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California leads the USA in home theft claims

California leads the USA in home theft claims and the next state isn't even close.

California leads the USA in home theft claims and the next state isn't even close.

According to a recent report by State Farm Insurance, 12,142 claims were filed by their California customers in 2016.

Texas was a distant second with 7,482 claims.

How can people in the greater Sacramento area protect themselves from a home break-in?

According to Sgt. Bryce Heinlein of the Sacramento Police Department, the key is to make it appear as if someone is home. He suggests making sure your trash cans have been taken in, leave a radio on inside the home and if possible, get a dog.

Heinlein added that most home break-ins occur between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. when the burglars know that most people are at work and kids are at school.

If you see suspicious people either walking through or driving around your neighborhood, they could be “casing” you or your neighbor's home.

“Casing is actually looking at people’s patterns, seeing when they leave in the morning and when they go home and activity during the day," Heinlein said. "That’s how criminals target these houses, they actually do some intel."

Another troubling statistic to those who’ve been victimized is if you’ve been robbed once, your chances of being robbed again increase. The idea behind that is the thief knows the layout of your home and that you’re likely to replace the items he took the first time. That puts your neighbors at higher risk, too.

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