Why its good to know your neighbors

A guy broke into a family's home, lived in it for a week, did drugs and stole a bunch of stuff. The issue was not reported unti a neighbor noticed a door open. This just goes to show the importance of knowing your neighbors and having people check up on your house while you are gone. I admit, I don't know my neighbors as well as I would like, but I try to make sure to talk to them occassionally and get someone to check in on the house once in awhile when I am gone.

Of course, like some of the commenters have said, an alarm would help in this situation, but there is nothing better to reduce crime than a community working together to look out for the neighborhood. It doesn't even need to be anything formal as neighborhood watch, but when a long haired dude is going in and out of your neighbor's house with flat screen tvs, perhaps its time to talk to the police.