It was a sunny morning on the Alabama coastline, and I was preparing for another day of vacation. Then, I got a phone call from a neighbor in Goodlettsville. My house had been burglarized.

Me? Not in a million years. I was security-conscious. You see, I'd worked in law enforcement for more than 16 years. As I learned though, it can happen to anyone.

My wife says it best, as many have before and after: "You can't convey the feelings it causes within you. It's terrible to know how violated and vulnerable you feel."

Worse still is the fact that she and I are not the only ones that this happens to. Not by a long shot.

The FBI reports that last year, nearly 2.1 million residential burglaries occurred in the U.S. The average household loss was $1,626. More statistics show that 38 percent of home burglaries happen at night, and nearly 58 percent of all burglars enter through the front or back doors.

According to the National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association, first floor windows are the entry point of burglars nearly 23 percent of the time. Almost 10 percent of burglars enter the home through an attached garage.

The U.S. Department of Justice states that most burglaries occur between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. It takes burglars an average of one minute to break into a home and less than 10 minutes to complete the crime. Monday is the most common day to burglarize a home (which brings to mind how Mondays stereotypically seem to go for most of us).

Poor Locks

Doors make up more than half of all burglary entry points, so don't make it easier by having inadequate doors or locks. If you have a half-window door, install double-cylinder key locks. A solid wood or steel door by itself is no guarantee against criminals either. A dead-bolt lock provides much more protection in conjunction with those types of doors. A reinforced door frame that prevents burglars from separating door from frame creates even greater security.

Easy Access Windows

Although windows only account for a thief's entry roughly one-out-of-five times, they are among the easiest entry points to overcome by force. Experts recommend replacing factory-installed twister locks with keyed locks that have one-inch to one-and-a-half-inch screws used for installation. Remember to keep the keys close by, but out of the reach of thieves should they break a pane. Another way to keep windows from being eyed for entry is to remove objects that could be used to climb in such as trash cans, ladders or lawn furniture from beneath them.

Automatic Door Openers

Garage door openers are a great convenience, but also provide an easy way for burglars seeking entry to your home. Older garage door openers are coded, based on a single factory setting. That means it will open any door of the same type. Criminals using stolen openers cruise neighborhoods trying their remotes until a door responds. Get your remote re-coded, or better yet, buy a reprogrammable remote control. If you're going away on vacation or only for an overnight, consider shutting off your automatic opener and padlocking the garage door for extra security.

Shrubs or Privacy Fences

Do you like privacy fences and high hedges? So do burglars. As one law enforcement officer told me, "High hedges and fences are crimes waiting to happen." Prune your shrubs, especially around first floor windows and doors. Cut your hedges down to about three feet. Keep tree limbs cut away from windows so that burglars cannot use them to gain entry to windows on any floor.

Inadequate Lighting

Many burglars love to operate under the cover of darkness. Don't let your home be an easy target. Installing exterior lights helps deter thieves. Also, consider using automatic timers or photoelectric controls that come on at dusk and go off at dawn. However, it's important to keep any exterior lights out of a thief's easy reach. If it can be shut off, what good is it?

Lame Alarm Systems

Experts say alarm systems can be deterrents if maintained correctly and used in conjunction with the other items mentioned here. Inadequate window and door locks or poor lighting do a lot to undermine any security alarm system. Keep your outside alarm box encased in metal and high enough to be out of reach of burglars. Furthermore, those security alarm signs in your yard work well, but only if prominently displayed as a warning to would-be burglars.

What is the best protection of all? Your neighbors. Start a Neighborhood Watch group. Thieves skip these areas for easier targets.

Robert Michael is a local writer.

STARTING A NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

It's a lot easier than you think! To get started, form a planning committee of neighbors to discuss needs and the level of interest. Contact the local police or sheriff's department to discuss local crime problems and invite a law enforcement officer to attend your meeting. Publicize the meeting at least one week in advance with door-to-door fliers.

At the meeting, gauge neighbors' interest and identify issues that need addressing. Adopt a chairperson who creates a neighborhood map and list of all neighbors' names and phone numbers. Finally, keep your eyes open!

HELPFUL HINTS

Below are some suggestions for keeping your home "occupied" while you're away:

• Use timers to run lights intermittently in different rooms.
• Have your mail temporarily stopped or collected by someone you trust.
• Getting a newspaper? Have it picked up or temporarily stopped as well.
• Leave a television on a news channel or a radio playing on a talk station. Make sure they're also on automatic timers.
• Forward your calls to voice mail or buy an answering machine.
• Have your yard mowed by someone if you'll be gone for an extended period.

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