Note: You can read the village's "One Square Mile" newsletter here.

By Mary Marvin, Mayor of Bronxville

March 26, 2025: As school spring break and the religious holidays are almost upon us, many of you take to traveling so I thought it an opportune time to remind you of ways to avoid your house appearing to be vacant, even for a short duration. In consultation with our Police Department, the following are suggestions so your home does not become a crime of opportunity:

1. Keep a detailed inventory of your valuable possessions, including a description of the items, original value and serial numbers and keep a copy in a safe place away from home as it is a good precaution in case of fires or other natural disasters beyond burglary.

2. Make a video record of valuable objects and antiques.

3. If you alert our Police Desk of your travels, they will add your home to the “dark house” list and drive by as often as practicable.

4. Put timers on indoor lights.

5. Keep the garage doors locked and secure mowers, barbecues and bicycles inside.

6. Do not leave hidden keys. Burglars tend to know all the hiding places.

7. Be a good neighbor. If you notice anything unusual, call the police immediately. While you are awaiting their arrival, write down any license plate numbers or description of persons.

8. Trim trees and shrubs to avoid creating a screen for intruders.

9. Lower the phone ringers, especially in apartments, as a persistently audible ringing phone is the sign of an empty dwelling.

10. Take advantage of our emergency alert system to receive phone updates on any criminal activity in the Village as well as real time updates on critical incidents affecting the Village, including power outages and weather warnings. This service is easily accessed by going to villageofbronxville.gov.

11. Change the locks immediately if keys are lost or stolen.

12. Keep the car and the house keys separate and unlabeled, so if lost, both are not vulnerable to use.

13. Even when home, cars should always be locked and valuables removed from plain sight. Keep key fobs secured in your home.

14. The vast majority of our car thefts are not break-ins, rather crimes of opportunity, when unlocked car doors are tried opened and money and valuables taken.

15. Share your schedule with a neighbor and ask them to pick up items left near your home and have them park a car in your driveway.

16. Call the Police Department if you see any activities out of the norm and let trained police professionals make the decision as to what has transpired. It is imperative you call the PD immediately because often time is truly of the essence and even a small delay can hamper an arrest.

17. Prior to departure, if you have any concerns about the safety of your home, call the Police Department and set up an appointment for an Officer to do a security survey of your home to assess vulnerabilities and suggest ways to increase security.

18. A key file at the Police Department is also available, allowing homeowners to keep a key in the Department in case of emergencies and lockout.

19. Check locks on doors and windows and replace them with secure devices as necessary.

20. Install keyed deadbolt locks on all outside doors as pushbutton locks on door knobs are extremely easy for burglars to open.

21. Buy special locks for sliding glass doors as they are particularly vulnerable.

22. Think about putting curtains or shades on garage and basement windows.

23. Have adequate exterior lighting. Motion sensitive lighting is recommended for backyards.

24. Alarms deter burglars. Any indication that your home has a security system/cameras such as yard signs and/or window stickers are a deterrent. Invest in outdoor wireless cameras and a video doorbell camera.

25. Make sure your children don’t share on their social media posts the wonderful vacation they are about to embark upon. Post pictures after you arrive home.

26. If you do return home and find a tampered door or window, do not enter your home, rather go to a neighbors to use the landline or call from your cell phone a good distance away from your home. Do not touch anything until the police have inspected for evidence.

If you should want to personally learn of police activity, we have a time-tested policy. Our policy has been consistent throughout the years – from the Review Press Reporter, LoHud, News 12, My Hometown Bronxville and of late civilian requests. The press report is available by coming into the police department and requesting a copy. After obtaining a copy, one may request additional information on whatever “blotters” they personally choose. For a while, the requests were made via email. Currently they are conducted in person and starting next week, it will be a FOIL, which is a formal Freedom of Information form/request. We release any information that does not identify the victim of a crime, domestic violence or is a juvenile but event details, as one would surmise, do include the street location of the incident.

As we are a very small Village where privacy is cherished, we ask that any information FOIL’ed is dispensed with the utmost discretion.