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Criminal Tactics to be aware of:

Pay attention to litter outside your home. Criminals do their homework prior to breaking in. In some instances, they leave certain objects outside your house like cans, litter, bags, and so on.

They use these markings as a note of their observations. For example, how many people are in a house, how many of them are male or female, whether there are any dogs, the list goes on.

If you see any foreign objects near your property and it looks to be constructed in some fashion, take a photo and then dispose.

Wear gloves when removing objects.

Below are some signs to look out for:

  • “Z” painted on a stop sign or on the road – houses in street targeted for burglary.
  • Pile of little stones – warns of dogs.
  • Two big stones together – two old people.
  • Stones in a row – indicates how many people in the house.
  • Direction of the bottle indicates which house is the target.
  • Coke tin, red cloth, crisp packet etc – can expect resistance.
  • 2 Coke tins indicates the owner is armed.
  • Upright Coke tin – nobody home.
  • White sorghum carton, plastic bag – easy target.
    White plastic bag on fence – easy target.
  • Crisp packet facing the house – owner at home.
  • Crisp packet facing the road – no-one home.
  • Sudden strange items in front of a house like a cardboard box, bricks or tree branch.
  • Two or three bricks (normally new bricks) – house robbery planned.
    And many more benefits.

Tips:

  • Be observant of your premises when exiting and entering.
  • Remove and dispose of all markers and any litter.
  • Use your Safe Community App to report suspicious activities.