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  • CPT Nervous

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    Mar 7, 2012
    6,378
    63
    The Southern Bend
    I was the victim of a burglary a couple months ago. Someone kicked in my back door, and entered my home. I was not at home when this happened, and thankfully the only thing taken was my laptop. I want to share some thoughts, and what I changed after this incident.

    First I want to commend the South Bend Police Department on their response and handling of the incident. I do not remember the officer I spoke to, but his professionalism was outstanding. It could be due to the fact that I am a police officer, but I'd like to think that he would treat everyone with the same respect he showed me.

    I do have an alarm system that is monitored, and I received a call that several of my sensors had been tripped. I was advised that SBPD was enroute. I was headed home as fast as I could, and I got another call, this time from my department. It was my supervisor, and he told me that SBPD was in my house, and that someone had indeed forced entry into my home. He gave me the number to call SBPD dispatch, and I called them to let them know I was a few minutes away. This is my first point of commendation to the responding officers. They saw my uniforms hanging in my bedroom closet, and immediately called my department to try to get in contact with me.

    The officer went with me through my house, and the only thing missing was my laptop. I think the audible alarm scared off the intruder, because I had several unsecured firearms in my bedroom, very easily accessible. The other thing I noticed was my screwdriver that was in my garage (I have an attached garage) was sitting on my living room floor. It was a large flat head screwdriver, and the perp used it to pry open my back door. A $0.69 screwdriver from Menard's was used to gain entry into my home. I'll touch on that later.

    The officer dusted for prints, and we actually got a few good sets. I know they're not going to catch this POS on that alone, but if that could tie him to more thefts, I'm all for it. He mentioned that this guy was lucky that I wasn't home when he decided to let himself in.

    As he was leaving, I walked with him to his car, and he was loading up his CSI kit, and complaining about lack of space in his trunk. He asked me if my trunk was that crowded, and I looked inside, and said, "Well we don't use VHS anymore, and your tape deck is taking up most of your room!" He laughed and said that a lot of their cars still use tape recorders for dashcam. Welcome to 2018. He offered me a box of .40 S&W FMJ ammo he had in his trunk, which I graciously accepted. In return, I gave him a shoulder patch from my department. I could tell by the look on his face that he really and genuinely appreciated that. I thanked him for coming out, and left. The detective that followed up was also very professional. I wish I remembered their names.

    Anyway, now on to lessons learned.

    1) The screws that come with hinges and strike plates are only maybe an inch long. My back door was pried open, and I have another door leading into the house, which was locked with a deadbolt, but kicked in. The frame splintered and tore the strike plate right out. AT A MINIMUM, put 3.5"-4" screws in all your hinges and strike plates. Residential doors are very easy to pry open or kick in. Make it harder.

    2) Have an alarm system. I'm thankful I did. If I didn't have one, who knows how long this guy would have been in my house. Alarms do work.

    3) LOCK UP YOUR FIREARMS!! All of my guns are now secured when I leave the house.

    4) Back up your files. I didn't have any online or other backups of my files. I do now.


    I installed Door Armor on all my exterior doors, put 4" screws through all my hinges and latch plates, and installed Schlage double cylinder deadbolts on all exterior doors. I also reinforced the glass on my exterior doors with thick plexiglass. I'm very confident that no one is going to force entry again.

    Don't wait until something happens. I know this isn't something we think about until it hits us, and unfortunately, I was forced to think about it. I hope you can learn something from this as well, and keep it from happening to you.
     
    Last edited:

    BlackGun

    Master
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Aug 24, 2012
    2,792
    63
    Thanks for posting....sometimes we all need a reminder of what can happen or what we need to do.:popcorn:
     

    CPT Nervous

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    Mar 7, 2012
    6,378
    63
    The Southern Bend
    Thanks for posting....sometimes we all need a reminder of what can happen or what we need to do.:popcorn:


    The sad thing is, reinforcing my doors was on my list of things to do for years. It just never seemed important enough, so I put it off. You don't have to go all out like I did, but even so, I spent $210 on Door Armor kits, $200 on locks, $50 on plexiglass, $15 on screws. Not too bad, but you could really make a huge difference with just longer screws, and maybe a reinforced strike plate. The main thing is; if you haven't upgraded your door's security, it will not keep people out. Most people trust their doors to stop an intruder. The reality is that they will not. I went over the top to keep it from happening to me again. It could still happen, but I made it as difficult as possible. Common criminals want easy targets. Don't be one.
     

    MCgrease08

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    37   0   0
    Mar 14, 2013
    14,373
    149
    Earth
    Sorry to hear it. I've been there.

    In fact I walked in when at least one, but likely several people were in my house. The TV was turned over when I walked in and I caught a glimpse of somebody running out the back door through the back yard and our into the alley.

    I had left my night stand gun unsecured and the thought of getting shot with my own gun was enough to prevent me from going beyond the front door.

    I lost 4 guns total: 3 handguns and a Mosin Nagant. Oddly they left a newly built AR-15. Two of the handguns were in a pistol safe that I hadn't bolted down. :facepalm:

    Fortunately I had just updated my records with photos and serial numbers for all of the guns, electronics and jewelry. That made the insurance claim and police report very easy.

    I definitely learned some lessons that day.
     

    CPT Nervous

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    Mar 7, 2012
    6,378
    63
    The Southern Bend
    Sorry to hear it. I've been there.

    In fact I walked in when at least one, but likely several people were in my house. The TV was turned over when I walked in and I caught a glimpse of somebody running out the back door through the back yard and our into the alley.

    I had left my night stand gun unsecured and the thought of getting shot with my own gun was enough to prevent me from going beyond the front door.

    I lost 4 guns total: 3 handguns and a Mosin Nagant. Oddly they left a newly built AR-15. Two of the handguns were in a pistol safe that I hadn't bolted down. :facepalm:

    Fortunately I had just updated my records with photos and serial numbers for all of the guns, electronics and jewelry. That made the insurance claim and police report very easy.

    I definitely learned some lessons that day.

    I'm sorry to hear that. It was definitely a wake up call. I do a lot of things differently now. It can happen to you, as much as you don't want to admit it. Nothing ever happens anywhere, until it does.
     

    MCgrease08

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    37   0   0
    Mar 14, 2013
    14,373
    149
    Earth
    I'm sorry to hear that. It was definitely a wake up call. I do a lot of things differently now. It can happen to you, as much as you don't want to admit it. Nothing ever happens anywhere, until it does.

    This was also the day I committed to carrying every day. I hadn't been bringing my carry gun to work so I was unarmed when I walked in the house and I had my 2 year old behind me.

    It took 5 minutes to get a 911 dispatcher. About 12-15 mins more to get a patrol officer there.
     

    CPT Nervous

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    Mar 7, 2012
    6,378
    63
    The Southern Bend
    Good advice above. Thanks!

    Do you think you were random or targeted OP?

    I believe I was targeted. I should go into more detail.

    I had a package from AIM Surplus stolen from my porch. It contained some .40 ammo, and several M&P 40 magazines. My house was hit a couple days later, within an hour of me leaving my house. I have to assume it was the same person(s). Thankfully, they did not stumble upon any firearms in the brief time they were in the house. It could have been unrelated, but I highly doubt that was coincidence.

    I called AIM, and they sent a replacement package to me, free of charge. AIM is a fantastic company, and I do most of my online firearms related purchasing through them.
     

    CPT Nervous

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    Mar 7, 2012
    6,378
    63
    The Southern Bend
    This was also the day I committed to carrying every day. I hadn't been bringing my carry gun to work so I was unarmed when I walked in the house and I had my 2 year old behind me.

    It took 5 minutes to get a 911 dispatcher. About 12-15 mins more to get a patrol officer there.

    This is why everyone should always carry. I also definitely advocate for a monitored alarm system. They have direct lines to dispatch centers, and residential alarms are priority calls.

    You can't count on the police to come save you. You had to wait 20 minutes from the time you needed an officer.
     

    churchmouse

    I still care....Really
    Emeritus
    Rating - 100%
    187   0   0
    Dec 7, 2011
    191,809
    152
    Speedway area
    All of my entry doors are hardened. Casing shimmed and 4" screws into the studs in several places.
    The dead bolt and striker have aluminum, plates set into the casing and deep screwed into the studs.
    Pinned hinges.

    I am glad you did not loose any firearms in this.
     

    CPT Nervous

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    Mar 7, 2012
    6,378
    63
    The Southern Bend
    All of my entry doors are hardened. Casing shimmed and 4" screws into the studs in several places.
    The dead bolt and striker have aluminum, plates set into the casing and deep screwed into the studs.
    Pinned hinges.

    I am glad you did not loose any firearms in this.

    I am very thankful for that as well. I had to replace the outer door, the frame was destroyed in the break in. I shimmed and attached the casing to the studs with 4" screws all around. Added the Door Armor kit, and that door isn't going anywhere.

    I think if I didn't have an alarm system, my house would have been thoroughly ransacked. My alarm company attempts to make contact through the panel as well as via telephone, so I'm sure the intruder was spooked when someone began asking if everything was okay, and advised that police were enroute. I'm adding some 105db sirens to my setup, to further disorient and discourage anyone from being inside.


    Myself and a friend were going to start up a new group of super vegans who only ate and used post consumed foods and goods. Basically we would only eat food that was thrown away, or was already eaten, and we would only wear clothing that was thrown away. Of course we weren't going to actually live like that, but it would be interesting to see how many self-righteous holier-than-thou vegans would embrace our new lifestyle.
     

    Mr Evilwrench

    Quantum Mechanic
    Emeritus
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Aug 18, 2011
    11,560
    63
    Carmel
    I won't tell you what I've done to my doors, but nobody's coming through without machinery. The sliding one won't move if I don't want it to, but the glass annoys me.
     
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