SECURITY FACTS
Welcome to our burglary facts section. We appreciate your interest and hope that you find what you need below. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The Ten Most Commonly Stolen Items During A Burglary

Bicycles
Cameras
Drugs
Furs
Gold
Audio/video tapes and CD's
Personal computers, including laptops
Tools
Toys

Buglary Facts

The most common point of entry to a home was the front door, most often opened with a pry bar. The most common method of entry to a business was also prying a window or door.

Only 7.8% of the total value stolen from residences was recovered. 14.8% of the total value stolen was recovered from burglaries of businesses.

The average value stolen from homes was US$1,517. The average value stolen from businesses was US$1,890.

In 13% of residential break-ins, a burglar encounters someone at home. One-third of those encounters leads to assault and one in ten leads to rape– (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

Homes without security systems are about 3 times more likely to be broken into than homes with security systems. (Temple University Study)

What Do Burglars Have To Say For Themselves?

Surveys were sent to 248 convicted burglars. 45 completed questionnaires came back. Here's what the burglars had to say about their own work:

Most of the respondents had burglarized a dozen or more homes. 27% of them had to break into more than 40 homes before being convicted and incarcerated in the prison system.

The majority of burglars, 51%, like to work from Midnight to 6 in the morning.

Burglars do not like to risk breaking into occupied homes. 69% say they are attracted to a building if it looks like nobody is there. 33% say they picked targets because somebody told them the home would be empty.

Locking your house does not work, according to our respondents. 84% said they break into locked houses.

Only 13% said "lots of locks" would prevent them from entering a home. Most enter through the front door.

Burglars said they don't like dogs. 44% said a barking dog would prevent them from breaking into a house or business. Another 56% suggested homeowners get a dog in order to prevent break-ins. The only deterrent that rated higher was "having people around".

Even though police consider burglary a passive, non-violent crime, 44% of our respondents told us they carry weapons while out on the job. 80% of these weapons are guns.

Why do these men and women commit this crime? 49% said the #1 reason they burglarize is to get money for drugs.