Last week, I wrote an article titled Better Safe Than Sorry, which covered many ways to keep yourself and your home safe.  At the end of the article, I mentioned the possibility of getting involved in your local Neighborhood Watch group or, if your area doesn’t have one, starting one.

There are a lot of people out there who don’t think Neighborhood Watch groups do any good and that it’s simply a license to be nosy.  I would disagree.  As a matter of fact, according to some interviews with actual burglars, the top two things that will deter them the most are barking dogs and nosy neighbors.

Case in point:  About a year and a half after moving into my current home, I began working from home quite a bit, which meant that I was home during the day.  This was a change from my usual schedule.  One day, while working in my home office, I received a telephone call from the next door neighbor.  He prefaced what he was about to ask me with “this may sound like a strange question, but…” and then asked me if I happened to be home doing laundry.  I told him that I was and he breathed a sigh of relief.  He had apparently noticed the steam from the dryer emanating from my basement window and, thinking that I was at work, he was concerned that there was a fire.  He was relieved that there was no fire and I felt incredibly fortunate to have such an observant and proactive neighbor.

Would you call your neighbor… or the police… if you noticed something out of the ordinary around your neighbor’s house or in your neighborhood in general?  Do you even have your neighbors’ telephone numbers to enable you to contact them should you notice something?

And, do you know what you should be looking for?

• Unusual noises/voices (screaming or what sounds like arguing, breaking glass or loud banging, excessive barking of dogs, fireworks/gunshots, etc.)
• Slow moving traffic (the same car repeatedly driving down your street or circling your block).  This is could be someone casing your neighborhood for an easy burglary target or a sign of drug activity.  This is also common behavior for sex offenders.
• Parked cars with occupants inside.  This could be a lookout for a burglar or, again, a sign of drug activity.
• Unfamiliar vehicles parked on the street for a significant period of times.  It could be a stolen vehicle that has been ditched.
• Strangers walking or meandering around on private property.  There’s a huge difference between someone taking a leisurely walk on the sidewalk and someone walking on or through someone’s private property.
• Excessive traffic at a home, especially when the visitors do not stay very long.  Again, this may be a sign of drug activity.
• Someone you don’t recognize carrying personal property down the street or to a car.  Would you take notice of someone walking down the street with a stereo component, a television, or a computer?
• Door-to-door solicitations.  I’m not talking about your run-of-the-mill Girl Scout here.  Be aware that burglars often knock on a door/ring a doorbell before breaking in.  If no one answers the door, they figure they have a winner.  If someone does answer the door, they may ask for directions or inquire if the homeowner has seen his/her “lost dog.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, there could also be perfectly legitimate reasons for someone to be engaging in most of the above activities, but the important thing is to be aware of what is and isn’t normal in your neighborhood and, if you see something out of the ordinary, call a neighbor, call the police, or, at the very least, make a note of it.

If you see someone walking down the street with a laptop computer, that may not be any reason to call the police, but perhaps you could jot down the date, time of day, and description of the person.  That way, if you find out the next day that the guy down at the end of the block was burglarized and a laptop computer was taken, you’ll have some valuable information to give him/the police.

And while we’re on the subject of descriptions of people, here are a few things you should note if you see someone suspicious:

• Sex
• Race/skin tone
• Hair color
• Facial hair
• Approximate height
• Approximate weight
• Approximate age
• Description of clothing, being as specific and detailed as possible
• If you’re close enough, eye color, scars, and/or tattoos

Obviously, no one expects you to be watching out your window for suspicious behavior 24/7/365, but when you’re walking through your house and go by a window, get in the habit of looking out.  It doesn’t take any time and you never know what you might see.