Have you ever been a victim of a home burglary? According to the FBI, the average burglar spends less than 10 minutes in your home, usually looking for jewelry, cash and other small items as fast as possible. They are careful to make sure you're not home, and that's why the summer vacation season can be so stressful.
Nowadays, we're all posting on Facebook about our summer adventures. And that can be just the indication crooks need to take advantage of you and your family. When the Modesto Police Department's posted a link about their FREE vacation house check, it got hundreds of shares, and counting.
"We like to partner with our community to show that we are proactive," said Sharon Bear with the Modesto Police Department. "They will go and check on your home and make sure everything looks like it's secure, if you're on vacation for five to 30 days."
You simply fill out a form and request a trained Modesto Police Department volunteer to patrol your home looking for anything out of the ordinary. It's not just Modesto, either. Sacramento's Problem Oriented Policing Team, also known as the Pop Team in South Sacramento, sent out a message on Nextdoor announcing a pilot vacation check program. They soon announced they reached capacity on the amount of homes to check on during the pilot phase.
Keep in mind, according to State Farm insurance, home theft claims in California led the nation in 2016. There were 5,000 more claims than Texas, followed by Georgia, Illinois and Ohio. This is why we're seeing local police departments getting creative and bringing in community volunteers to fight back.
Do you have similar examples or programs in your community? I'd like to highlight them as part of my What's Working series.
Continue the conversation with Chris on Facebook.