As many of us get ready to travel for the holiday season, police are urging homeowners to take extra precautions to prevent burglaries.

You need to leave lights on, arrange for mail and newspaper pick-up.

Make sure all doors and windows are secure, and be sure to disable the garage door opener.

Basically, give the home the appearance that someone is home.

And after the holidays, if you get a new big screen tv, don't put the box at the curb, it's an open invitation to criminals.

Latisha  Stroer said, "There are different places around town. Civic Recycling puts out different containers for plastics, boxes, and cans, and those are the places to take them after Christmas so people don' know what you received."

With the shift to online shopping, deliveries by mail are becoming an easy way to get ripped off.

If you're buying something online, try to make sure someone is home to take the Fedex, or postal delivery.

But, homeowners aren't the only ones to be on the lookout, college students are also prime targets, "They should take all of their expensive belongings with them, laptop computers, Ipods, Xbox, Playstations", Stroer said.

Police said if you see suspicious activity in your neighborhood you should give them a call.

They'll be increasing neighborhood patrols over the holiday season.