The kid from Home Alone was onto something when he set up lights and cardboard cut-outs to deter burglars, and although covering the floor in marbles may be going overboard, police said students leaving Athens for Thanksgiving break can never be too safe.

“The main thing is to make sure they lock everything up good and tight before they leave,” said Athens-Clarke County Police Lieutenant Mike McKeel. “Keep your apartments locked, deadbolted – make it as difficult as possible for people to get in.”

McKeel said students in busy apartment complexes should be particularly careful and strongly recommended investing in a security system.

“Most of the burglaries we have are people who don’t have alarms,” he said. “If they take the proper precautions, it will go a long way.”

University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said concerned students would be smart to pick up an inexpensive timed switch to periodically turn on lights and noisy electronics, fooling burglars into thinking someone is home.

Burglars will often knock on the front door of what appears to be an empty house or apartment and, if no one answers, go around and kick down the back door, Williamson said.

“You may want to put a piece of furniture against the door,” he said.

Simply wedging the door shut can often be enough to stop burglars concerned they’re making too much noise, he said.

Both Williamson and McKeel stressed the importance of recording serial numbers on expensive electronics.

“We may catch somebody with TVs and we know they’re stolen,” Williamson said.

If the serial numbers on stolen TVs match numbers reported stolen, Williamson said police are able to return the stolen items.

Although burglaries have been more common as the economy has sunk, McKeel said unemployment is not a reason but an excuse for people to break the law.

“We don’t find many unemployed stock brokers breaking into houses,” he said. “I think we’re just going through a phase.”

But burglaries aren’t the only crimes students should be worried about over the next few weeks. Williamson said robberies tend to shoot up across the country as people scramble for holiday spending cash, and Athens residents should be particularly careful.

“There’s no other people out to deter it,” he said. “Use some caution.”

Williamson recommended going out in groups and avoiding areas left unpopulated as campus shuts down.

Mandy Sartain, leasing consultant for Whistlebury apartments, said her company takes security seriously.

Sartain said her office offers free alarm monitoring and has a courtesy security officer patrol the complex nightly.

“We try to do all that we can do,” she said, noting the company puts fliers in all mailboxes reminding residents to lock up as they leave for Thanksgiving.

Sartain said Whistlebury, a student community, hasn’t seen much crime.

“We had an apartment broken into, but I don’t think anything else,” she said. “We’re pretty lucky.”