Schmenge,
Sorry to hear this happened to your neighbor. Thankfully she knew who it was and doesnt have to lay awake at night wondering WHO was in her home and if they're coming back!!!
To add to the other suggestions, NEVER write things on a calendar in your kitchen like "Party at Suzies 2PM"... if it's 2PM, the burglars know they have time before you'll be coming back. This goes for things like vacation and then you draw a line through several DAYS... huge no no. If you must keep a calendar like that, keep it out of plain sight.
We never tell our neighbors when we're going out of town. Call me paranoid, but all my neighbors suck. We call NCCPD and ask them to do a property check when they can. (they do these daily and on each shift according to friends of mine who work in the brown clown suits) they usually want to know if anyone is authorized to be there and when, what cars will be there, and if we're leaving any lights on, etc. (Yes, we give them a detailed light "pattern" schedule -- see below) They grilled my step son and called us when he went over while we were vacationing! He was just there to swim, and he's allowed on the property, but they had him sit in their car, checked out his ID, etc. Then called us. His address is not the same as ours on his license. It was good to know that they really do follow up and keep the info we gave them, etc. They've always been helpful.
Also, we dont have our mail or paper stopped. We ask a friend who lives close by to swing by and pick up the mail (only get a Sunday paper) and any papers. I dont trust the newspaper person (who goes through NO screening) to not take advantage of the notice they get to stop our paper for a week. The mail man has just NEVER gotten it correct when stopping or restarting the mail.
I also bought digital timers for the lights we usually have on, etc. The digital timers allow you to program a variety of patterns so it's not just the same light going on and off at the same time every night until you get home. We try to keep the appearance (lights anyway) that would be on if we're home. Found the timers at Lowe's. They are typically out during the Christmas season and are heavy duty, but they work.
Of course, we also have surveillance cameras, but thats more for the cretins that want to hop the fence into our pool area. Best part is that you can set one up fairly easily to capture internal movement as well as external if you wanted.
My biggest fear is that someone will break into my home and hurt or steal my dogs. Take anything you want out of my home or off my property. But dont touch my dogs. Thats a death sentence if you do.
Have a great weekend! LOL
Moosie
