Have you ever been a burglary victim?

[Ester IX:XVI]

I posted Rural Home Defense and got feed back encouraging steel doors, multiple weapons, commercial locks, gates, flood lights, cameras and motion detectors (with buried wires and NV optics), CB's or ham radios, driveway alarms, home security systems, IR tripwires, fences etc. I'm not criticizing but just leading up to a question.
QUESTION 1- How many of you have been broken into by a criminal that reconed the place, sniped your dog, scaled the fence, side stepped the IR tripwires, broke the security code to the house, found your hidden safe and on the way out the door tripped and woke you up so there was a 100 yard shoot out till the cops arrived?
QUESTION 2-How many have had a drugged up thug enter the premises and at the sound of the dog or sight of you or sound of round being chambered turned and ran?
QUESTION 3-How many have a security measure set up that actually stopped or deterred a criminal?

 

[Claude Clay]

i had added double dead bolt locks to my back doors when i moved in and did not drill to the outside. I'm thinking it was the previous owners kids cause.....well, so did the police.

i had re-keyed the locks but evidance [blood likely caused by the broken glass] pointed to the bolt lock as the saving grace.

 

[Corporal K]

QUESTION 3-How many have a security measure set up that actually stopped or deterred a criminal?

That's hard to answer, b/c in most cases you will never know. A BG may see your alarm sign or hear your dog and just move on w/o you knowing anything.

 

[gatorjames85]

Either my dog running down the stairs and chasing them off or the sound of me running down the stairs chased someone off that had gotten into my garage.

 

[Kindrox]

QUESTION 3-How many have a security measure set up that actually stopped or deterred a criminal?

I hear Ft. Knox has some decent security and a vault full of gold. Exactly how many people have attacked Ft Knox? I am not aware of any. How many have been deterred from attacking Ft. Knox?

Your #3 is where the money is - deterring/stopping a burglar so they don't become a real threat. So some measures on your list are just for your benefit (assuming burglars are not aware of things like IR tripwires) but a lot of measures on your list are exactly what you want - looking like a hard target.

 

[Grey_Mana]

A better question would be how many people have committed burglary (for which they served their time, have double jeopardy protection, or the statute of limitations has expired so they might actually talk about it)? Or they have reliable second-hand knowledge from a scumbag relative burglar?

 

[mljdeckard]

Corporal K beat me to it. It's impossible to quantify.

This is a problem for EVERYONE in the security business. The better you are at your job, the more boring life is, and the harder you have to work to prove that you are worth something. This is why security is one of the first things to get cut when times are tough.

 

[THE DARK KNIGHT]

This is a problem for EVERYONE in the security business. The better you are at your job, the more boring life is, and the harder you have to work to prove that you are worth something. This is why security is one of the first things to get cut when times are tough.

I beg to differ? I work for an armored car company and our business has been BOOMING since the "economic crisis" began. New customers virtually every week.

 

[armsmaster270]

All you can do is make all the other houses look more inviting to a burglar than yours. A dog, alarm, lighting, good locks on good doors these are all things that help, but nothing is guranteed. If a burglar wants in he can get in.

 

[Ester IX:XVI]

love the answers. I asked the questions just to get some thinking going. I think everyones priorities and value is different so protect what you love, do your best and don't spend cash you don't have. We don't know the future but that don't mean you should sit around eating Cheeto's and 'see what will happen'. If you've given it your best shot, hind sight is a learning experience not a berating couch session.
I've never had anything stolen but thought that i could gain some knowledge through your 'this happened' or 'this could have happened' story or maybe see a little more into why some feel such strong defense is necessary.

 

[mljdeckard]

Dark Knight-

I don't know if you are manufacturing or services, but either way, these services aren't cheap. After a few years without incident, a bean counter will ask if the service is really necessary.

 

[James T Thomas]

defense or nievete?

Your tenth post as to why some feel such a "strong" defense is necessary gives insight into your question.

My mother had her home burglarized one Sunday morning while the family was at church.
The state penitentiary, Warden's house, was just behind ours, and the good behavior inmates were permitted to do yard work and home repairs at that house. I would often see them reconnoitering. I believe that one of them paid my home a visit.

My mother returned home after church, without us two boys, to find the rear door of the home broken into and that someone was in the bedroom on the second floor. Down the stairs comes a man who announced he was a real estate agent. The home was for sale. He had taken her precious hand me down jewelery from grandmother, that kind of thing. Not much intrinsic value, but sentimental.
The burglar departed and the responding police found a twisted bath towell upon my mothers bed, that apparently this burglar intended to use as a garotte on my mother or whomever.

So I "feel" that a strong defense is justified; you never know if your burglar will be a nice guy or just kill for thrill.

I suppose Ester that for so many of us, we can read these things, but make the dangerous assumption that "It will never happen to me."
And not consider any defense, hard or soft.

 

[Averageman]

This happened in rural Az in the 70's.
After my Parents moved to the country they had to take a trip out of town. I was living at the local college and came home to check on my brother who was home sick from school.
After checking on my brother I looked out the back door and two men was carrying my Dads table saw out out of his storage building. I grabbed the 870 and told my brother to call the cops. he shortly joined me with a .44 special as we held them until the police came. It was an evenful day for a 18 yo and a 12 yo to say the least.
Two young men from down the road decided to help themselves to the tools as they thought the family was gone.
My parents became much more security aware and the neighbors got the idea we weren't going to be an easy mark.
The really stupid thing was that my Dad at that time was the only Doctor for 50 miles, I wonder who they went to when they needed medical care?

 

[ByAnyMeans]

I agree that it is hard to know if your security measures deterred a thief. My parents and when I owned my own house we always have dogs, lights, good locks and an alarm. We have never had a break in or known attempt but you cannot say it was because of the precautions.

I have had a break in when I was in college and was home. As many college towns their was a very nice part of town one way and a bad part of town on the other side of the college. Anyway I moved into a sublet apartment for the summer. After moving in everybody else went to grab food to bbq and some beers. I was exhausted from working the night before and stay back to catch some sleep. About fifteen minutes after everybody left I heard a glass window pane in the living room break. I grabbed my shotgun took up a position at the hallway giving me a fifteen yard shot to the window. As I got to the position I was racking the shotgun and I was only able to see a hand looking for the lock. Needless to say that hand disappeared faster than I could blink.

 

[sidheshooter]

Back in the day when I was a renter, the place I was in got burgled. Not fun.

Regarding #3, I'm with the others here.

QUESTION 3-How many have a security measure set up that actually stopped or deterred a criminal?

That's hard to answer, b/c in most cases you will never know.

The simplest version of theory to visualize is probably the security measure of just locking your doors. I'm sure the vast majority of us at this forum do, and who knows how many times that habit stopped a random crime of convenience from happening while we all were collectively out and about at work or whatever.

I'm sure that most here have also heard of someone getting a laptop ripped off, or stuff stolen from garages only to find out that the victim left the area in question unlocked; and we all go on to shake our heads.

A good security measure is typically only noticed when it actually fails to be good enough.

 

[carguy2244]

robbers

1976 Brooklyn NY. Citywide blackout. Fire escape entry attempted. Mossberg 12 ga pointed in bogey's face. He retreated.
1985 Brooklyn NY. Armed robbery. Bogey shot twice w 357 Colt Lawman, survived. I was convicted of disorderly conduct, paid $25 fine.
1986 Brooklyn NY. 3 bogeys setting up armed robbery. Shouldered Ruger Mini 14 while releasing Schutzhund trained German Shepherd. Bogeys set land speed record retreating.
1986 NY NY. Selling Christmas trees. 1 bogey approaches with knife. Same German Shepherd tears his leg open, releases leg, bogey crawls away.
1991 Winston Salem NC. 4 bogeys park in driveway. 2 go around back, trying rear patio door, 2 trying front door. I open front door, 2 Fila Brasileiros charge and tear up 2 front door bogeys, the other 2 come around front to check things out. I draw down on them with S&W 629. Everybody gets very still, exceot dogs still yearing away. Sheriff arrives, 4 go to jail, 2 probably stop at hospital.
I'm certain there have been several I'm forgetting, but none lately. I make more money now, and live in better neighborhoods.

 

[msb45]

yes, "successful" burglary
yes, racked a round turned on a light and told him I'd shoot, burglary fail
not really sure

 

[flrfh213]

i have signs warning bout my alarm, and asking peeps to smile as i am recording with vid cams. and it seems to work so far, i assume the fact that i OC on my property when i am outside, cant oc off the property but i do c. carry and i had the kid across the street put away for 3 years to armed burglary, now that family don't like me for some reason... i told them i wouldnt shoot him unless he was on my property.. and now they dont like me.... odd thing is the kid(bout 25 years old now) was shot about 4 months ago in the him and no one will tell me and details....

 

[Jeff White]

Most burglaries occur when no one is home. Most of them occur during daylight hours. Good passive security measures are the best deterrent. Most burglars are lazy and do not want to get caught. There are plenty of people who make it easy for them and if your home falls into the too hard category they will likely move on.

I've never been burglarized but I wouldn't even want to guess about the number of burglary reports I took over the years. In the vast majority of them there was no forced entry, people just left things unlocked.

I know passive security measures aren't as much fun to talk about on the internet as guns and shooting is, but all the ultimate weapons in the world are totally useless without passive security.

 

[MisterMike]

I didn't have anything taken, but this event spooked me and my wife:

A little over 30 years ago, while I was going to law school and my wife was a flight attendant, we purchased our first home, a house just outside of Derry, NH. A nice little split level, only a year old. One night I came home and, as I walked up the stairs, saw what I thought was a cobweb in the corner. In fact, someone had written "F*** the rich" in pencil on that wall.

Nothing was taken. The cops came out and found a door that had been jimmied. They speculated that the scrawl was probably written by a lookout (this was right by a large window facing the driveway), and that he and his partners got spooked somehow and left through another door.

I repaired the door myself. Nothing was taken. No one was hurt. But it utterly destroyed our enjoyment of the first home we had ever bought. My wife was terrified and refused to stay there alone for the remainder of our time there.

Bastards.

 

[millertyme]

I used to sell security systems when I lived in Memphis. The passive systems were, as JW put it, only as good as remembering to turn them on. The industry has made it nearly as easy to turn your system on as it is to pick up food at the drive-through. We had key fobs, GSM cellular systems that could be turned on remotely by phone, systems that worked with your house lighting to turn on exterior lights at a certain time and to turn on the interior lights by whatever means you chose. The problem was that too often turning on the system was a problem since people came in and out at all hours of the night, people were up and about throughout the house, etc. The signs in the yard helped, but people were getting smart and figured out how most of the older systems communicated.

 

[James T Thomas]

also...

Condolence to Mr.Mike and his wife. I forgot to add that my mother was robbed twice. The first was the theft of her property and the second was her irreplaceable peace of mind. That was the greatest loss.

As far as hardening. It was the rear door to the house that was broken.
I had often thought of replacing that close to lock device with a good dead bolt and didn't do so. Regret.

And read of all the reports of glass breaking. Even more so in cold weather where neighbors are inside closed houses; the crash of glass gets little if no attention.
A good -solid door and strong lock would be account for most of the deterrence needed, and all the other technology may, or may not discourage the very few sophisticated crooks. The vast majority are simply just "dumb" crooks. And more than half of those are what would be classified as young age too.

Mr. White mentions the easy picken's of things left unlocked. I am amazed as of lately how many times I have seen just that thing. Thieves who just saunter up to the doors of this store that has expensive merchandise that I watch over, and just try the doors, hoping that they may be in luck and find it unlocked.

Sideheshooter mentions apartments. They are ideal for the theif who greedily passes by the new tenants as they move their posessions through the hallways in front of his view so that he can take inventory.
I would not take a new place to rent without placing a strong, new lock on the door before I ever left my posessions behind. Even to return for another trip to unload. I would not accept an apartment with a hollow core or other than very sturdy door either.

Stopping or deterrment is most effective at the beginning stages of a thief's
actions.