But of course, they might be, but as the Sheriff has labeled them as "innocent" I think that should be enough. Do you disagree?
Do you really expect the sheriff to publically say "they were involved in the drug trade and that's the chance they take"? Seriously, these crimes are not often accurately reported in the media and it gives people a false impression of what is going on. You have to look beyond the news report into the neighborhood this happened in, maybe know someone involved in the investigation or who knows the victims. There is no way any victim of this kind of crime is going to be portrayed as anything but a victim in official statements by the authorities.
Jeff, why do you think that only people involved in the drug trade might have people invade their home dressed as police?
22 years experience as a police officer in a county that statistically has one of the highest crime rates for rural counties in the state has given me a somewhat different perspective on home invasions then the average member of an internet gun forum.
Home invasion is a very serious crime. It carries very severe penalties. Criminals are lazy. Most of them are not highly organized. it takes much more work to get a group of people together and go do a home invasion then it does to do a burglary. It is also much more dangerous and it carries a high probability of getting caught as these crimes always get a lot of attention from the police.
In my experience and in the experience of every officer from other jurisdictions across the country that I know, home invasions are;
A. drug related and these are the ones where the home invaders like to impersonate the police, because the intended
victims are willing to defend themselves and usually won't defend themselves if they think it's a police raid rather then a rip off.
B. Domestic problems - someone is upset because a former lover is with someone else and either they personally or some friend kicks down a door to physically beat up the new lover and/or the new lover's family. Another related reason is a conflict between two parties that is ongoing. It doesn't matter what the reason for the conflict is, it gets to the point where someone is kicking down someone else's door to settle things.
C. The victims keep large amounts of cash or other easily negotiable valuables in their home and it's common knowledge or a criminal becomes aware of it and security measures make less risky means like burglary too hard.
D. The victim is a bank manager, armored car company employee, jeweler or in some other occupation that gives them access to large amounts of cash and/or other easily negotiable valuables.
E. The thrill seeker, this is very uncommon and totally random. Hollywood makes a lot of movies portraying this scenario, but it's very uncommon.
A and B are best defended against by not being involved in the drug trade and not involving yourself with the kinds of people with violent tempers who would kick in your door to settle a score. Go with your gut when choosing your friends. If you have teenage children, know who their friends are and be willing to have your teenagers upset with you when you enforce the household rules about who they hang around with.
D and E are best defended against with very strong physical security measures and good personal security habits. These victims are more likely to encounter a professional criminal and it's harder to defend against.
I don't know why, but for some reason a home invasion, while it is the crime you are probably the most unlikely to be a victim of is the one that everyone on the gun boards always wants to talk about. And when they do talk about it, they don't want to hear about what they can do to actually protect themselves, things like locks, doors, alarm systems, lighting, being careful how you live your life and who you associate with, they want to talk about gunfights and shooting through doors with ammunition from first person shooter games like
tungsten core 12 gauge slugs and other things totally removed from reality.
None of us can live in condition yellow 24/7. Those who have had to live that way for an extended period of time will attest to that. You have to go to condition white to rest and recharge. The idea that you are going to be able to jump out of bed, or off the couch and repel the barbarian hordes who are kicking down your door is totally insane. You have to have your home hardened and some type of early warning system so that you can get ready to take whatever action you need to take. These measures are so much more important then any type of firearm you keep, even those loaded with
tungsten core 12 gauge slugs.
That's why home invasions aren't talked about much here in S&T anymore, the threads quickly veer off into members fantasies of jumping out of bed when aroused from a sound sleep and winning gunfights against multiple assailants with the help of their ultimate home defense gun....That is NOT reality. And we do have rules about reality in Strategies and Tactics.
