Video: A Jump In Home Burglaries Is Putting Alarm Companies On Overtime.

OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Every 18 seconds, a burglary takes place in the United States.

That’s why it’s crucial to make sure your home isn’t an easy target.

Lock your doors and windows, trim your shrubs, and keep the outside lights on at night, those are just a few of the tips.

You can’t stop a robber, but you can stop them from having easy access into your home.

They’re simple rules, but many people forget to follow them, or think they live an area where break-ins don’t happen.

“One is too many. One burglary or one of any kind of incident is too many. What we’re doing is right now, we made some adjustments to our personnel, and we’re doing what we can to combat crime as we promise we always will,” says Starkville Police Department Public Information Officer, Brandon Lovelady.

As the holidays approach, so do more break-ins.

“We don’t want to alarm people, but over the holidays, I mean there’s always some home burglaries, and property crimes, somebody stealing bikes, and going in and getting things from the garage, and those type of things,” says Oktibbeha County Sheriff Steve Gladney.

A jump in home burglaries is putting alarm companies on overtime.

“Everybody is aware of the increase in break-ins, and of those, some of those have been existing customers of ours. What we have found is a lot of people get a little bit lax in using what they’ve purchased,” says Security Solutions President of Residential Operations, Hunter Griffin.

One goal of alarm systems is to make robbers feel the most uncomfortable as possible while they’re trying to intrude on someone’s property.

“If somebody decides they’re going to come in your home, they’re still going to come in, but the key item at that point is how fast do I have help coming? How long are they going to stay in my home, before there’s somebody here to help, or to run them off, or for them to be encouraged to leave by a loud siren, which draws attention to the homes,” says Griffin.

Break-ins can happen at any hour, but over half a break-ins happen during the day.

“Even though it’s daytime, you know, just get in the habit of locking your door. If somebody comes to the door, they’ll ring the doorbell, but if you’re back there doing something, and then all of a sudden they’re in your house, then you’ve got a problem, so you need to be smart about your what you’re doing,” says Gladney.

If you’re going out of town, have someone check your mail and grab your newspapers because letting them pile up is a sign that no one is home.

The Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department has a Home Check Program, which allows deputies to check on resident’s homes who are going to be out of town for many days at a time.