Wish someone could keep an eye on your home while you’re away for the holidays? The Sheriff’s Department offers free vacation checks. If you live in the County’s unincorporated area or one of the Sheriff’s Department contract cities, you can sign up to have the Sheriff Senior Volunteer Team stop by your home.
The Senior Volunteer Team has 700 members and they check homes throughout the year. If you sign up for a vacation check, the team will stop by Monday through Friday to see whether anything looks amiss. They’ll check to make sure doors, windows and the garage are locked. They may also hide newspapers and/or packages inside a side yard fence or on a back patio.
If the patrol sees anything suspicious or unusual, like broken windows or open doors, they’ll call a deputy to investigate.
To sign up for the service, visit sdsheriff.net. Click on the Vacation Home Checks box to get to the form and then take it into your nearest Sheriff’s station or substation to verify your identification.
Here are some additional tips from Sheriff’s Crime Prevention Specialists on how to lessen your chances of becoming a victim while on vacation: