Debra Tack and her family live in State College Borough.
When they leave the house for several days, she fills out a request for police to check on her house at the borough’s website.
One time officers called her when they noticed something out of the ordinary.

“Our back door was left open by the children taking care of our pet,” Tack, said.” “So they called and asked if that was normal and we said no, so then they were able to call the neighbor and get the house locked up again.”

Adam Salyards, with State College Police says they get a number of calls about vandalism every year after people come back from thanksgiving break, christmas or spring break.

“Usually we’ll find a pattern, or an area where multiple burglaries have occurred, same apartment building…” Salyards, said.

He says if you’re leaving multiple days for Thanksgiving, don’t leave your keys under a rug, or post on social media that you’re away.

And he says there are precautions you can take, even while you’re away.

“There’s a lot of sophisticated security home systems today, where your lights can turn on randomly or you can turn them on from a cell phone,” Salyards, said.

Also make sure to put a hold on your mail, or have a trusted neighbor pick up your packages and mail so a burglar won’t know you’re gone.

“As we’re preparing to leave, it does give me piece of mind that the police are gonna’ check on the house and we don’t have to worry about it and they can contact us if there’s anything that they see that’s unusual. Tack, said.

Officer Salyards says put firearms or valuable items like jewlery in a safe, and keep in mind the odds of a burglary go up during warm weather.