Some Effingham County homeowners are taking extra steps to secure their castles.

A recent rise in burglaries has residents installing alarm systems and using other measures to combat the break-ins.

“You feel like you’ve been violated,” said Yancy Ford, whose home was broken into in late February. “You feel like someone has crossed the line.”

Effingham County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Detective David Ehsanipoor said the ECSO has seen an increase in burglaries since December. Among the items thieves are looking for are jewelry and flat-screen televisions.

The sheriff’s department has tried to step up its presence on the streets and is working the cases diligently, according to Ehsanipoor.

“We’ve been getting solid leads and increasing patrols in the neighborhoods,” he said.

Ford lives just off a busy road on a five-acre lot. He’s installed an alarm system and has erected a gate on his driveway.

“I’m trying to do some things to make it more difficult (for would-be burglars),” he said. “I really don’t know what goes through a criminal’s mind.”

After his house was burglarized, Ford began talking with some of his neighbors and discovered his wasn’t an isolated incident.

“There have been quite a few in the area,” he said.

Ford said he believes the sheriff’s department is working hard to solve the burglaries and suggested that citizens and residents can lend a helping hand.

“They need to take precautions,” he said. “If they see something out of the ordinary, they need to call the police. It’s important for concerned citizens to be aware of what’s going on.”

The thieves took jewelry and electronics from Ford’s home. The cameras and laptops can be replaced, he said. The jewelry, while it may not fetch a high value, carried a more significant meaning.

“The jewelry my wife had gotten from her grandmother, it was very sentimental to her,” he said. “That stuff’s gone.”