Crime can often be prevented.  Familiarize yourself with these tips to help you reduce the chance that you will become a victim of crime.

Burglary Prevention Tips

Burglary also called "breaking and entering”, is the crime of breaking into a building to commit an offense, usually theft. Every year there are over five million home burglaries in the U.S. Nine out of ten of these crimes are preventable. You can significantly reduce the risk of being burglarized by taking simple steps to make your home more difficult to enter and less enticing to potential burglars.

ID Theft Prevention Tips

ID theft, also called “identity theft”, is defined under California Penal Code 530.5 as: (a) Every person who willfully obtains personal identifying information, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 530.55, of another person, and uses that information for any unlawful purpose, including to obtain, or attempt to obtain, credit, goods, services, real property, or medical information without the consent of that person, is guilty of a public offense, and upon conviction therefor, shall be punished by a fine, by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by both a fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

Check Your Credit Report Annually

You are entitled to a free credit report once a year. You can call in your request or submit your request online. Click here for more information.

Fraud Alerts

You can contact any of the three credit bureaus and place a fraud alert on your credit profile. These fraud alerts expire every 90 days. The three credit bureau websites can be found here:
TransUnion
Equifax
Experian

Direct Marketing Mail

By opting out of direct mail marketing, you should be able to significantly reduce the amount of "junk” mail that you receive at your house. This should include a reduction of the number of "pre-approved” credit offers. You can opt-out via telephone or online:
Telephone: 1-888-5-OPTOUT
www.dmachoice.org

Resources

Federal Trade Commission – File a complaint

Robbery Prevention Tips

Armed robbery is the unlawful taking of property from someone by force or threatening violence. According to national statistics, armed robbery is on the increase. Taking some preventative measures can significantly reduce the risk of being a victim of such an occurrence.

Record Keeper

One practice that we recommend at KPD is that you keep a record of all of your valuables and any of their associated serial numbers. This document can be very useful if you are ever the victim of a property crime. The Record Keeper form can be downloaded and viewed below.