Apartment/Condo Safety

[lilmermaid]

More good info from my Officer hubby!

Apartment / Condo Safety

There are criminals that prey upon apartment complexes and condominium units:
• They know that many females and senior citizens live in these complexes
• Most persons who are arrested for crimes against property are males between 18 –21 years old
• They frequently live nearby their target areas and are familiar with the neighborhood
• They work the area on foot most frequently
• They may have lived in the complex or have a friend that lives in the complex

What to do to protect yourself:
• Keep your doors locked at all times
• Keep you car keys and apartment/condo keys separate when giving car keys to valet parking or
a service attendant
• Don’t allow strangers in a secure building at any time
• When driving into an underground parking unit, stop at the entrance to make sure the door
closes before proceeding to park your car – call 911 or security, if someone tries to sneak in
• Get to know your neighbors and the management well – organize a Neighborhood Crime
Watch by contacting local law enforcement
• Report any lighting that is not working in the hallways, stairwells, and garage/parking areas
• If trees or shrubs are near the doors or walkways block your vision of the area, ask the
management to prune them for clear vision
• When getting on an elevator always stand by the floor buttons to exit immediately if you have to
• Never get on an elevator if you feel uncomfortable or have strange feeling about someone already on the elevator

[jo2]

When I was young and lived in an apartment I had a scary experience....I lived alone, but my BF, now DH, was at my apt. a lot. He had to go out of town for a couple of weeks and a couple of days after he left I found my car broken into in the underground parking lot. This kind of freaked me out, so I went and bought pepper spray and an alarm for my apartment door. A few nights later I awake to my new alarm going off...I called 911 and when the police arrived they found crowbar marks on my door. (There were a couple other crazy things in the same time period...a false fire alarm...and a real fire) The police told me they thought this could be a stalking case. The scary thing is I had nothing of value....I am sure that guy was coming in for me! I moved out and I was scared to be alone for a LONG time....I still don't like when DH has to go out of town...I don't sleep well when he is not home.

[sharon]

How scary Jo!

[ReneeW]

Thanks for the info, Lil. Good stuff.

Jo -- oh my goodness what a terrifying situation! Glad that you were unharmed and that your security system did its job. Scary scary scary.