One thing that bad guys look for is a good place to escape or hide. As someone responsible for property and landscaping, you can do much to deprive the bad guys from having a hiding place. Be sure your trees and shrubs are pruned up off the ground at least a few feet so you, and law enforcement, can easily see if someone is hiding under or behind your plants. Or keep you plants low so they don’t provide a hiding place. This is particularly important around doors and windows. Be sure you don’t have planters or yard furniture placed so it creates a hiding place. Be sure your fences are in good condition and without holes someone could crawl through to hide in your back yard, where they can more easily break into your house or do damage. Be sure you have good exterior lighting, perhaps motion sensitive lights, that deprive the bad guys of the cover of darkness. If you opt for cameras, be sure they are high resolution and placed so that they have a chance of capturing faces. And tell the Sheriff’s Dept. you have the cameras and join its SEE program so they can contact you if a crime occurs within the viewing area of your cameras in case you caught an image of the culprit. Of course, always lock your car wherever you park it, and never leave in sight anything that might look valuable. Thieves think nothing of causing you hundreds of dollars in damage to take something from your car that only looks to be of value. And of course, always be alert to you own surroundings as you come and go from your house or car, or anywhere, noticing who may be nearby so you might choose an alternate action or timing.
If you have ideas to add, let us know.