Reduce Home Break-Ins By 50 Percent: Lock Your Doors

More than half of home break-ins in Howard County could be prevented by people locking their doors, according to Police Chief William McMahon. 

“We probably had 1,100 burglaries last year,” said McMahon, at the Greater Elkridge Community Association (GECA) meeting on Jan. 26. “Burglary in our world means that somebody breaks into a house that is unoccupied.”

He said that residents could help police by doing one simple thing: locking their doors.

“Half of our residential burglaries are no forced entry, which mean doors are left open, garages are left open…If we could get people to close their doors [and] lock their garages, we could cut our burglary rate in half.”

Within a few days of making his statement—during a general presentation at the GECA meeting—the idea was put to the test in Elkridge. 

On Tuesday, Jan. 31, a person tried to break into a residence on the 6600 block of Washington Boulevard.

In the attempt, the person tried prying the front door open sometime between 6:50 a.m. and 10:45 p.m. and was unsuccessful, according to the Howard County Police Department.

“Help us help you,” said McMahon to Elkridge residents. "Lock your doors."