Do not announce to burglars that you are not at home!

• In a day where social media follows us every move, it is easy to share with our 500 closest friends that we are in the islands. It is also an easy way to allow  500 of your not so close friends to know that your home is empty. Refrain from publicly posting pictures of your vacation or tweeting that you are taking a “much needed vacation.”
• Consider using automatic light timers throughout the house. Set them in multiple rooms to turn on and off in a way that is familiar to your normal activity.
• Turn the volume of your phone‘s ringer off so that someone outside cannot hear the ring. Check with the phone company to see if there is an option to forward phone calls to your cell phone.
• Instead of halting the mail and newspaper service in your absence, ask a trusted neighbor to pick them up in a timely manner. Allow for regular deliveries and services. This will make you appear home.
• Make sure that a neighbor knows that you are out of town, when to expect you and whom to expect to be at/in your home when you are not. Give them specifics and ask them to call the police if they see unusual activity in your absence.