Keep your home safe while away on vacation!

Summer is almost here and Albertans are eager to get away and enjoy a great vacation. With the great news of the widespread distribution of vaccines, we should soon be able to travel again. Whether you are away for a few days or a few weeks, it is important to keep your home safe. Awareness is an important part of crime prevention. Residential break and enters in Alberta are still far too high. In May 2020, there were 313 residential breaks and enters in Alberta RCMP jurisdictions.

Learning how to protect your property is your best defence against crime. Vacation is a time for fun and enjoyment. Make your vacation more relaxing and carefree by following a few important tips to avoid your home being burglarized or vandalized while you are away.

1. Check your locks: Before you leave, double-check all your home’s entry doors, windows, sheds and garage doors. Don’t forget to check your basement windows and attached garage doors as they are another way, they could gain access to your home.
   
   
2. Make your home look lived in: Use timers on a few lamps in rooms where the light will be noticed from outside your home. Use timers on outdoor lights to appear that people are home. Ask a trusted friend, family member or neighbour to mow your grass and water outdoor plants. Invite a neighbour to park in your driveway while you are away to make it look like people are home.
   
   
3. Ask a trusted friend, family member or neighbour to check on your house: To meet certain home insurance requirements, you may need to have someone walk through your home every few days. Also, get them to check for delivered mail and for water leaks or for other potential home damages. Depending on how long you are away, it may also be a good idea to turn off the water supply to the house.
   
   
4. Put a Hold on Your Mail: Arrange for your mail to be picked up or put a hold on your mail or flyers.
   
   
5. Don’t Hide Keys: Leave your keys with your friend or neighbour. Do not hide a key around your home.
   
   
6. Stay Connected: Make sure someone knows how to get a hold of you or knows where you are staying in case something happens. You may want to avoid sharing your vacation on social media until after you return.

The reopening of Alberta is an exciting time for everyone but remember to protect your home by staying mindful of these tips. Vacation time should be a time to relax and reconnect with people you care about the most. Prepare before you leave with these easy tips, so you don’t worry about your home while you are away.

Friendly Reminders

Report crime online!
The RCMP are encouraging all Albertans to report eligible crimes online (select property crimes under $5,000). Reporting less serious crimes online helps emergency dispatch and frontline members focus their time on high-priority calls. It provides a convenient way to share photos to the RCMP as well. These reports assist in crime analysis, aid in establishing trends and patterns, and ultimately leads investigators to the chronic offenders. It also assists in making decisions about how and where to deploy resources. Crimes reported online will be taken just as seriously as crime reported in any other way.  

Help reduce crime, report online! #ReportSmart

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Please share our social media accounts with your friends and family. Protecting Alberta’s rural communities is a collective responsibility. The Alberta Provincial Rural Crime Watch Association provides opportunities and resources for citizens to take action in protecting what’s most important to them. Together with local RCMP detachments, we create a strong awareness and presence of the law and help reduce crime.

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