Residential burglaries are spiking in Massachusetts. Security expert Robert Siciliano shows how the ADT Pulse system lets you control lights, cameras, and alarms remotely from your phone. He recommends solid doors, deadbolts, timed lights, and visible security signs as affordable deterrents.
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More and more burglars are breaking into homes just like yours.
There is a spike in home burglary.
A local security expert shows you how to protect your home, from simple and cheap solutions to advanced security systems.
Law enforcement is usually dispatched within a minute.
The best ways to protect your home from burglars, tonight on Fox 25 News at 10.
It's a justifiable concern every time you leave your home, the possibility that someone could break in while you're gone.
Coming up tonight, home break-ins, they're on the rise in the Bay State. What's the reason and what can you do to protect all of your property. We'll tell you. Well, some towns it's 20%, others as much as 50%. Home break-ins are on the rise in Massachusetts.
Yeah, this is what it is— quick daytime hits where small items like electronics, jewelry taken in just a matter of minutes. Fox 25's Ted Daniel tells us what's fueling the spike and what you can do to protect yourself.
Surveillance images of actual break-ins. Think about it— while you're away or sleeping, someone is rifling through your home.
Then I see the big smashed-in window Glass everywhere.
It happened to David Barstow in Methuen. While his family was gone for only a couple of hours, a group of teens ransacked and burglarized his home.
It's that sick feeling in your stomach. What if my wife and daughter ever walked in here and they were still in here?
Police in several Massachusetts communities have reported a spike in residential burglaries.
We're talking, uh, 6, uh, 6 right here that were all from the center area. Of Hingham.
On the South Shore in Hingham, there were 32 in 2010 compared to 22 the year before. Lieutenant John Norkaitis runs the Detective Division. His officers recently caught a young couple believed to be responsible for at least 9 in just a few months. The preferred method of entry kicking in— back doors.
Comparing the foot boot prints that we photographed as well as the boots that were taken and seized from the individual at the time of the arrest.
The reason for the increase in burglaries Lieutenant Mike Perreno blames it on the high unemployment rate and drugs.
They'll take a laptop, you know, get $100 for it, $50 for it, get a hit of heroin. We are finding a lot of them are addicted to heroin.
Laptops, cameras, jewelry, iPods, cash, and prescription painkillers— some of the most commonly taken items. Things that are easily grabbed, moved, and sold. And burglars don't discriminate. They target rich and poor.
This right here is, is command central within the home.
Boston-based personal security expert Robert Siciliano has been teaching people how to protect themselves for more than a decade. Robert has one of the most advanced ADT security systems available. He can turn lights on and off from a touchpad.
This is the baby's room.
And monitor surveillance cameras in every room. From his iPhone. Robert says when it comes to home security, it's all about layers of protection, and it starts at the front door.
A solid core door is one that makes it very difficult for the bad guy to kick in, and there's no windows on the door, 'cause sometimes doors that have windows, they just break the glass, reach around, and then just open up the door.
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof. Man's best friend can be an intruder's worst enemy. Big or small, a barking dog may send a burglar somewhere else. If you don't have a dog or an alarm, make it look like you do. Signs like these can easily be bought online. Keep a bathroom light and radio or TV on when you're away. Put away ladders and lock windows and doors on every floor.
On this back porch, somebody could easily shimmy up the posts, make their way up to the second floor, and then make their way up to the third floor, and any doors and windows that aren't locked, they're gonna make their way in.
And it's important to reach out to your neighbors. Let them know if they see something suspicious, You want them to get involved.
Instead of closing your blinds and saying, "Oh, thank God it wasn't me," it's gonna be you next.
David Barstow managed to catch the guys who broke into his house when the crooks returned to his neighborhood to grab some of the loot they left behind.
That's a glass breaker.
Security at this house has become a top priority. A lesson learned the hard way. I'm Ted Daniel, FOX 25 News.
Couple more tips from Ted: always make sure you have at least 2 locks, including 1 deadbolt, on your doors, and as always, keep at least 1 light on a timer.
