sm
member
The following is for the newer folks, and just a friendly reminder for all of us, no matter how old or seasoned we are.
Some recent events brought these to mind, I and others actually practice these things in our lives. Just the idea came out to share again.
I will use examples to illustrate and share, for this post please keep in mind, I do not have any living grandparents, nor do I own a cat for a pet.
1. Get a house sitter.
Weddings and Funerals leave homes vulnerable. BGs read the paper, or look for online announcements of Weddings and Funerals. Remember too, information is heard by illegal ears. Everyone at the office for instance knows the wedding date, or date of funeral. If a person is not honest, in a bit of financial bind, or a niece, nephew, comes to your office, and their friends are not honest. An empty home is inviting.
2. Do not advertise.
Besides Weddings and Funerals, be aware of whom is within earshot of conversations. Cell phones for instance can work against you. If the wife receives a call from husband that he is going to sign the guest book at the funeral home, and the wife says she is going to drop off the kids at her parents, go on home alone -then it is not difficult to follow that wife/mom home. Husband is not going to be their, no kids either.
Before Cell phones, everyone blabbed at the office, at the grocery store, anywhere, all their intentions.
Just like we have folks working at stores, that keep carbons of Credit Card transactions for their illegal buddies, sales clerks can sometimes be asking too much personal information, and not a good idea to get to personal with replies.
Even if you know the sales clerk, you do not know the other shoppers, so do not blab where everyone can hear.
Another classic thing folks do is advertise they are going to use the ATM, this is real good in a store with a ATM, and even better is- "honey, instead of $25, get $50 instead"....just hollers this out as the spouse in halfway down the aisle for everyone to hear.
Do not leave valuables in plain site of vehicles, and do not make a big deal of putting things into vehicles. Many folks have a tendency to pull into a parking lot and advertise "we have to put the valuables in the trunk from last store", or my favorite "I don't want to carry a purse, pop the truck and I'll put my purse in there honey".
Grocery cart gathering folks on parking lots all see and hear this, who know whom else was listening. Some vehicles have a trunk release in the glove box. It takes just a second, to bust glass, open glove box, punch the button, get into trunk and drive off. Two or more persons teams watch and listen to shoppers. Disable that trunk access, we always did.
3. Code Words.
Pay attention here please. There are quite a few reasons Code Words are needed. These need to be kept Private, only known to persons that need to know. If for a family, keep simple, and to the level of the youngest persons age level.
If you call me, and let us pretend there is a knock at my door, and I say I need to pick up my cat from the Vet in conversation, that means I have a problem and proper authorities need to be called to assist me.
Walking in a store, and one of the kids says "Is your cat doing okay now Steve?" That is a red flag to me, their parents, and whomever else is with us, the kid(s) saw something, is uncomfortable, or something is not right.
On one occasion the kids kept seeing the same guy in all the aisles, it creeped them out, they felt stalked.
Another time the mom's and daughter were going to use the restroom before we left a fast food place, some guys were hanging around the restroom and I piped up - "My stupid cat ...". Then I looked toward the restrooms, and the mom and daughter noticed the weird folks hanging around the restrooms. We just waited for them to leave, then I stayed between restrooms and exit while they used the restroom.
I was house sitting, had a LEO come by in street clothes to bring a dish for the family. Door Bell rang, and I checked the peep hole, opened the Door. LEO in the house and in the other room asked me " how are your grandparents doing?" . "Fine" meant I was okay, if I had replied "not too good" officer would have known something made me feel uncomfortable.
--
Think.
Some of this is just good old fashioned common sense. Something that has been done long before Color TV, Cable, Computers and Internet.
We get wrapped up in firearms, equipment, and hypothetical end of the world situations, when the reality is, one is more likely to have a problem in everyday routines.
Think like a thief.
Some recent events brought these to mind, I and others actually practice these things in our lives. Just the idea came out to share again.
I will use examples to illustrate and share, for this post please keep in mind, I do not have any living grandparents, nor do I own a cat for a pet.
1. Get a house sitter.
Weddings and Funerals leave homes vulnerable. BGs read the paper, or look for online announcements of Weddings and Funerals. Remember too, information is heard by illegal ears. Everyone at the office for instance knows the wedding date, or date of funeral. If a person is not honest, in a bit of financial bind, or a niece, nephew, comes to your office, and their friends are not honest. An empty home is inviting.
2. Do not advertise.
Besides Weddings and Funerals, be aware of whom is within earshot of conversations. Cell phones for instance can work against you. If the wife receives a call from husband that he is going to sign the guest book at the funeral home, and the wife says she is going to drop off the kids at her parents, go on home alone -then it is not difficult to follow that wife/mom home. Husband is not going to be their, no kids either.
Before Cell phones, everyone blabbed at the office, at the grocery store, anywhere, all their intentions.
Just like we have folks working at stores, that keep carbons of Credit Card transactions for their illegal buddies, sales clerks can sometimes be asking too much personal information, and not a good idea to get to personal with replies.
Even if you know the sales clerk, you do not know the other shoppers, so do not blab where everyone can hear.
Another classic thing folks do is advertise they are going to use the ATM, this is real good in a store with a ATM, and even better is- "honey, instead of $25, get $50 instead"....just hollers this out as the spouse in halfway down the aisle for everyone to hear.
Do not leave valuables in plain site of vehicles, and do not make a big deal of putting things into vehicles. Many folks have a tendency to pull into a parking lot and advertise "we have to put the valuables in the trunk from last store", or my favorite "I don't want to carry a purse, pop the truck and I'll put my purse in there honey".
Grocery cart gathering folks on parking lots all see and hear this, who know whom else was listening. Some vehicles have a trunk release in the glove box. It takes just a second, to bust glass, open glove box, punch the button, get into trunk and drive off. Two or more persons teams watch and listen to shoppers. Disable that trunk access, we always did.
3. Code Words.
Pay attention here please. There are quite a few reasons Code Words are needed. These need to be kept Private, only known to persons that need to know. If for a family, keep simple, and to the level of the youngest persons age level.
If you call me, and let us pretend there is a knock at my door, and I say I need to pick up my cat from the Vet in conversation, that means I have a problem and proper authorities need to be called to assist me.
Walking in a store, and one of the kids says "Is your cat doing okay now Steve?" That is a red flag to me, their parents, and whomever else is with us, the kid(s) saw something, is uncomfortable, or something is not right.
On one occasion the kids kept seeing the same guy in all the aisles, it creeped them out, they felt stalked.
Another time the mom's and daughter were going to use the restroom before we left a fast food place, some guys were hanging around the restroom and I piped up - "My stupid cat ...". Then I looked toward the restrooms, and the mom and daughter noticed the weird folks hanging around the restrooms. We just waited for them to leave, then I stayed between restrooms and exit while they used the restroom.
I was house sitting, had a LEO come by in street clothes to bring a dish for the family. Door Bell rang, and I checked the peep hole, opened the Door. LEO in the house and in the other room asked me " how are your grandparents doing?" . "Fine" meant I was okay, if I had replied "not too good" officer would have known something made me feel uncomfortable.
--
Think.
Some of this is just good old fashioned common sense. Something that has been done long before Color TV, Cable, Computers and Internet.
We get wrapped up in firearms, equipment, and hypothetical end of the world situations, when the reality is, one is more likely to have a problem in everyday routines.
Think like a thief.