Break a Burglar’s Plans
Take these five steps to reduce your risk of a residential burglary
Burglaries are on the rise in Irvine. Follow these Irvine PD-approved tips to keep your home secure. AI-generated image/The Vine
Update: With a new surge in home burglaries in Irvine, we are updating these safety tips. Let’s ruin these burglars’ plans!
While encouraging trends show that crime is slowly decreasing across our country, it is still higher than in pre-pandemic times. Even here in Irvine, despite being one of the safest cities in America, residential burglaries pose a significant risk.
According to SpotCrime, crime in Irvine is down overall by 17% compared to the previous month. 32 burglaries were reported this month and 54 burglaries were reported the previous month in Irvine.
“These break-ins are happening all over Irvine and all across the state,” said Sergeant Adam Pettinger with the Irvine Police Department. “There are roving bands that move from city to city looking for opportunities.”
Our police force is not complacent about the criminal activity they are observing. Irvine PD is committed to catching these burglars in the act and they are making a concerted effort to find and stop criminal activity.
“We have increased patrols in neighborhoods,” said Pettinger, “and we’re patrolling by drone as well.”
While the police force is doing everything it can, Irvinites have an important role to play. If you see someone suspicious in your neighborhood, call the police at 949-724-7000 to let them know.
It may be uncomfortable to consider our vulnerability to crime, but we are not powerless to prevent it. Follow these tips to bar would-be burglars from your home.
Pretend to be Home
These burglars want privacy while they ransack your place. Make them think you’re watching.
Most burglars knock before they try to break into your home — use a doorbell camera so you can answer your door even when you’re away
Crank up the volume on a TV simulator when no one is home at night or when on vacation
Use timers or smart light bulbs with apps to turn interior lights on and off
2. Get the Goods out of Sight
Don’t tempt burglars by leaving your valuables out and about.
Secure jewelry, cash, designer goods, and other enticing items in a safe or safety deposit box
Be sure to BOLT your safe to a wall or the floor. Also consider gluing one (or several) AirTags to the outside of the safe to track it in case it gets carried away
Keep your garage door closed!
3. Go on the Offensive
The best defense is a good offense. In this case, your offensive move is to catch a burglar in the act.*
Get an alarm system
Use the alarm system
Make sure your alarm system has motion sensors in the master bedroom that can capture movement from all doors and windows to the closet (a favorite burglar spot)
*If you come home to discover evidence of a break in, leave your home and call 911.
4. Expose Hide-Outs
Burglars like to keep it low key. Force them out in the open by eliminating dark spots or thick foliage where they can hide.
Use minimal landscaping below windows, away from second story access points, and away from all entrances so they cannot crouch and hide
All windows should be free of obstructions that block their view
Keep the front and backyard well-lit with landscape lighting
Use motion detector lights to keep your side yards well-lit
Schedule porch lights to come on automatically from dusk to dawn
Spread pea gravel along the sides your house and under bedroom windows to stop a burglar from silently skulking around your home
Use a peep hole in your front door with at least a 190 degree view
5. Harden Your Home
The more your burglar has to work to find a way in, the more likely he is to try his luck elsewhere.
Ensure your front door is made from solid core construction
Make sure all your doors have a working lock
Check that French doors and double doors have a bolt securing the top and bottom of the non-locking door
Use good locks on your doors (a deadbolt with a minimum one-inch throw and a strike plate with a minimum of two three-inch screws)
Use a double-cylinder deadbolt* for French doors with multiple window panes, doors with dog door entrances, a door with a mail slot within 40 inches of your door knob, and doors with upper glass panels
Check that all doors with exterior hinges are equipped with hinge protection
Make sure your sliding glass doors and windows cannot be lifted off their tracks
Use a secondary lock or wooden dowel used to secure all sliding glass doors and windows
Ensure casement windows have double locks and are in good working order, double hung windows have window pins or similar secondary locking devices, and all louvre window glass panels have epoxy securing them to the frame
Don’t let a burglar gain access to a windows from a wall, roof, balcony, tree, or by stacking patio furniture into a make shift ladder
Store any ladders inside a garage or locked up so a burglar cannot use them
Use a garage door opener with a remote lock button to be used nightly and when on vacation
Keep the utility box secure with a padlock
Lock your doors when you leave, even if only for a couple of minutes! Well planned burglaries take less than 3 minutes from start to finish.
*A double-cylinder deadbolt (where a key is needed to unlock a door from both the outside and inside) makes it impossible for a burglar to open your door even if he breaks a window to open it from the inside. Unfortunately, this slows emergency evacuation. Keep the key to the interior lock close by if you go with this lock.
In each area of your apartment or home, there are opportunities to protect yourself from a residential burglary. While the Irvine PD cannot make specific product recommendations, we’ve researched some options here.
Stop Burglaries with Deterrents like These
This in-wall smart light switch and dimmer comes with an app so you can program it remotely to turn interior lights on and off even when you’re away.
This TV simulator to keep a would-be burglar from thinking you’re on vacation.
This doorbell camera doorbell camera can differentiate images (people, animals, vehicles, or packages), comes with a 180 degree view, and lets you speak to visitors even when you aren’t home.
Hide your valuables. Get a safe (preferably one that is fireproof and waterproof). Check out YouTube to see how difficult it is for a robber to open it before you buy it. Remember that if you have a safe and do not bolt it to the wall or floor, all you’ve done is package your valuables for a residential robber to easily find and carry away.
This security system has a built-in WiFi router and free internet back up to let robbers know they have very little time to grab what they can before the police arrive. Make sure your alarm system has motion sensors in the master bedroom, which is where residential burglars think all the best stuff is hiding.
These landscape lights are solar powered and programmable) to keep your front and backyards difficult to hide in.
These motion sensor activated lights keep side yards well-lit.
This pea gravel will force even the stealthiest thief into making some noise.
This peep hole will provide a 200 degree view from your front door.
The best plan is to do your own research.
“Look at three different brands,” suggested Shiree Lind, a Program Specialist with the Irvine PD. “It depends on what you feel comfortable with.”
No matter which products or deterrents you choose, be sure to keep an eye out for your neighbors. A city that looks out for each other is a community that's less likely to be burglarized. We are all safer when we get to know our neighbors.
Get more information on protecting our community from residential burglaries here.