Vacation-Goers Need To Get House Ready

Sun tan lotion? Check.

Casual wear? Check.

Home secure? Double check!

Homeowners need to do more than lock the front door before leaving on vacation.

“Every house in this community has things people want to steal,” said crime prevention officer Greg Snyder of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Thieves look for homes that make the easiest target - typically those with newspapers piling up, uncut grass, lights on all the time or not at all.

Before leaving on a summer vacation, make the house look lived-in, Snyder suggests.

An extra pair of eyes also helps discourage thieves.

Thieves get caught because a nosy neighbor notices an open door or suspicious vehicle.

“Having a good neighbor who will watch the house is the best thing you can do,” he said.

“In some neighborhoods people don’t even know each other so they don’t feel comfortable reporting anything (suspicious),” Snyder said.

For several years, area SCOPE groups have filled in the role of good neighbors.

Volunteer members of SCOPE - Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Effort - do vacation home checks for people who live in their area.

Several SCOPE groups check on vacation houses as many as four times a day, looking for anything out of place. All they ask is that the vacationer come in to the office and fill out a form listing vacation dates and anything else they should know about the house.

“It’s something people need and the deputies don’t have the time or availability to do it now,” said Anne Ritchie, the co-president of University SCOPE.

Here are some inexpensive suggestions from the Sheriff’s Office that go beyond simply locking your doors:

Keep your yard clean. Prune shrubs so that neighbors can see if something is going on inside the house.

Photograph and note the serial numbers of valuables.

Buy a photosensor. The device screws into the socket of an outdoor light. It turns the light on at night and off during the day. The cost is typically less than $10 and can be found at home improvement stores.

Buy a timer for inside lights. This is one more thing to make the house look lived in.

Leave shades, blinds and curtains in normal positions.

Stop the newspaper. Nothing shouts “I’m not home” like newspapers piled up on the front porch.

Stop the mail. Even if you have a mail slot, if someone does break in, checks or credit cards which have arrived in the mail are up for grabs.

Secure sliding glass doors by putting a broom stick or dowel in the inside track to jam the door. They’re often a vulnerable entry point.

Join a Block Watch or SCOPE group. You agree to watch out for other people’s houses, they’ll be more likely to watch yours.

To find out more about SCOPE’s vacation home checks, call your local SCOPE group or the SCOPE office at 477-4717.