using the ATM, stay alert to your surroundings. Look up and around every few seconds while transacting your business.
• Protect your Personal Identification Number (PIN). Do not enter your PIN if anyone else can see the screen. Do not use spouse, children, maiden or pet names for PIN number.  Shield your PIN from onlookers by using your body.
• When your transaction is finished, be sure you have your card and your receipt, then leave immediately. Avoid counting or otherwise displaying large amounts of cash.
• As you leave, keep a look out. Be alert for anything or anyone who appears suspicious. If you think you are being followed, go to an area with a lot of people and call the police.

How To Prevent A Business Burglary

• Install lighting at the front and back as well as near any side doors of your business. Try to eliminate as many shadows as possible.
• Use only solid core doors. Be sure the door frames cannot easily be jimmied.  Hinges should be located on the inside so that pin cannot be removed.
• Use deadbolts and be sure to change the locks every time an employee with access to them leaves.
• Install burglar-resistant glass or use wire mesh or iron bars over all glass.
• Arrange merchandise so that a passerby can see into the store. Keep your expensive merchandise away from the windows, toward the center of the store.
• Keep front windows free from posters, etc., which can prevent a burglar inside from being seen by a passerby.
• Install and use a drop safe. Limit the amount of cash in the register and post signs indicating that a drop safe is used and register only has limited cash.
• Check ventilation system to ensure it can not be used to gain entry.

How to Prevent a Carjacking

• Keep doors locked and windows shut.
• Don't stop to assist a disabled motorist. Instead contact a service station or police.
• When stopped at a light, leave enough room between you and the car in front that you could make an escape.
• Be suspicious of anyone approaching the car with fliers, asking for change or directions. Be ready to leave carefully, even if it means running a red light or stop sign.
• While driving, if struck from behind or in any suspicious way, stay in your vehicle with the doors locked and windows closed until the police arrive. Activate your vehicle's emergency flashers.
• If you're very suspicious, get the other vehicle's license number and drive to the nearest police station or a well-lighted area with lots of people.
• If you think you are being followed, drive immediately to an area with lots of lights and people. If possible, drive to the nearest law enforcement office.
• Obtain and use a cellular phone to call for help. In Florida, dialing *FHP anywhere in the state from a cellular phone will connect you with the nearest Florida Highway Patrol station.

How to Prevent Motor Vehicle Theft

• When you park your car, close the windows, lock the doors and take the key with you.
• If you must leave a key with a parking attendant, leave only your vehicle's ignition key.
• Install and use anti-theft devices, whether an alarm or a protective device like a club or a collar. Be sure to activate the device every time you leave your vehicle.
• Park only in well-lighted areas near other vehicles.
• Keep valuables out of sight, preferably locked away in the trunk.
• Don't hide a spare key in a magnetic key box; thieves know all the hiding places.
• At home, if possible, put your car away in a locked garage, or at least parked in the driveway.
• If you have two cars and one of them is easy to break into, then park it in your driveway so it's blocked by the other car.
• When you park your car, turn the front wheels to the left or right and put the emergency brake on. This locks the wheels, making it difficult for a thief to tow your car.

How to Safeguard Your Home While on Vacation

• Strive to make your home look as lived-in as possible while you're away.
• Don't broadcast your plans but do let your neighbors and local law enforcement know.
• Give a spare key to your neighbors and give them an emergency telephone number to reach you.
• Arrange to have your mail and newspapers either stopped or picked up daily.
• Have someone mow your yard or rake the leaves so your house looks lived-in.
• Use automatic timers to turn on a radio and lights at different intervals to hide the fact you aren't home.
• Turn down the ringer on the telephone. An unanswered telephone is a dead give-away.
• Be sure you don't announce your absence on your answering machine message.
• Leave your blinds like you normally would if you were home. Only close them all the way if that is what you would normally do.
• Be sure to close and lock the garage as well as any storage sheds, gates, etc.
• Engrave all your valuables with your driver's license number. If possible videotape the contents of your home. Be sure to keep the video and the list of valuables in a safety deposit box.
• Ask your neighbor to occasionally park in your driveway. If you are leaving a vehicle parked outside, have the neighbor move it periodically so it looks as though you are home.
• Be sure someone knows your itinerary and your estimated time of arrival and return.
• If you get lost while traveling, ask directions of local law enforcement, not complete strangers.
• Be sure your vehicle is in good working condition and that you have taken enough money. Do not carry large amounts of cash, use credit cards and travelers' checks.

How to Prevent a Home Burglary

• Invest in solid doors and good quality locks on doors and windows. This includes on all sliding glass doors as well. Make it not only difficult but also time consuming for a burglar to gain entry.
• Whenever you go outside, lock the door and take the key with you, even if you are just stepping next door or out mowing the back yard.
• Don't put valuables where they can be seen from the window, especially items that can be easily carried.
• Be sure your garage door can be secured. Do not leave it open when you are away; an empty garage broadcasts your absence.
• When you aren't home, use a timer set to turn interior lights on and off at varying ntervals as though your home was still occupied.
• Don't keep large amounts of cash or really valuable jewelry around the house.
• If someone comes to your door asking to use the telephone, make the call yourself. Don't invite them in.
• Don't hide a spare key under the door mat or under a flower pot. Thieves know all the good hiding places.
• Plant thorny bushes under all windows. Trim back any trees or shrubs near doors and windows to eliminate hiding places for would-be thieves.
• Invest in a good security system along with motion sensor lights installed out of reach
• Don't leave ladders outside. Keep any tools that could be used to break in your home safely locked away in a garage or shed.
• Get a barking dog or "beware of dog" signs. If you own a dog and go out of town, have someone come in and care for your dog in your home.
• Always double check doors at night and lock all windows.
• Engrave all valuables such as stereos, microwaves, videocameras, with your driver's license number. (Engraving tools are usually available through your local law enforcement agency.) Videotape the contents of your home. Keep the video and the list of all valuables in a safe place, such as a safety deposit box.

Source: Florida Attorney Generals Office