Going Out Of Town? Palos Park Police Will Watch Your House

PALOS PARK, IL — Going out of town for the holidays? Palos Park police will watch your house while you’re away. Residents can fill out a vacation watch report and an officer will check your house periodically during their patrol shift.

Palos Park police remind residents, if you're planning on leaving for the holidays, you can fill out a vacation watch report and an officer will check on your house periodically during their patrol shift.

This is a service offered by the police department and residents are encouraged to use it when going out of town for an extended period of time.

“We want to advertise this service,” Police Commissioner Dan Polk said. “When people go on vacation, we want to make sure that they come back to the home they left.”

Thieves actually are looking for homes that don't show any movement. Sometimes they'll knock on the door to see if anyone comes to answer. Police presence in an area where people are away will make a thief think twice. Crooks don't want to be around when police cars are around.

Police offer the following tips for securing your home while you’re on vacation:

• Do not leave a key under the mat, under a flower pot, etc.
• Purchase motion sensor lights.
• Invest in a two-way doorbell system with a camera.
• Don’t post on social media that you’re leaving town. It’s advertisement for burglars to potentially come to your house and steal something.