Burglary is defined as the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft. Burglary is also known as an invasion or intrusion.
Robbery is defined as the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force of threat or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.
There were an estimated 2,188,005 burglaries and 354,396 robberies.
That's one burglary every 14.4 seconds and one robbery every 1.5 minutes.
Around 60% of burglars used forcible entry to gain access to a home. More than 30% of burglars entered residences through an unlocked door, window and other opening without force.
Typically, burglars spend less than 60 seconds breaking into a home. The more difficult it is to gain access, the more likely a burglar is to reconsider the attack.
Most convicted burglars (90%) said they want to avoid homes with alarm systems and said if they did encounter an alarm, they would abandon the attack on the home.
It's estimated that 74% of uncompleted intrusions can be credited to an audible alarm.
Home without alarm systems are 3 times more likely to be burglarized than those with an alarm system.
Check out these tips to reduce the risk of theft at your home.
Arson is defined as any willful or malicious burning or attempting to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.
Nuisance alarms are the leading reason for disabling smoke alarms.
In 2010...
The U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 1,331,500 fires.
There were nearly 57,000 arson reports.
Cooking is the leading cause of home fires.
Home structure fires account for 85% of civilian fire deaths. That means on average, seven people died in U.S. home fires every day. Of all home fire deaths, 62% of deaths resulted from fires in homes without working smoke alarms.
Top two reasons smoke alarms do not operate during a fire:
1.) Missing or disconnected batteries (50%)
2.) Dead or discharged batteries (23%)
You can find home fire prevention tips here.
Vehicle theft is defined as the theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle.
There were are estimated 737,142 vehicle thefts.
Vehicle thefts are declining in the U.S. because technology, such as license plate readers, owner-installed theft-deterrent devices and tracking/recovery systems, is aiding the recovery or stolen vehicles.
A motor vehicle is stolen in the United Stated every 43 seconds.
Vehicle thefts in the U.S. cost the insurance industry and individual car owners more than $75 billion annually.