Don’t let criminals ruin your holidays

Don’t let criminals ruin your holidays. At the very least, make it harder for them.

The holiday season makes December and January are the worst months for home burglaries because of all the packages being delivered and gifts sitting around the house, home insurers say.

“Holidays are the time that Georgians are most at risk for being the victim of theft. Be aware of the danger and take precaution so that you don’t become a victim this holiday season” said State Farm spokesman Justin Tomczak.

To make it worse, Georgia ranks third among the 50 states for the number of property thefts, according to State Farm, which reported 5,533 claims filed by homeowners, averaging almost $2,800 per claim.

Only California and Texas reported more claims than Georgia.

Add to that the statistical fact that Columbus has been worse than many cities for property crimes.

A survey from nextdoor,com, a free and private social network for neighborhoods, showed that a majority of people are not taking proper precautions to protect their homes from fire and burglary. According to the survey, conducted by Harris Interactive among 1,910 U.S. adults aged 23 and over, nearly 60 percent of Americans did not follow common sense safety care to protect their homes from burglary, such as:

▪  38 percent do not tell a neighbor they're going out of town

▪  19 percent leave their house key in a nearby hiding place while they're away

▪  12 percent let mail and newspapers pile up

▪  10 percent broadcast that they are out of town on Twitter and Facebook

▪  8 percent even leave a door or window unlocked

According to the FBI, nearly 400,000 burglaries occurred in the U.S. last November and December alone. Year round, a house, apartment, or condominium in the U.S. is burglarized once every 15 seconds, and it’s often the simplest and most obvious precautions that homeowners tend to forget, and which burglars exploit. Here are some common sense safety tips to make sure your home doesn’t become a statistic:

▪  Whatever the situation, you should always lock your doors and windows when you go out.

▪  Keep close track of any spare keys that exist.

▪  Be wary about posting your vacation plans and updates on social media websites

▪  Use automatic timers on lights when away

▪  Always park your cars in the garage with the garage door shut

▪  If possible, have your telephone calls forwarded when you are away from home

▪  Have a trusted neighbor pick up the mail and newspaper, take out your garbage and have your grass mowed.

This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 7:20 AM with the headline "Don’t let criminals ruin your holidays."