Most of us go about our daily lives and for the most part we do this without much thought about our security as residents of Toronto and the surrounding area. Of course we each have our own level of security in place according to what we feel our needs are and what makes us feel comfortable in our home environment. Recently though the rash of break ins in the Mississauga area has got a lot of people on edge.

In a recent news article Police issue a warning…

“Mississauga break-ins, sex assault prompt police warning

Peel Regional Police say a rash of bizarre break-ins in Mississauga this summer may be related and they are reminding residents to keep their doors locked.

Investigators believe a single suspect is responsible for at least five break-in attempts over the past six weeks, the most recent ones occurring early on Tuesday morning.

Early on Tuesday morning, police say, a man entered a house on Forestwood Drive, near Erindale Station Road and Dundas Street West.

“He performed an indecent act within the residence,” said George Tudos, a spokesman with the Peel Regional Police. “Then the victim who was home, she heard a noise and was awoken to see him perform the indecent act, and then she was sexually assaulted.”

The suspect allegedly tried to break into another home on the street 45 minutes earlier, but the homeowner reportedly scared him off.”… full article

As home owners living in a quiet neighborhood all too often we become complacent about our security when we are within our homes. If you consider yourself as not living in a upper scale neighborhood you probably don’t think that you need to worry about a break in if you are home. Yet, when you look at the circumstances in the above news article excerpt the indicators are that the neighborhood being targeted by the criminal in this case is just your average one. Yet the area itself has been a targeted one for what the Police think may be the same perpetrator, although this hasn’t been said for sure.

The bottom line is you should always incorporate the old adage “you can never be too careful”. Keep your doors locked at all times even when you are at home, and make sure the windows are secure when you are retiring for the night.

Often in a larger family home it is easy to think that someone else in the family has checked the security of the house for the night. In ends up that maybe nobody actually does and doors and windows are left open. Assign one person to be responsible for the nightly check and this is a situation that will occur less often.