Self Defense For Your House

[MA-Caver]

From an article that I found on the net... "13 Things Your Burglar Won't Tell You."
http://www.rd.com/your-america-insp...urglar-wont-tell-you/article163491.html#slide
Imagine coming home from vacation, the movies or dinner or even work and finding your house and things ransacked. Sometimes even the BEST security alarm systems aren't enough. Gotta do more to protect your home because one day you MIGHT find someone inside still at work.
Deterring potential burglars goes a long way to avoiding this tragic invasion of one's privacy.

Beyond the 13 what are some others that you can think of?

Couple spring to my mind...

Be sure to keep your mailbox empty, not only are the newspapers a dead-giveaway that nobody is home but a full or cluttered mailbox is another... of course if you're at work it can't be avoided... unless you opt to have ALL mail delivered to a P.O. Box and be willing to do the additional time/detour mileage/expense of having one.
But keep in mind that postal carriers still (by law) have to stuff your present mailbox with those useless fliers and sales.. i.e. Junk Mail. So your neighbors could still help out on that if need be.

Fido: Unless the dog is naturally aggressive regardless to strangers a simple .99 cent value hamburger/cheeseburger or two will make the burglar a dog's new best friend. Be sure the dog is trained NOT to accept from strangers, or even friends ... PERIOD!

Any other ideas?

 

[Bikewr]

When I was with the local county police from '68 to '78, residential burglary was our major crime.
Many of these suggestions are presuming too much. We never found that burglars planned their crimes to any great degree. They certainly didn't impersonate delivery men or other service individuals.

Different techniques for different areas. In the lower-middle class area I first worked, 90% of the entries were through a basement door. Often a glass-paned basement door. A small pane of glass makes little noise to break, and then it's just a matter of reaching in and opening the bolt or whatever.
Burglars make every attempt to make sure no one is home; they usually knock at the front door and ring the doorbell.
They do not go through a house carefully. Usually, guys in our area would just strip a bed and pile any goodies up on same. When they were done, they'd just grab the whole bedsheet to use as a bag.
Drawers are simply pulled out and dumped. Burglars are well familiar with most of the clever "hiding places" people use for storing cash and other valuables.

In higher-end neighborhoods with newer houses, a common point of entry was the garage. Often folks would leave the attached garage door open while they went out. So....Drive into the garage, close the door, and take your time with the usually-flimsy connecting door.
Load up the car and drive away. Panel vans are popular for this sort of thing; neighbors think it's some sort of service person.
Residence burglaries normally occur during the day, when everyone is at work/school, or early evening when people go out for dinner, shopping, or the kid's ball game.
Almost never at night.
Burglars almost never bother with homes that are alarmed; why bother? There are so many that aren't... We did have one; he simply bribed an alarm installer. He cut the guy in for part of the take from high-end residences and got the alarm codes.

Even very good security hardware does not stand up to a determined attack. However, it does cause the burglar to use more force, take more time, and make more noise; all things they avoid. Most police departments have some sort of program where one of the crime-prevention officers will come out and do a free security survey on your home.
Don't make the mistake of just hiring an alarm company and having them come out and talk you into their high-end system... Chances are you can do pretty well yourself with hardware-store or Radio Shack items.

 

[Carol]

My gigantic hulk of a cousin is full bird Colonel, USMC.

When I go away, I pull out a pair of his old 14 EE boots and leave them to the side of my doormat. Let the bad guys decide whether or not the owner of said boots is home.

 

[Spork3245]

My gigantic hulk of a cousin is full bird Colonel, USMC.

When I go away, I pull out a pair of his old 14 EE boots and leave them to the side of my doormat. Let the bad guys decide whether or not the owner of said boots is home.

Unfortunately I don't think a bullet cares how big a person's boot is.
Room clearing and tac-training is the best way to prevent a burglary/home-invasion in progress from being successful. I highly recommend looking for local seminars - just make sure that the person giving the seminar is legit.
Now, to prevent one while you're away? A good security system.

 

[chaos1551]

Don't store a ladder on the outside of your house.
When you buy new equipment of any kind (especially expensive stuff), break down the box and get it bagged and/or in a dumpster.
Put locks even on second story windows, especially if you store a ladder on the outside of your house.
Deadbolts, deadbolts, deadbolts.
No windows near doors, no doors with neat decorative side glazing.
If you have an automatic garage door opener, always watch the door close completely before you drive away.
Never store valuables in plain sight of large and/or easily peered through windows.
Don't allow strangers in your house, even if your buddy that brought him/her says s/he's "alright" (I've known several friends that got cased that way).

Lock the friggin door, man. I don't care where you live.

edit: Treat spare car keys as something more valuable than jewelry.

 

[Carol]

Unfortunately I don't think a bullet cares how big a person's boot is.
Room clearing and tac-training is the best way to prevent a burglary/home-invasion in progress from being successful. I highly recommend looking for local seminars - just make sure that the person giving the seminar is legit.
Now, to prevent one while you're away? A good security system.

Trust me, that is not the only thing I do to protect my home. It's just the most amusing.

 

[MA-Caver]

Trust me, that is not the only thing I do to protect my home. It's just the most amusing.

Amusing yes and admittedly clever... provided the would be burglars deign to notice... yet go one step further (if you haven't already) dip the boots in some mud and let it dry... why else would a pair of boots be on the outside of the house? Too dirty to get in, right? So take 'em off and leave 'em on the porch to dry and clean later. If they're clean then well, why they're out there? A smart burglar would think of a possible ruse. Still, they probably ring the door-bell either way.

I used to watch that Discovery (or was it History) channel show "It Takes A Thief" (or something like that) where they had two reformed thieves approach a home-owner and convince them to let them break into their house to show all the weaknesses they had in exchange for (free??) beefed up security systems, then send the guy back to try and thwart the new system, and in effect, hoping that viewers will get an idea of how vulnerable their houses are and drum up business for security companies and/or store-bought systems.
Nice idea I suppose, in ways educational.

Great stuff so far lets keep it rolling.

 

[Carol]

Amusing yes and admittedly clever... provided the would be burglars deign to notice... yet go one step further (if you haven't already) dip the boots in some mud and let it dry... why else would a pair of boots be on the outside of the house?

What house? I live in a building of 24 units. The boots are outside my front door, on the doormat that is in the common area hallway

Self defense for your home doesn't start with securing a building, it starts with the individual.

One of the best things a person can do to keep your home secure is to not do drugs. A couple of the LEOs here have stated that most armed home invasions are committed by people looking for drugs or drug money...which has been the case where I live:
http://www.justice.gov/usao/nh/press/july09/PEP_Haverhill.html

The other is to manage your own life. Do whatever it is you have to do so you don't have to resort to living in areas with higher crime...focus on your education, job skills, career development, don't start a family too soon, don't drive yourself in to debt, etc. Its not my intention to sound like a morality play here, that's just been my own personal experience. I lived in Boston for 7 years and generally lived in crappy neighborhoods because that was all I could afford. I was burglarized several times then....and haven't been since I started a professional line of work and could afford to live in a better neighborhood.

One thing that I will share: the two things that were always, always, always stolen from me

One: liquor. Once, my bf and I had 2 beers taken out of our fridge. Another time they took a bottle of Absolut 1/4 full out of the cabinet. If there was liquor anywhere in the kitchen, they took it.

Two: kitchen appliances. I am grateful, and a bit lucky, that burglars never took my heavy (but valuable) guitar amps. They did, however, take whatever appliances were on my counter. Granted, that was in the late 80s/early 90s.

Maybe this has changed now that toasters are $10 and microwaves are $29, but they certainly grabbed what they could while looking for booze...and I'm sure burglars haven't stopped looking for booze.

Other than that...

The post office will hold your mail, but you have to request it. When they hold your mail, they hold all of your mail, including the junk mail. No mail will go to your mailbox until you request redelivery.

Its damn near impossible for someone to tell if I am home or not. I always have a light on 24x7 (for the cat if nothing else). My parking spots neither numbered nor deeded so. I never answer my doorbell unless I am expecting a friend or a package that day, or the maintenance guys who are showing up for a scheduled call. I can recognize by voice whether someone is my friend, my FedEx lady, or the usual maintenance guys.

 

[Bruno@MT]

Have a certified locksmith install decent locks on all doors.
Normally this means not only installing special lock cilinders, but also protecting the lock with a hardened plate that can't be drilled through in a shirt amount of time, covers that run though the door and can only be removed from the inside, and a freely rotating key guard that is wide enough for a key but not for a drill. If you install only fancy cilinders, it takes but a screwdriver and a hammer to break the lock. If a locksmith installs the full set-up, it will be safe against such things.

Yes, it costs a pretty penny, but it makes it all but impossible to open the door without brute force and making lots of noise. If you have a sliding window, let said locksmith also install a special lock that prevents burglars from lifting the sliding door out of the lock.

On the windows, use lock handles that turn instead of push-pull. Window locks themselves should also use internal bars that lock in the window frame, and not a stupid little metal clasp that locks in a small hook which is simply screwed to the wood.

The idea is not to make your house proof against a mission impossible style break in. You'll never succeed, just like you'll never succeed in protecting your computer from a truly determined hacker. You have to proof your environment against opportunistic burglars. If it takes more than 5 minutes to get inside, they'll move to the next house and it becomes your neighbor's problem.

 

[Drac]

All EXCELLENT posts...Check with your local department and see if they have house checks.In the township a resident only has to go to the station and fill out a request.The house is then added to a list of homes to receive special attention...

 

[Hawke]

A detective suggested a big dog bowl in front of the house (reminds me of Carol's boots).

For the sliding glass I heard to put a wooden pole on the bottom to prevent the door from sliding open (any slim strong object that will fit the groove at the bottom will do).

A good idea might be to get to know your neighbors.

The local police department can also help set up a neighborhood watch program.

The local police where I live also have monthly meetings to discuss about current situations in our neighborhood. This is also a good way to know your local police officers.

The Los Angeles Police Department also has a website to keep track of local crime.

A determined person will be able to break in the house.

For the opportunist burglar this is just an inconvenience to move to the next house.

 

[girlbug2]

In our neighborhood it is common for young, attractive people to ring our doorbell and tell us that they are a carpet cleaning company who is going around giving free demonstrations for one room in each house, no strings attached. I have always politely refused--it's too easy, that they may be casing the house for future burglary.

 

[zDom]

In our neighborhood it is common for young, attractive people to ring our doorbell and tell us that they are a carpet cleaning company who is going around giving free demonstrations for one room in each house, no strings attached. I have always politely refused--it's too easy, that they may be casing the house for future burglary.

Exactly. Only while I am polite, I give them the squinty-stinkeye. Let them know I think they are shadey.

Also, any door-to-door sales (meat, religion, whatever) are conversed with OUTSIDE on the front porch ... and made to understand that it is no use coming back some other time: We aren't interested.

I love that my GF comes home and somewhat random times for lunch. I don't like that my work week has been cut to 32 hours — but I DO like that I am home one day of the week that isn't necessarily the same day every week.

I hate burglars. (Burglars and hackers!)

God help their soul if I catch them in MY home 'cause Missouri Castle Doctrine says their life is mine.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Having a dog, monitored security system with sign outside, good locks and plates, etc. can and most likely will have a burglar look some where else. However, do not fool yourself into thinking that it could not happen. In that rare case of home entry where you are home make sure that you are prepared and have tools to defend yourself if necessary!

I used to converse a long time ago with people coming and knocking at the door. You know religious people, window guys, carpet cleaners, etc. Now I do not even open the door but tell them I am busy. I really do not care if it seems rude. Part of the reason for this is I know someone who opened the door and the person outside forced themselves in and yes commited a crime. So in the end you can never be to careful!

 

[sgtmac_46]

It's been my experience as an LEO that most burglaries happen during the day time, and a great deal of the time the burglars are in some way connected to the victim (i.e. crackhead cousin, daughters boyfriend, etc, etc).