Home Break In Quiz (or How Do Burglar's Think?)

How much do you know about the way burglars think? How would you profile a "typical burglar" type? Do security systems prevent home theft? Finally, is your super secret hiding spot, really going to fool anyone?

Find the answer to these questions and much more when you take the following quiz about home burglaries.

Questions:

1. The typical burglar is:

a) Professional male thief in his 30s to 40s
b) Inexperienced teenage male
c) Professional thieves working as a couple

2. The average thief never works close to home.

a) True
b) False

3. In the U.S., a burglary takes place:

a) Every hour
b) Every 85 seconds
c) Every 14.6 seconds

4. Home invasions on average occur between:

a) 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
b) 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.
c) 12 a.m. and 2 a.m.

5. How much time, on average, do burglars remain in a home during a break in?

a) 8 to 12 minutes
b) 3 to 5 minutes
c) 15 to 20 minutes

6. How do thieves most often gain access to a home?

a) Basement
b) First-floor windows
c) Garage
d) Front door
e) Back door
f) Second floor

7. Most robberies occur in businesses rather than homes.

a) True
b) False

8. Homes with security systems have less chance of being robbed than those without.

a) True
b) False

9. Once in the house, where do burglars usually go first?

a) Master Bedroom
b) Family Room
c) Living Room

10. Deter burglars by planting shrubs and trees close to the house.

a) True
b) False

Answers:

1. b - Most homes are not robbed by professional thieves, but inexperienced male teenagers.

2. False - The average thief lives only a mile or two from the homes he burglarizes.

3. c - In the U.S. a burglary occurs once every 14.6 seconds.

4. a - Most home robberies occur during the day when home owners are at work.

5. a - The average burglars spends about 8 to 12 minutes rooting through your things.

6. d - 34% of the time thieves walk right in the front door. The next most popular points of entry include: First-floor windows - 23%; Back door - 22%; Garage - 9%; Unlocked entrances & storage areas - 6%; Basement - 4%; Second floor - 2%

7. False - 65% of burglaries occur in residential neighborhoods.

8. True - Not having a security system triples your chances of being robbed.

9. a - First stop - the master bedroom - where all the valuables are usually kept.

10. False - Trees and shrubs planted near the house will only give them additional places to hide. Large vegetation of this sort should actually be cleared away, along with ladders or tools that may be used to break windows or gain entry into your home.

Additional Precautions:

Burglars prefer to rob a home that is unoccupied, so anything you can do to make your home appear lived in will lessen your chances of being robbed. Install exterior motion lights, always have a car in the driveway, have radios and TVs on timers so that they may occasionally go on even when you're not home, and stop newspaper delivery when you're not around.

Burglars don't want to spend any longer than 60 minutes breaking in and getting out of your home. Your job is to make this as difficult as possible. Install deadbolt locks, bars on the windows, pins on sash windows, and place a 2 x 4 in the track of the patio door so that even if they get the door unlocked, it won't open. A barking dog, no matter the size, also helps to discourage break in's.

The most popular items for stealing include cash and anything else that is easy to sell, such as jewelry, electronics, silver, gold, and guns.

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