Protect Your Personal Property

Follow these suggestions to protect your belongings from loss due to theft or fire:

• Bolts, clips, ammunition, and other functional parts of guns can be stored in different locations to prevent theft, or accidental discharge by children.
• DO NOT engrave your social security number on items. It compromises your SSN and police cannot use it to trace and return recovered property.
• Firearms are easy for a thief to dispose of. Use gun locks to secure the firing mechanisms. Residents can get free gunlocks from the Police Department.
• Jewelry, valuables, cash, etc., should NOT be stored in the master bedroom. This is the first place a burglar will look.
• Keep an inventory, including the make, model, color, size, serial number and purchase price of your valuables.
• Photograph all valuables that cannot be engraved, such as antiques, jewelry, coins, silver, china, etc., and record the description on the back. A series of photos could be made of each room or videotape the contents of your home.
• Televisions, cameras, bikes, radios, microwave ovens, rifles, tools, and lawn equipment, etc. should be engraved with a driver’s license number beginning with the state abbreviation (ex. MI-S-000-000-000-000).
• Valuable documents, insurance records, photos, jewelry, etc., should be stored in a secured safe or safe deposit box.