Coming home to an intruder...

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Dibbs

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In Avoidance as a Strategy, I must apologize for straying off topic, somewhat.

Let's look at the home base in another light, for a second. How do you handle coming home
to the prospect of an intruder being inside your home, when you get there ?

Dogs are great, but not a perfect solution, for everyone.
 
You set up outside your home, call the police and wait for backup. There is no need to face an intruder who is already in your home while you are outside your home. I worked in LE here for 25 years, I know response time can be up to 25 minutes to where I live, I have had a lot of training in the Army Infantry and in LE including SWAT training and there is no way I am entering my home if there is an intruder inside when I arrive. That is simply stupid. Working LE in a rural area I have plenty of experience clearing a structure alone when responding to an alarm and finding an open door with no backup available. I don't have to do that now, it's not my job.

Set up outside your home, call the police and wait for the professionals who get paid to do that.
 
So, you come home, after a long, hard day, and you want to just go inside the house, , relax, and eat, like you always do, yet you circle the house, instead, peeking in all the windows, and listening at the keyholes, to discover the intruder in your home, on the specific day the intruder happens to be in there? Exactly how do you figure out which day that's going to be?
 
So, you come home, after a long, hard day, and you want to just go inside the house, , relax, and eat, like you always do, yet you circle the house, instead, peeking in all the windows, and listening at the keyholes, to discover the intruder in your home, on the specific day the intruder happens to be in there? Exactly how do you figure out which day that's going to be?
You don't know your home well enough to tell from the outside if it's been breached? A strange vehicle in the driveway maybe? Think about it, I'm sure that most of us know that something is amiss. A door that is unlocked that is supposed o be locked? Blinds shut that were open when you left? A window open that was closed? Pry marks on a door?

You do lock your home up when you leave don't you? Do you have an alarm, a home security system? I've worked plenty of burglaries and there is always a sign of entry unless the victim left things unlocked. Unless you are being stalked by a professional hit team it's pretty unlikely that someone is going to take the time to make a surreptitious entry to home, lock themselves in and wait to ambush you. I suppose it could happen, it happens a lot in the movies.
 
If there's reason to believe someone might be in your home, back out immediately and call the police. If you've already entered and feel that someone is inside somewhere, again, back out and call the police.

There is no safe way for a single person to clear a structure. Even two people can't really do it right. I've trained this with SIMS and the person clearing is always at a disadvantage to the person laying in wait. This applies even when you are familiar with the layout. I've also cleared my share of buildings alone while on the job because there was no one else available to help and the only reason no one hurt me was because no one was trying to.
 
You set up outside your home, call the police and wait for backup. There is no need to face an intruder who is already in your home while you are outside your home. I worked in LE here for 25 years, I know response time can be up to 25 minutes to where I live, I have had a lot of training in the Army Infantry and in LE including SWAT training and there is no way I am entering my home if there is an intruder inside when I arrive. That is simply stupid. Working LE in a rural area I have plenty of experience clearing a structure alone when responding to an alarm and finding an open door with no backup available. I don't have to do that now, it's not my job.

Set up outside your home, call the police and wait for the professionals who get paid to do that.
Actually had this happen to me.

I came home from the bar I was working at, about 3AM, on my motorcycle, parked the bike in the middle of the driveway, and (wanting nothing more than to collapse in bed), zombie-walked up to the front door only to realize that the jamb was kicked in and there were lights on which I had not left that way.

I immediately fell back to the bike, and taking cover behind it, retrieved my P238 from the under seat compartment- carrying concealed while riding was a gray area here at the time- and called 911 while covering the front door with the pistol.

I informed the dispacher of my address, the situation, what I was wearing, and that I was armed with a handgun. I repeatedly stressed that she convey these points to the responding deputies.

While waiting for the cavalry to arrive, I had time to assess my surroundings. My patch is just outside of town, not really within walking distance of anyplace except for my nearest neighbor's house, and there were no other vehicles in sight, so right away I suspected that the creeps had already boogied, but there wasnt any other cover I could easily reach without running across open ground, so I figured staying put was the best policy. Besides, the Sheriffs would be expecting me to be in that spot.

The first Deputy arrived quickly, within maybe 5 minutes. He parked down the street a bit, lights off, and waited while the dispatcher informed me that he wanted me to come to him. I waved, pocketed my pistol, and walked towards the cruiser with my hands clearly visible.

Keeping an eye on the house, he patted me down, retreived my gun and locked it in his car while we waited for backup. Once they had cleared the property, they returned my pistol, took a few prints, handed me a "Victims Rights" brochure, and wished me good luck.

The scumbags were never caught and I lost my nightstand safe with a couple pistols inside- they cut the cable that secured it to the bedframe- but other than my broken door frame (which was quickly rebuilt 5X stronger), there was no real damage.

I was between dogs at the time, got another one shortly after that- and an alarm system.

My County Sheriff's were really on the ball, and super-professional. Defund? Hell no! Id buy those guys a beer anytime.
 
I'm one of those who will not know as I approach my front door if my back door or any rear-facing windows have been breached. I guess I had better start carrying the gate key so I can go on perimeter patrol before entering now, as the gates are padlocked. ;)

When I come home, what I see is my front door (two of them, actually, the storm door and the main), the garage door, and three front windows. The garage door is not in use, and is closed and locked. As of now, we have two more vehicles than licensed drivers, so there will be two vehicles out front if no one else is home, and I know them. I expect my main door to be locked, and the blinds in two of the three front windows drawn closed (my daughter frequently leaves the ones in her room open a little.)

As I approach, which is almost always from the west (house faces north), I can see the west-side perimeter gate. The fence only surrounds the sides and rear of the home. I cannot see the east gate, and do not routinely check it.

Any deviation from what I expect, based on the above, will prompt whatever response I then determine to be appropriate at the time.

I did have one false alarm one night. My wife, young (then) daughter, and I had just walked in the front door (which, of course, had been locked until I unlocked it) when coming home at about 9pm. As soon as we were all both-feet-inside, even before the door was closed, I heard the large picture window in the master bedroom, down the hall to my left, being shattered and falling in. I directed my wife and daughter to move to my right and stay just inside the door, as I did not want them going back outside into the darkness where any accomplices would likely run into them, and I shouted the first thing that came to my mind, which was something like "If I find you, you will be shot!" I thought it odd that I did not hear anything else, like the blinds that covered that window being pulled about, or any sign of movement, just pure silence. I felt that whoever broke the window did not enter, and made the decision to approach the bedroom door and "pie-slice-view" inside, and quickly saw that the window was actually still intact (yes, I was armed and at low-ready or above.) However, there was still a lot of shattered glass strewn about.

Just to the right of the window was the master bathroom, and the air-pressure change that occurred when I opened the front door was apparently all that was needed to cause the wall-mounted mirror to fall, crashing onto the vanity below and shatter.
 
I have a primordial view of such a situation. If my home is invaded in my absence I take the same position as if I were at home. The invader will be shot on sight. My home is my Castle. Invade it whether I am at home or not, and you face a man who will end your behavior..
 
I know a couple folks who would keep a $20 bill next to the front door. So when they would come home open, open door. $ gone fall back and call the police. Don't know if it ever had a break in. Haven't talked to them in years.
 
How do you handle coming home
to the prospect of...
Cams, while not perfect (is ANY system?) are a horrible lift of a price at $24/pc on Amazon. This is what I advocate to the budget minded home owner. There are other low tech low co$t techniques also...
I do the park, and walk around the house thingie EVERY TIME I get back to house and doubly so if no one else is at home. Front door is open, screen door had better be locked. Etc.

Anyways, I am a BIG proponent of exterior perimeter security. EVERY dirt/grass/building property crime I've ever seen or read a file on started with SIMPLE TRESPASS, or invading a personal space.


YMMV
 
In Avoidance as a Strategy, I must apologize for straying off topic, somewhat.

Let's look at the home base in another light, for a second. How do you handle coming home
to the prospect of an intruder being inside your home, when you get there ?

Dogs are great, but not a perfect solution, for everyone.

I actually have come home to an intruder. This was approximately 25 years ago before I was married.

I came home, I walked down the hall and I saw that my door was open. I walked up to the door. I called out. I ordered the person in my apartment to come out, he refused.

I walked into the apartment and I held the guy at gunpoint. To clarify, when I walked in and he was standing in the middle of my living room and he was nowhere near my kitchen sink. I had never seen him before in my life and I had no idea who he was. It turned out he was the owner's father. He was in my apartment supposedly fixing a leak in my kitchen sink. It turned out later that he was in the beginning stages of dementia.

The apartment owner called the police. About 8 cops stacked up outside my door and came in and disarmed me. When they heard my side of the story they told me I was within the law but it wasn't my best work and opted not to arrest me.

I didn't have a cell phone at the time . If I had gone down to the office to call the police the whole incident would have been avoided.

Some good did come out of the incident though because after that anytime maintenance went into somebody's apartment they put a great big sign out in the hallway that you could see from one end of the hall to the other that said "Maintenance is working in your apartment."
 
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If my home is invaded in my absence I take the same position as if I were at home
That would be most imprudent, both from a legal point of view and from one of personal safety.

QUOTE="1942bull, post: 11605217, member: 262836"]The invader will be shot on sight. My home is my Castle.[/QUOTE]Castle doctrine obviates any requirement for a person in his castle to retreat before defending himself It does not grant a privilege to kill.

Invade it whether I am at home or not, and you face a man who will end your behavior..
Laws that are often incorrectly described as castle doctrine laws that do provide a defender with legal presumptions that can go a long way in a legal defense of self defense, but they apply only to occupied premises.
 
Well, here’s a real life one. 11:30PM arrived home to strange car backed into drive way, motor running lights off, wife and I. It’s an involved long story, the intruder was only interested in fleeing. and in the end he was captured and served two years behind bars and, we heard, deported to Portugal.
Looking back, it’s been 6 years now, I made just about every dumb move one could make, entering the house thru the kicked in back door, confronting the individual. Fortunately he was unarmed and non violent.

Next encounter, should it ever occur, move off and call the police.
 
Looking back, it’s been 6 years now, I made just about every dumb move one could make, entering the house thru the kicked in back door, confronting the individual. Fortunately he was unarmed and non violent.
Folks on THR have been explaining why not to do that for more than a decade.

Before I had read any of those posts, I might have done the same thing myself.
 
You don't know your home well enough to tell from the outside if it's been breached? A strange vehicle in the driveway maybe? Think about it, I'm sure that most of us know that something is amiss. A door that is unlocked that is supposed o be locked? Blinds shut that were open when you left? A window open that was closed? Pry marks on a door?

You do lock your home up when you leave don't you? Do you have an alarm, a home security system? I've worked plenty of burglaries and there is always a sign of entry unless the victim left things unlocked. Unless you are being stalked by a professional hit team it's pretty unlikely that someone is going to take the time to make a surreptitious entry to home, lock themselves in and wait to ambush you. I suppose it could happen, it happens a lot in the movies.

You know, you're right, nobody would EVER enter your house from the opposite side that you are going in.
 
If I encounter the perp inside, it will most likely spiral into a situation where everyone present wishes they had ear plugs inserted. If I realize something is amiss before I go inside, I'll be taking a covered position where I can observe the most likely avenue of escape and call people who get paid to deal with this sort of thing.
 
You know, you're right, nobody would EVER enter your house from the opposite side that you are going in.

It’s not difficult to make a quick check of the exterior before you enter, you just have to take the time to do it. You don’t even have to go all the way around the house, you can see two sides from a corner. Depending on how your house is situated to the road you may be able to see three sides as you approach. All you have to do is get in the habit of looking. It’s not hard. If you don’t see anything out of place and you enter the house and find signs that someone has been there and may still be there back out and call the police.

No one here is going to recommend you clear your own home and tell you how that’s done.

If you are simply aware of things around you and get yourself in the habit of noticing little things you can avoid a lot of trouble.
 
If there's reason to believe someone might be in your home, back out immediately and call the police. If you've already entered and feel that someone is inside somewhere, again, back out and call the police.

There is no safe way for a single person to clear a structure. Even two people can't really do it right. I've trained this with SIMS and the person clearing is always at a disadvantage to the person laying in wait. This applies even when you are familiar with the layout. I've also cleared my share of buildings alone while on the job because there was no one else available to help and the only reason no one hurt me was because no one was trying to.

Well, this is the obvious answer, isn't it ? But the point is, what if you have no reason to believe
there's somebody else there, before you enter the house? You're tired, you're less than alert, you're in the "safety"(AKA comfort zone) of your own home. You're not cranking it up, to go out, you're dialing it down, to be home, and relax.

TBH, when I go out, my head is on a swivel, where I come from RBF, and keen SA are survival mechanisms, built in, from childhood.
But how many people can honestly say they are expecting, or ready for, an intruder to be in their home, when they get back to it, after a long day?
Let's move past the obvious reaction, to seeing the telltale tracks of someone breaking into your home, right up front, when you first pull into the driveway. Let's just assume the guy took a shower, recently(maybe in your bathroom) and you can't "smell" him.
 
It’s not difficult to make a quick check of the exterior before you enter, you just have to take the time to do it. You don’t even have to go all the way around the house, you can see two sides from a corner. Depending on how your house is situated to the road you may be able to see three sides as you approach. All you have to do is get in the habit of looking. It’s not hard. If you don’t see anything out of place and you enter the house and find signs that someone has been there and may still be there back out and call the police.

No one here is going to recommend you clear your own home and tell you how that’s done.

If you are simply aware of things around you and get yourself in the habit of noticing little things you can avoid a lot of trouble.

Come on, Jeff, you REALLY walk around BOTH sides of your house, EVERY night, when you come home? You don't just walk into the door, nearest the driveway ?
 
But the point is, what if you have no reason to believe there's somebody else there, before you enter the house?
How would this differ from any other application of a rational, structured risk management approach?
 
No I don’t. I can see three sides of the house when I approach from the North as my driveway and carport are on the South side. So I see three of the four sides from the driver's seat. It’s a 10 foot walk to get a view of the West side from the car port. I’m fortunate in that my windows are high enough that no one is going to enter through one without using a ladder or something else to stand on. A visual check takes seconds.
 
Well, Meeks36 idea, for example, of leaving a 20$ bill just inside the door is a counter-intuitive example of creative thought.
Who wouldn't pick up a 20$ bill

Well, Jeff, that sounds like a unique, and somewhat unavailable architecture, for the rest of us guys. Sounds convenient, tho. Unfortunately, the rest of us poor jamokes have houses which we drive up to, and 3/4 of it is concealed.

So the question still remains, "How many average guys, at the end of a long day, pull up to their house, then do a home inspection, before proceeding to the nearest opening, and entering?"

I'm sure you've heard of the Amber Guyger case. Here was a trained POLICE OFFICER, who, upon returning home, was so unaware of her surroundings, she not only entered the wrong apartment, she shot it's occupant, before she realized anything was amiss. The point here is not guilt, or innocence. What I'm trying to point out, is that upon returning home, not many people are looking for any icing, to add to the stress cake, of a hard day.

I respectfully submit, that while there may be a few people here, who return home, ready to sweep the premises for hazards, each and every single day, there are simply a lot of us, who are just coming home, to what they (perhaps inappropriately) assume is their safe haven. And sorry, but we're not circling the house, looking for broken windows, and jimmied locks.
 
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Well, Meeks36 idea, for example, of leaving a 20$ bill just inside the door is a counter-intuitive example of creative thought.
Who wouldn't pick up a 20$ bill?
I always call for our dog. If he doesn't show ill call the law. My daughter likes to pick up $ and hide it. Trying to break her of this habit. Until then this is what works for me.
 
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