In July, certain San Francisco residents noticed an odd trend. Dozens of neighbors found holes drilled through their garage doors. It turns out it was more than vandalism. Thieves had drilled the holes to gain access to the red safety chord on the other side of the garage door. Unfortunately, the theft tactic isn’t a new one. Over the years, residents all over the country have reported the problem.

Last month, the residents of Inner Richmond in San Francisco reported a sudden uptick in garage door holes being drilled. Thieves would use the holes to run a cable through and grab hold of the red emergency chord. Pulling the chord disables the door motor. Then, thieves can simply lift the door up and peruse the garage’s contents.

This isn’t a new issue. Back in 2018, Fox31 in Denver, Colorado, reported a slew of damaged garage doors such that thieves could reach the red release chords. In one report, the homeowner got an alert on their phone that the door was open. When they went to check it, they found two mountain bikes and an air compressor missing.

To combat garage door drilling, residents can do a few things:

• Install a “shield” to block a wire from grabbing the red chord
• Adjust or better secure the chord
• Install an interior garage door lock
• Install an alarm and security lighting

Many folks leave the security door from the garage to the home unlocked. You might start locking this door, especially at night or if you plan on being away. Of course, please also consider resident safety before doing anything to your garage door that will deter this theft tactic. Residents still need to be able to easily exit the garage in case of emergency.