Field Regina Northrop Neighborhood Group

Is Your Garage Secure?

Mar 18, 2002

By SAFE Officer Greg Wenzel

Every month I drive through alleys checking for open overhead garage doors and service doors. I then send out a letter to the residents to let them know their garage was found open and unattended. The letter gives them recommendations on how to keep their garage secure and their belongings where they belong--in the garage.

I am not the only person who goes through the alleys checking for open garages. Burglars also go through alleys looking for the easy opportunity to steal something or to see what people keep in their garage so they can come back later to take the items they want. Open garages can make for good window-shopping for burglars. If you are not in your garage, close the overhead door and keep the service door locked. That way a burglar walking down the alley is not going to know what is in your garage.

Too many people feel that if they are working in their yards their items are safe in the garage. The truth is when you are working in your yard--even if you are near the garage--you are concentrating on your task at hand and not on protecting the items sitting in your garage. Think about this: Would you rather use your precious time to make a call to the police department to have a report taken on your missing items? Or, would you rather take an extra few minutes during the course of your task to lock and unlock the service door or open and close the overhead door?

The point I would like everyone to understand is that you can make a difference in reducing garage burglaries by not allowing an unforced burglary. Keep garage doors secure. (Unforced burglaries are those when a burglar does not have to use force to commit a burglary. The burglar can just walk into a garage through an open or unlocked overhead door or service door.) Since burglars look for easy opportunities to steal your valuables, and because many garage burglaries take a short time to commit, your overhead door and service door should always be closed and locked, even when you are home. A closed garage door will also prevent burglars from seeing what is typically stored in your garage.

Contact me at 673-2958 for some suggestions on securing your garage's overhead door, service door and windows.