Dark outside and blinds open with lights on

[snake_plisskin]

I was walking the dog tonight and I noticed several houses that have all their blinds open and all the lights on in the house. I've never really thought about it before but I think this would make your house much less secure from intruders or home invasions. In all these houses I was simply passing by on the sidewalk and I was able to see where people were in the house as well as televisions, computers, artwork, firearms safes etc. Seems like this makes it exremely easy for someone to "case" your house.

I typically keep my shades closed when its dark outside primarily because of privacy, but now I'm thinking that it is almost more important for security reasons.

Has anyone else thought about this?

 

[xXxplosive]

All the time..........actually sit in a dark room at night with my computer on....also easier to view the screen for me, but as you suggest....you can't see in from the street.

 

[Dr. Sandman]

Of course it's a security risk, but so is looking into somebody's house from the street. Do that to the wrong person, maybe in a strange neighborhood, and you never know what might happen.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Of course it's a security risk, but so is looking into somebody's house from the street. Do that to the wrong person, maybe in a strange neighborhood, and you never know what might happen.

Except you can't really do both. If you have your lights on and it's dark outside, it will be next to impossible to see outside your house. You won't even know if someone is out there looking in. And of course that assumes you're even trying to look out your window at the right place and time to see someone fore a few seconds.

The risk to the homeowner is FAR greater than the possible risk to the peeping tom.

 

[snake_plisskin]

Do that to the wrong person, maybe in a strange neighborhood, and you never know what might happen.

Just to clarify it not that I was standing in front of their house staring in, I was simply walking by. Unless you just stare at the sidewalk you're going to be able to see peoples houses. I definatley wouldn't walk around a neighborhood where you could get into trouble for simply being there.

If you have your lights on and it's dark outside, it will be next to impossible to see outside your house. You won't even know if someone is out there looking in.

Very true, you'd be pretty much blind to whats going on outside your house.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Yuppp... Lot's of folks in our development do exactly the same thing. Definitely a security risk.

 

[coloradokevin]

I mostly keep my blinds closed for privacy, but I could see it being a potential security risk. On the other hand, some criminals avoid your house when it looks occupied, and only go after you when they think you're gone.

Regardless, some people really don't think things through. The 20-something gal who lives two houses down from me used to get naked in her bedroom, lights on, no blinds. A friend pointed it out to me during a BBQ at my place, since it was CLEARLY visible to all of us from the back deck at my house (without even leaving our seats at the table, for anyone who thinks we were being creepy). That happened on at least a dozen occasions before I think she figured out that it was probably a good idea to close her blinds. From her window I'd guess that half of the neighborhood could have seen her.

 

[Centurian22]

I think about it and do my best to be attentive to keeping the curtains closed when its dark.

 

[TRX]

I used to do a lot of driving after dark, and it a large percentage of people in my area don't appear to have or use curtains or blinds. You drive by and see them sitting in front of the TV, eating dinner, whatever, like goldfish in a bowl. Oddly, the percentage of people who do this seems to go up as the apparent income level of the neighborhood goes up.

Also, a sizeable number of people are apparently happy to sit in the dark. I used to have a friend who did this. I thought he was pretty strange, but it seems he wasn't by far the only one, unless high-single-digit percentage of people go to bed before dark, 6PM to 9PM around here.

 

[lemaymiami]

Most folks simply sleepwalk through their lives with no thoughts about security at all (until something bad occurs close to home). If you're lucky enough to have had some self defense/ physical security training.... you're part of a small minority....

As a fishing guide I spend a lot of time on the water doing both day trips and night trips (and those night trips are along the waterfront of Miami Beach mostly). There are enough houses at night that are fully lit up without the slightest thought of security (and with no blinds or curtains in use...). Many of these places are fairly high end.... Now if only the females in residence were young - mostly we get to see folks that can barely walk around....

All the way back in 1971 when I was newly "back in the world" and just out of the Army I wound up down here in paradise.... Funny thing, the only difficult adjustment I had to make was not seeing any wire or bunkers - and it did bother me for a while. To this day I assume that night-time security does not involve standing in brightly lit rooms with no curtains.

 

[Ehtereon11B]

Blinds and curtains closed during the day and night. Security was a second thought. We keep ours closed because the dogs like to bark at trees swinging in the breeze, leaves, power lines moving. You get the idea.

 

[psyopspec]

televisions, computers, artwork, firearms safes

I doubt a criminal will decide on a mark because he saw a TV through the window. That most houses have consumer electronics including computers shouldn't be shocking to anyone on either side of the law. Of course rarer high end items should not be kept visibly, but a lot of folks who own objects like that (including firearms) willingly choose to go for conspicuous ownership. At the end of the day it's their choice, though I may not agree with it.

Also, far more burglaries than robberies or home invasions happen in this country, and typically on unoccupied houses (or houses that appear unoccupied) during daylight hours. So there can be a deterrence advantage to that type of crime by broadcasting that someone is home, or creating an appearance to that end.

 

[Batty67]

In college we'd often get a hoot(ers) from all the girls in the neighboring dorms changing with lights on and shades open. Of course, the guys did the same thing.

But in general, I agree that it is probably not wise to do so.

 

[mcdonl]

Most folks simply sleepwalk through their lives with no thoughts about security at all (until something bad occurs close to home).

Some call it living.

 

[Onward Allusion]

psyopspec
Quote:
televisions, computers, artwork, firearms safes

I doubt a criminal will decide on a mark because he saw a TV through the window. That most houses have consumer electronics including computers shouldn't be shocking to anyone on either side of the law. Of course rarer high end items should not be kept visibly, but a lot of folks who own objects like that (including firearms) willingly choose to go for conspicuous ownership. At the end of the day it's their choice, though I may not agree with it.

Also, far more burglaries than robberies or home invasions happen in this country, and typically on unoccupied houses (or houses that appear unoccupied) during daylight hours. So there can be a deterrence advantage to that type of crime by broadcasting that someone is home, or creating an appearance to that end.

I would have to disagree. Attracting attention to yourself or your personal property is always a risky proposition. Try to think like a serial killer, rapist, or burglar. You see your victim or merchandise - it feeds your impulse. You then act on it. You don't see it - you don't think about it.

Also, while big-screen LCD's may be much more common, it only takes 30 seconds to break into a house, grab one and be gone before the alarm even gets out of entry-mode.

 

[JN01]

Quote:
Originally Posted by lemaymiami
Most folks simply sleepwalk through their lives with no thoughts about security at all (until something bad occurs close to home).

Some call it living.

So if you consider security at all you're not really living?

I have a running joke with my wife about closing the blinds when it gets dark because THEY are watching.

 

[Dnaltrop]

Lights on ( but dim) shades open.

The Newfoundland mix starts barking when he sees any Person, Dog, Cat, Bird, Rat, Squirrel, or Flicker of shadow within 4-8 houses away.

It gets a *LITTLE* annoying at times, but he certainly earns his keep.

 

[psyopspec]

I would have to disagree.

With which part? You too appear to eschew conspicuous ownerwhip...

 

[Alaska444]

Yes, as soon as it is dark, close the shades and secure your house. About a year ago, we had a known felon suspected in many, many home invasion robberies come to my house while I was home alone. Well, not all alone, I had my SP101 and my 20 ga shotgun ready to go. He rung the door bell, then banged very loud on the security door. THEN he tried to jar loose the security gate.

He was a very large black or dark hispanic male. He was arrested a couple of days later and the rash of home invasion robberies ended, for the time being.

Little did he know that I was standing a short distance away from the door with a loaded shotgun and my SP101 as BUG. That is because he couldn't see inside the house.

Yes, taking basic security precautions is one of my duties as the provider for the house which includes providing security for my family whether they are home or not.

 

[Sacajawea]

Hurricane shutters are a wonderful way to prevent being seen in a lighted house. They're like blackout curtains. They also make an unattended house, just that much harder to enter.

Even though we're not visible from the neighborhood road, we are from the navigable creek. We are very aware of being inside a fishbowl at night... and rarely is the place lit up like Mardi Gras. Instead, there are strategically placed directional night lights or low lights... enabling us to move about the house in the mostly dark. It would also light up an intruder, at various entry points too.

 

[Corpral_Agarn]

Close them Blinds!

I have personal experience with not closing the blinds when I should have. My wife and I just returned from the honeymoon and purchased a lovely TV. We left the blinds open at night while we slept and had a fan running in the window (screen in-place). I figured that because we were obviously home no one would bother us... WRONG!
The thief cut the screen, removed the fan and took our TV, computer, camera (with all the honeymoon photos), and some other tech gear and walked out the front door with the car keys. We were sleeping in the next room (door between them open). Now I am a pretty light sleeper but I never knew he was there (probably lucky for both of us, really, as there may have been shots fired).
We are MUCH smarter now...
I advise everyone to keep those blinds closed unless it is daytime AND you are home. Other than that, don't give the thieves a target... Any target.
Out of sight, out of mind.
And get an alarm system of some kind! A M2 .50 BMG doesn't do you any good if you are not awake to use it!

 

[Stirling XD]

I used to do a lot of driving after dark, and it a large percentage of people in my area don't appear to have or use curtains or blinds. You drive by and see them sitting in front of the TV, eating dinner, whatever, like goldfish in a bowl. Oddly, the percentage of people who do this seems to go up as the apparent income level of the neighborhood goes up.

One thing people don't consider when buying a new house is that they rarely come furnished with blinds or curtains. The bigger the house, the bigger the windows and the more expensive the blinds. While you can get some fairly inexpensive blinds at Home Depot, the person that just used every penny from savings and stretched their budget to the max to buy their McMansion, doesn't want put cheap blinds on their huge windows. "It's gonna cost how much for blinds. Why I'd rather let everyone just watch me all the time."

I bet a lot of them just think of it as having their own low rated reality show.

 

[holdencm9]

Except you can't really do both. If you have your lights on and it's dark outside, it will be next to impossible to see outside your house.

Correct. Due to the dynamic range of your eyeball. They are adjusted to the high amount of light inside, can't see what's outside. Same reason that during the day, people outside can't see inside your house, where it is relatively dark.

Ever since I visited Washington D.C. during the time of the sniper, I have been nervous around windows at night. I just feel so exposed. Paranoid, yes, but oh well. It is one thing that has stuck with me. Also, if you watch The Wire, in one of the first episodes one character describes walking right up to the window and being literally 3 feet from his victim before shooting her. Yes it's a show, but still. If the lights are on inside, and it is dark outside, you can't see anything! Bad situational awareness, bad security practice.

 

[RoboDuck]

I keep mine closed. I enjoy my privacy.

 

[Dr_2_B]

Without going into detail, I happen to know that a couple years ago while I had my lights on and blinds open, I spent some time in the sights of a rifle. Yes, it's a true story. I won't keep my blinds open past dark anymore... and I do it less during the day than I used to.