Many of you have asked about lighting and its deterrent effect on crime. Lights certainly keep most bad guys away. When I worked on a surveillance crew and we were following someone on foot, I hated lights: It was so hard to conceal myself. That's the same way criminals feel as they prowl at night.

The most effective forms of lighting are exterior floodlights with motion detectors. The motion detector equipped lights, as one commenter noted, save energy and keep criminals out of your yard. Thus, they are a “greener” way to light an area than flood lights left on all night, which can annoy neighbors if improperly aimed.

Any lighting you have outside your home should be installed high enough so a criminal can't merely unscrew the bulb. Lights in driveways and locked car doors will effectively deter most thieves. Most thefts from cars in residential neighborhoods are what I would consider “kiddy crime.”

These crimes happen when thieves, who are usually young, start walking down a street trying car doors. They’ll look in cars parked on the street or in driveways, searching for any loose articles of value they can steal. Loose change, dollars in the ashtray, GPS units, MP3 players and all small items that are easily carried away are the most popular items stolen. (FYI: cops have little sympathy for radar detectors that are stolen).

When parking your car in a parking lot, you should endeavor to park under lights and close to your home or the place you are visiting. Parking under a light not only assists in deterrence from thieves, but affords you the opportunity to look inside your car, for intruders, before you get back in.  

It seems obvious, but most auto thefts and larcenies from within vehicles occur in large parking lots because of the high concentration of vehicles. The thieves merely have to “shop” through the lot to find the easiest target.  

Therefore, take a moment when you get out of your car. Think like a criminal. Take a look from the outside at your vehicle’s interior. Think: If I needed cash, what could I easily steal? If the answer is nothing, your car will be safer than the other cars parked around you.

Moving back to home security, a combination of lights, light timers and closing curtains or shades is critical. When you're out of your home, light timers are a great investment, especially if you have several timers that turn lights on and off like people move through their homes at night. 

I suggest lighting the living room, family room, kitchen or dining room in the early evening and then bedrooms later at night.

Light timers attached to radios tuned to talk shows or televisions can also confuse the intruder who is moving through an area looking for a target of opportunity. From the outside, talk radio shows can sound like people talking inside the home.

Bushes and shrubs around your home should be trimmed so an intruder can't hide behind these plants. Keep your shrubs around the house low to the ground so they cover your foundation but aren't tall enough for anyone to hide behind. Again, floodlights equipped with motion sensors are valuable to keep prowlers away from your home.

Think of the basic philosophy of crime prevention. It reminds me of a park ranger in bear country trying to get the attention of hikers to avoid bear attacks: “Remember you don’t have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the slowest person in your party.” In crime prevention, your goal is to make yourself and your belongings the hardest target possible, so the criminal looks elsewhere for a victim.

In reading the news this week, I've seen many reports of home invasions, and it appears all of them required the burglar to force entry. It is unfortunate that the area is experiencing these burglaries, but I am encouraged to see that citizens are locking their doors. Pass the word to your neighbors and let’s make Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County an area of “hard targets.”

MAKE SURE IF YOU SEE SUPICIOUS PEOPLE AROUND YOUR NEIGHBOR’S HOME, THAT YOU CALL THE POLICE! KEEP LOCKING IT UP, DON’T LEAVE IT UNATTENDED (OR IN VIEW), BE AWARE AND LOOK OUT FOR YOUR NEIGHBORS!