An ex-con shares his expertise to keep you from becoming a victim. All week long, we'll be showing you stories that will protect you, your family, and your home. In fact, you'll be safer. We begin our Crime Week Series with a look at what makes a home an easy target.
The numbers are shocking, every 13 seconds a home is burglarized. Last year alone, more than 30,000 homes in the state were targeted. That’s 82 homes every day. Thieves know what to look for, when to hit, and what to take, but do you know how to keep them out?
FOX16 introduces you to a guy who does, his name is Bob Portenier. He's better known as Burglar Bob, an ex-con who served eight years for residential burglary. He’s a good guy now and we hired him to help you from becoming a victim.
Earlier Monday FOX16 hit the streets, the goal is to show you what you can do to make sure your home doesn't become a target.
Six seconds or less, that's all a criminal needs to enter your home.
"I did about eight years for armed robbery," says Burglar Bob.
Burglar Bob should know he used to be a criminal.
"I did about a hundred or so residential, about a couple dozen or so commercial burglaries," says Burglar Bob.
He’s a free man now, but still cases neighborhoods.
"This is the kind of neighborhood is where you'll find the expensive stuff," says Burglar Bob.
Bob’s a highly sought after consultant who travels the globe educating homeowners.
"Burglaries are the crime that's committed most often. It’s the least solved and it's the one that causes the homeowner the most problems, not just in the loss of their property or the destruction in their home, but you destroy their peace of mind," says Burglar Bob.
To show you what homeowners are doing wrong, FOX16 hired Burglar Bob to pick a random neighborhood to show you what most homeowners are doing wrong.
"This right here is extremely dangerous," says Burglar Bob. "The garage door is wide open. There are no cars in that garage. Is there anyone home or isn't there? If there is someone home, probably one person, which you'd have to deal with. Again, this is an ideal situation for home invaders."
A well landscaped yard may look good, but to a burglar it offers a layer of protection.
"Breaking into this door, all that noise would be, not all of it, but a good portion of it would be absorbed by the shrubbery. So it works two ways. It looks nice and it works to your detriment when it comes to a break-in," says Burglar Bob.
One homeowner left their blinds open. "You don't want someone like me coming up and looking in to see what the quality of your furniture and household things are because again, that would indicate what kind of toys you got," says Burglar Bob.
In one neighborhood, Bob notices something missing, no neighborhood watch.
Less than a minute later, we make an abrupt halt at a mailbox, which advertises who lives there. He calls the operator, and then calls the house.
"That's six rings, nobody is home. Still no answering machine, oh here we go. Oh they’re not home at the moment. They’re not home at the moment so let's go shopping. That’s how it works," explains Burglar Bob.
So what can you do to prevent your home from becoming a target? Burglar Bob says you need to create as many barriers or layers of protection as possible.
-For starters, he says get a security system, burglars hate them.
-Second, Neighborhood Watch, if you don't have one, get one and fast. Once a burglar sees that sign he's going somewhere else.
-Install storm doors on both your front and back door, that's one extra layer of protection.
-Cut the bushes around your house, that will make your home more visible and not as act as cover for a thief.
These are just some suggestions that Burglar Bob wants you to seriously consider. He says if you act on them, you and your family will be safer.
Tuesday, Burglar Bob gets out the car and walks straight up to the homeowner's front door. What he does will make you think twice about answering the door and talking to a complete stranger.
