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Sheriff offers tips to help prevent break-ins

TRAFALGAR, Ind. (WISH) – Burglaries continue to be an ongoing issue for police. It’s a crime they don’t think will ever stop. But there are some things you can do, that would help if you become the next victim.

Johnson County Sheriff Doug Cox says there isn’t one year that goes by that they don’t have to deal with a rash of home break-ins. He has three pieces of advice that could help make all the difference in the event thieves target you.

Barking dogs didn’t stop burglars. In fact they broke into Douglas Maupin’s Trafalgar home, then let the dogs loose and rummaged through his belongings.

“The front door was open and when I came in. The front room was disheveled a little bit. They threw around some of the clothes baskets we had around. The big thing that was missing is, we had a big screen TV and basically everything there was gone, pulled out,” he said.

This all happened in the middle of the day before 10 a.m. Fortunately, the dogs came back. But, the thieves got away with some DVDs and Maupin’s big screen TV.

“It wasmore frustrating that I was probably only gone about a half an hour, 45 minutes total that day. They just came in and left and got it and was gone,” he recalled.

Maupin contacted police, but didn’t have a serial number for his TV. The first piece of advice police have is; write down serial numbers.

“Without that serial number we can’t put those items in to the national computer. If we are able to put a serial number in a computer, if that person is caught with that item later down the road, it will kick back to us that it was stolen in a burglary in Johnson County,” explained Sheriff Cox.

Second, police strongly encourage people to take pictures of their valuables; jewelry, firearms, family heirlooms. Authorities need to know what it looks like, in the event it is stolen. According to Cox, burglars are increasingly targeting the jewelry box.

“It’s pretty easy to tuck jewelry underneath a seat or in a glove-box. If you’re caught with it, how would we ever identify who those items belong to,” said Cox.

According to Cox, burglary is a crime that they’re constantly dealing with. Over the past five years in Johnson County, there were almost 550 burglaries. 2013 saw the highest number with 136. The number dropped by more than half to 65 in 2015.

But numbers don’t mean burglars are going away. Sheriff Cox says as long as drugs exist, so will other crimes.

“The money they gain from that, pennies on the dollar. They’re taking your valuables that are worth thousands of dollars and getting a few dollars for it, for that drug habit,” said Cox.

The final piece of advice Cox has is to get to know your neighbors. Contact police if you see suspicious activity in your neighborhood or cars that you don’t recognize, even if you think your tip is minor.

“When you got people that’s got the nerve that’s going into somebody else’s residence and stealing from somebody who has worked hard for those items, it’s never bothered me one bit sending a burglary suspect to prison,” said Cox.

And it wouldn’t bother Maupin either.

“If it’s just a random act, where you’re like ‘Hey, lets go rob somebody’s house.’ That’s pretty cowardly and low,” he said.

Sheriff Cox also has this advice to help prevent break-ins:

  1. Collect newspapers and mail daily
  2. Lock everything; doors, windows and sheds
  3. Put your lights on timers
  4. Turn on TV while away
  5. Don’t leave spare keys outside
  6. Install an alarm system
  7. If possible, get a dog
  8. Don’t advertise being away on social media
  9. Don’t ignore knocks on the door. Let the other person know there is somebody home, even if you don’t answer
  10. Don’t allow shrubs and landscaping to create hiding spots
  11. Keep landscaping blocks away from doors and windows; crooks may use them to shatter windows