Fairground Neighborhood Association

A Few Safety Tips

Summer Safety

Wearing a bicycle helmet can prevent 88% of bicycling head injuries. Helmets should be positioned correctly and should fit snugly when the straps are properly buckled. Parents should insist that kids wear helmets for bicycling, skateboarding and in-line skating and should lead by example.

Family Travel

Before you leave preventing crime during family travel starts with making sure your home is protected while you're away. The key is to make it look like you never left:
· Keep shades and blinds in their normal positions.
· Stop mail and newspapers, or ask a neighbor to pick them up every day.
· Put several household lights on timers.
· so they turn on and off at appropriate times.
· Arrange to have grass mowed (or snow shoveled) while you're gone.
· Make sure all your door and window locks are in working order - and use them.
· Activate your home alarm (if you have one).
· You might even leave a radio on - or put it on a timer.
· Ask a neighbor to park in your driveway overnight - anything that might suggest someone's home.
· And don't forget to lock all doors and windows when you leave.

Crime Prevention Tips: Sliding Glass Doors

Sliding glass doors are usually installed at the rear of a home or apartment making them good candidates for entry by a burglar. In warm climates, an experienced burglar knows that sliding glass doors are often left standing open for ventilation or for pet access. Since they slide horizontally, it is important to have a blocking device in place to prevent sliding the door fully open from the outside. This can be easily accomplished by inserting a wooden dowel or stick into the track thus preventing or limiting movement. Other blocking devices available are metal fold-down blocking devices called "charley bars" and various track-blockers that can be screwed down.

Sliding glass doors are notorious for failing to prevent a forced entry attempt especially in apartment buildings. This is because of the wear and tear they receive and due to the inadequate nature of many of the latching mechanisms. Sliding glass doors usually do not have locks on them, only latches. The latches are often made of aluminum and can become worn or out of adjustment. The most common methods used to force entry, aside from breaking the glass, is by prying the door near the latch or lifting the door off the track. The blocking devices described above solve half the equation. To prevent lifting, you need to keep the door rollers in good condition and properly adjusted. You can also install anti-lift devices such as a pin that extends through both the sliding and fixed portion of the door. There are also numerous locking and blocking devices available in any good quality hardware store that will prevent a sliding door from being lifted or forced horizontally. Place highly visible decals on the glass door near the latch mechanism that indicates that an alarm system, a dog, or block watch/operation identification is in place. Burglars dislike alarm systems and definitely dogs. Use a secondary blocking device on all sliding glass doors. Keep the latch mechanism in good condition and properly adjusted. Keep sliding door rollers in good condition and properly adjusted. Use anti-lift devices such as through-the-door pins. Use highly visible alarm decals, beware of dog decals, or block watch decal.