Posted on 01/09/2012 3:23:41 PM PST by fightinJAG
If you missed this thread of a few days ago on a 14-year-old boy shooting an intruder in N.C., or if you didn't see all the responses, it's definitely worth checking out. The thread is also linked at the "read more" button below.
On that thread, I asked for freepers' thoughts on whether there were things that made some homes more vulnerable to home invasion than others. (It seems like it would be obvious that a more rural or remote home would be more vulnerable, but news reports in my area do not substantiate that assumption at all. Homes in crowded suburban neighbors get hit, too.)
Also, it's clear that, for various reasons, not every person in a household is going to be able to use a gun, even if one is available. I asked about ideas and discussion on ways that might deter invasions in the first place, although it goes without saying that nothing is foolproof and no one wants to live in a total fortress environment.
A poster suggested I make my questions into a stand-alone thread, and I decided to do so. Reading reports of several local home invasions in today's news, as well as a rash of "smash and grab" buglaries, had nothing to do with reminding me of the topic. Right.
So, yes, we know about guns and dogs (and tips regarding those are always still welcome). But what other things might be unobtrusively effective in deterring home invasions or allowing them to have a "happy" ending (dead perp)?
In the comments on our local crime stories, I saw that some people were using baby monitors to be alerted to noises around their back doors, etc. Thus, allowing them more time to investigate or prepare if a break-in developed.
(Excerpt) Read more at freerepublic.com ...
Frosted plastic window film. I’ve used it in downstairs bathrooms, front door windows. Looks good, like frosted glass, if you trim it neatly with a razor knife
If they want in your house they will get into it no matter what you do. The trick is to make sure they don’t get out. If I’m not here “Wiggles” will take care of the problem. A Dog with attitude. You can take anything you want but when you get ready to leave she will ask “where you going MF”? You ain’t getting out until Daddy gets here!!!!! Seriously, you have to make valuables hard to get in your house because any home can be broken into. Make it hard to get to the stuff you don’t want them into.
Bump
You'd be surprised at how many idiots will break into a home that's well lighted because it's easier for them to see what they're doing. I had my car broken into because it was parked at the end of the row right under the street light. Guess what the jerks said? They said the street light helped them and they didn't have to go looking for that model along the row.
We had an electrical problem in our basement that I just couldn't track down, so we called an electrician. He showed up with a young "assistant" that I immediately felt uncomfortable having inside the house. That feeling got worse when the young guy asked right away to use the bathroom... which is upstairs.
Luckily, I had closed our German Shepherd up in a room upstairs, and he was raising holy HELL because someone was in the house. As I walked the young guy upstairs, our conversation went like this:
Him: "Sounds like a mean dog."
Me: "Yep."
Him: "What do you think would happen if he got out?"
Me: "How much do you weigh?"
Him: What's that got to do with it?"
Me: "I'm trying to calculate how long before I'll have to buy dog food again."
Him: "Oh."
He may have scoped out part of my house, but he obviously didn't see anything worth getting eaten for.
I agree. That being said, anyone in our home that was not invited would find that the house is a trap. Literally.
Not only would everything be on video, but the chance of them
being accidentally injured would be high... of course, not
by design...
The best locks you can buy at a regular store like Home Depot are Schlage locks. They even have a line of locks you can rekey yourself.
Also, those nice full length windows on either side of the door...why not just rip out the danged door out and leave it wide open???!!!
She agreed to letting me dig a moat. I think she's just humoring me...
We had those small, dirty windows at the top of the garage door. Couldn’t get them clean for anything. The windows were high but we still wanted privacy. We took those semi-transparent plastic covers that were used to cover the fluorescent light boxes recessed in ceiling in kitchens in the 70s, slid each panel on to the inside of the windows and screwed each one on. They actually look good from the outside and the inside. They let enough light in and provide good privacy. You also don’t have to clean them. Win/win/win.
Good choice. Medeco is what banks and jewelry stores use.
ping
Congrats! you will love it! I’m retired and live high up in the snowy mountains of the ‘Great American Redoubt’. The challenges are many but home security measures of many types are implemented as standard and various personal SOP’s are always in effect, just as they were when I was stuck in the city way back when. Good luck on the move!
I like to let Goober the dog out in the drive way to eat her huge soup bone. She is so happy, but she will not share that bone. In fact, it’s best that you cross the street so as not to get too close to where she could suspect that you would want that bone. Just a couple of times during the summer and word gets out. Sales people and others just holler from the street stupid things like “does that dog bite?” “Well hell yes, see that legbone from the last salesperson” or “Only if you are a cat, grackle, salesperson or Democrat”.
“He showed up with a young “assistant” that I immediately felt uncomfortable having inside the house.”
OUTSTANDING story...glad it worked out, but a closer call than you should have to deal with.
I was in the offices of the Mossad Years ago. I looked at their locks.
Medeco
“Then we have the lights, motion cameras, and more. Lots more.”
That what we (actually ‘those’) in the business call a LAYERED DEFENSE. Nice work...you, at least, have a chance of surviving a dollar meltdown. Much better than my situation.
Thanks. A bit of humor: I bought the property next to my son’s who had lived there for over 3 years, whose house was a quarter mile off the road, not visible from the road and heavily wooded. “Don’t worry, Mom, nobody EVER comes to your house out here.” One hour later, exactly one hour, two Jehovah Witness ladies appeared on his front porch. Needless to say he was some kind of upset. Now he has several different audible and visual warning techno-gadgets. I will have some of them too. :-)
Most of my good stuff not in actual use is stashed in the basement or garage. Using my old boss’ theory of “They’ll think the place has already been ransacked and look elsewhere”! (Also a good place to hide Christmas presents - a 46-inch flat screen spent a week in the basement lost in the clutter and getting walked by without being noticed!)
My favorite (nonlethal) deterrent is a handwritten note on the door: “Be careful opening the door - the snake got loose again.” I have yet to meet an Amish who wasn’t deathly afraid of snakes.
When camping or hiking in a particularly remote area it can be helpful to leave empty beer cans and ammo boxes lying around the dash and front seats of your vehicle. It sends a certain message to would-be thieves and vandals.
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