A former burglar has shared the 'mental checklist' she used when it came to targeting homes.
US-based TikToker Jen Jen Gomez had spent 10 years in prison for her criminal activity, however, she has since turned her life around and now shares tips and advice on how to protect your home on social media as well as deterring potential thieves from a life of crime.
In a recently resurfaced post, Jen revealed her personal checklist to ensure a house she was robbing was 'profitable'.
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"I was a cat burglar," Jen began. "[And] I started to have a mental checklist, there was things that I would have on me and things that I would look for in the homes that I was going to burgle."
Weather
The first thing I would do is check the weather," she began.
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Explaining why weather was so important, Jen explained that a sunny day would usually indicate that more people would be outside enjoying the pleasant weather, while rain was optimal for breaking and entering.
Describing wet weather as the 'best of the best' for burglars, she said: "In that type of weather condition, people are not only not outside, but they also aren’t going to chase you.
"They’re not going to come outside just to be nosy because they think something looks weird and get all wet."
Time
The time of day in which Jen would target a home was also important as she wanted to minimise her risk of encountering anyone in the house.
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"The reason I was waking up at 5.00am, 5.30am, to start getting things in order is because most people go to work between 7.00am and 4.00pm," Jen explained.
She then went on to add that 8am to 11am and 1.30pm and 3pm were her 'prime times' for robberies.
Security System
Now you'd imagine the visible presence of alarms would be something which would deter criminals from your property, however for Jen, it was a sign that something of value was inside.
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"I felt like people that have alarms will likely have something that they want to protect," she said.
So if you have alarms, make sure they're not super obvious ones.
Escape route
A more obvious thing Jen would look for during her scouting process was easy escape routes such as low windows.
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"What I needed to ensure was that there was a window somewhere low enough where I could use tools that I had... [to] step over into without getting hurt and then be able to get back out." she said.
Pets
A lot of homeowners may think the presence of a dog in their house would scare off a criminal, but for Jen the presence of - particularly cats - would tell her an alarm isn't in use at the home.
"I knew that if [..] there was an animal inside that most likely the animal was walking around freely," she said.
"Now the reason that it was important to have an animal walking around is because then I knew that the motion sensor for the alarm systems were likely off.
"Most people that have money, nice homes and nice things in their homes do not keep their animals locked up."
Location
As well as wearing the wrong size of shoe, tying her hair up and wearing scrubs during a burglary, Jen would target homes with with places to hide of escape routes.
"I want to make sure there's a way I can get in and out easily and I don't wanna be trapped in the neighbourhood."
Decretive landscaping and shrubbery would also be something Jen would look out for as it provided her with cover for her activities.
Brenna Cooper