Keeping valuables out of view can lessen a home’s appeal to burglars and thieves, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace told members of Triad this week.

“Property crime is an issue regardless of where you live. Unfortunately since the dawn of time there are people who are going to steal something that doesn’t belong to them,” Pace said.

And while it’s almost impossible to stop someone who gets out of bed in the morning determined to break into a home, it is simple to make a home or vehicle unattractive to crooks, he said.

“Don’t have the hedges where you can’t see the windows. Have your house visible. Don’t have a lot of property visible from the street,” Pace said. “What’s convenient for you is also convenient for the thief,” Pace said.

In 2014, the sheriff’s office received reports of 124 burglaries, and 50 of those burglaries were cleared by arrest, Pace said. The number includes business, home and auto burglaries.

“A lot of those could be prevented by simply locking the car. Don’t have items that look inviting in the car,” he said.

Law enforcement officers also need homeowners to be able to provide a description of items in much more detail than “an old green lawnmower with the read handle,” or “the 12-gauge shotgun my granddaddy gave me,” Pace said.

Stolen property is entered on the National Crime Information Center Database, which can be checked by law enforcement agencies across the country.

“We have to have make, model and serial number to be able to enter the item,” he said.

Pace also cautioned against unsolicited offers over the telephone and advised residents to simply hang up the phone if they believe the offer is a scam.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it is,” Pace said.

Triad is a partnership between Warren County’s senior adults, law enforcement and firefighters. The group meets the final Wednesday of each month at City Hall Annex. Wednesday’s meeting had been rescheduled after city officials closed offices for part of the last week of February because of inclement weather.