Police can help keep home safe

IF YOU will be going away on a holiday shortly – consider asking the police to keep an eye on your home.

As usual local police forces and gendarmeries will be offering ‘Opération Tranquillité Vacances’, meaning they will watch your property, free of charge, as part of their rounds while you are on holiday.

To benefit from the scheme, which aims at reducing burglaries, you need to fill in a form at the police station or gendarmerie. They should then make sure that checks are done, night and day and at weekends as well as weekdays.

In some areas the operation is available all year, in others it is restricted to school holiday times.

You should also make sure your home is securely locked up – with windows and shutters closed (insurance policies may require this).

To help avoid burglaries you may also want to consider the following:

• In most cases burglars simply come in through the front door, so you could look at installing a stronger door and/or lock to deter them. You can also look at more secure windows, eg. with locks.

• Do not leave keys in an obvious place such as under a mat or in a flower pot, and do not leave ladders easily accessible.

• Consider installing an automatic system to give the impression of someone being at home – eg. to turn on and off lights or a television or radio at certain times.

• Perhaps arrange for a neighbour to call in from time to time and open and close the shutters, turn lights on and off and empty the letter box (La Poste can also arrange to keep your letters while you are away).

• As an added precaution it can be wise not to announce you are leaving on holiday on social media.