Protecting your home and neighborhood

Home security

• Make sure your home is secure. Put deadbolts on doors and good locks on windows
• Change the locks when you move into a new place
• Make sure your entrances are lit and install a peephole in your door
• Get to know your neighbours and keep an eye on each other's homes
• Install security cameras in your home and on your property
• Do not announce when you aren't home on social media
  

How can you keep your property safe?

It does not need to be expensive or difficult to make your property safer. There are ways you can take advantage of your property's natural surroundings to make it safer.

For businesses and residences, this can be done through strategically placed lighting, flowerbeds, low fences, walls, hedges, signage, better and / or more timely maintenance.

For residences, it is important to give the impression of occupancy to discourage criminal activity. This can be accomplished by maintaining your lawn, shoveling your driveway, using timers to control your lights, and having someone check on your property if you are away for a long period of time.
 

How you can design and use your environment to discourage crime: 

• Keep your property well-lit at night by using use automatic timers
• Define your private property by planting low hedges around the perimeter or installing fences that will not block the view
• Keep your home clean and well maintained
• Notice and ask questions of strangers who don't belong in your space
• Keep shrubs trimmed to eliminate hiding places
• Move your parking area so your vehicle is in front of your home, or in a position to be easily observed by you or your neighbours
• Limit the number of ways people can enter your property
• Replace inadequate door and window locks with good security hardware such as deadbolts
  

How can you keep your neighbourhood safe?

Build relationships with your neighbours and get involved in local activities like neighbourhood associations, yard sales, or pitching in to throw a block party.

Get to know the people who live in your neighbourhood:

• Do they work during the day or the night?
• Are there kids around?
• How old are they?

This can help you notice when something is amiss.

Be active in your neighbourhood and spend time outdoors. Being outside deters crime because it tells others that the space is used and cared for.  

Have a way to contact your neighbours in case of an emergency, if they're not home, or if you need help.

Have house numbers that are visible from the road so police can see your address if you need to call them.
 

Protecting machinery, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and equipment

Machines and equipment can be marked with your driver's licence number and province of issue. To reduce theft of items such as ATVs, auger motors, tools, batteries, or hydraulics from machinery, ensure they are not left in vulnerable areas such as fields or remote areas.

Cottages

Cottages should always have the appearance of being occupied. This can be accomplished by using motion sensors or timers for outdoor lights, as well as timers for interior lights. Having a timer on the television or leaving the radio on will also help deter possible crime.

Winter closing tips

Your cottage should be checked and secured at least once a week. This can be done by taking a trip out yourself or having a permanent resident check on it for you. Valuables, as well as alcohol, should be removed during the winter months. Leaving this property visible inside your cottage could encourage someone to commit a break and enter.

There are a number of measures that can be taken by vehicle owners and manufacturers to help prevent motor vehicle theft, including:

• Always lock your vehicle when unattended
• Use steering wheel locking devices
• Park in attended lots
• Use ignition kill switches, fuel kill switches
• Use an alarm
• Never leave your car running unattended even for a few minutes
• Use locks, tire or wheel locks, or hood locks
• Use a vehicle tracking system