THE Home Invasion thread

[mom45]

Wow...didn't mean to hit a sore spot. I guess I will try to reread my comments many more times before posting. I guess for me part of the proactive part was not choosing to live in downtown Gary or some other high crime area. No offense to anyone from downtown Gary.

 

[Sgtusmc]

Safety is, as are many other things, only relative to happenstance. You can't have total control because there are always other variables in the mix.

 

[RugerRog]

How do you secure a front entry door that has those windows on each side? No long deck screws because the window is right there.
http://images-38.har.com/e1/MediaDisplay/38/hr3240838-3.jpg (minus the above arch basically).

I have a similar door, suggestions were a good storm door, and I've been looking at a security bar. It might not stop someone but it could slow them down and make it more difficult for them. I also found this while researching, but really dont want to screw anything into my hard wood floor.

 

[nebulous]

How do you secure a front entry door that has those windows on each side? No long deck screws because the window is right there.
http://images-38.har.com/e1/MediaDisplay/38/hr3240838-3.jpg (minus the above arch basically).

The bad thing about these type of doors with the side windows is that someone can break the glass, stick their arm in, reach around and unlock your door from the inside. A storm door would help slow the criminals down in these types of situations. If you had enough money, you could even have the whole thing replaced by a large double door, eliminating the side windows.

 

[cmr13]

Our neighborhood watch has a program called "Put A Light On Crime" The majority of all the houses in the subdivision have lights on. I have light on all four corners that are motion sensor floods. They come on at 20% at dusk and full power when motion is detected. I also agree with locking the storm door as a deterent.

Do you happen to know what brand/model of lights those are? We have some that just come on full power when there is motion, but I like the idea of 20% all the time even better.

 

[SeaCaptain49]

Lots of good advice, thanks.

 

[bwframe]

Wow...didn't mean to hit a sore spot. I guess I will try to reread my comments many more times before posting. I guess for me part of the proactive part was not choosing to live in downtown Gary or some other high crime area. No offense to anyone from downtown Gary.

My guess is the reason for this thread is all the home invasions being reported in the news lately in Indy. City officials are doing everything they can to downplay it talking of "in the modern day," as if this is just the norm we will have to get used to. Meanwhile, the judicial system "we" voted in keeps letting repeat offenders back out on the street. Hmm...

 

[Cameramonkey]

Do you happen to know what brand/model of lights those are? We have some that just come on full power when there is motion, but I like the idea of 20% all the time even better.

Check out lowes. I just bought one of the $35 210 degree motion flood fixtures for my mom. That one has the user selectable option to run 20/100% dawn to dusk or 0/100. It also has the dual sensor setup so anyone that tries to sneak directly under it or slightly behind (if it's installed over an exit door for instance) it still comes on before you get out away from the house.

 

[Brandon]

A dead bolt that uses a key from both the inside and outside. At least one could not break the glass to open the door that way.
Can still user longer screws as there should be 2 if not 3 studs there.

 

[churchmouse]

I read up on those Caucasian mountain shepherds. They are a rough breed to maintain a handle on and depending upon where you live can be more of a liability than an asset.

I also have a sign posted that looks somewhat like this:

Neighborhood kids create major holes in your security. One of our neighbors kept getting broken into and their X-Box and games were stolen. Turned out to be friends of the kids that lived there. I've already had several talks with my kids on how things work and to choose their friends wisely. One of my 10 yr old's friends is a sincere good kid and i've met his parents. He is welcome to come into the house on occasion. A few other neighborhood kids (9 and 10 yrs old) are already fighting in the streets, calling other kids racist names, lie, and have brothers and cousins that live up and down the street who are criminals (by his own admission). I keep an extra eye on those kids and generally let them know that they won't be pulling any of their crap when I'm around.

Kids like that will case the home for their older brothers and relatives and sometimes it's done innocently. "Damn, Jimmy down the street has a playstation, buncha games, they gots art on the walls..."

Some adults drop the kids off to run the area and report back when they pick them up. They tell the adults where the best looking houses are and the adults come back and take your stuff.

 

[10mmfan]

I live in a rural area with a couple decent neighbors close and some extremely trashy people also relatively close. 2 years ago while my fiancé was at work some creep was window peeping with a face mask and my neighbor called the police and a search and chase ensued with no arrest. I had dogs outside but they were tied up as I had no fence. So within a week I brought one dog inside and bought a German Shepard pup. He is now almost 2 years old and he is better than any motion detector, alarm or security monitoring system. A hundred + pounds of dog is about the best non lethal deterrent I can think of. My gun safe and my dog and the camera I will be installing later this year seems to be about the best system I have found. I also got to know some of the deputies that patrol my area of the county. They stopped and told my fiancé when a sex offender moved in a couple roads over and they talk with her regularly at her work at the local hospital. I would say making the effort to meet your local law enforcement is also a good idea and time well spent.

 

[PurdueBoilermaker]

Thanks for posting, lots of great advice

 

[thompal]

If I had to chose between burned to death because the fire department or a neighbor couldn't get in to help or being shot I think I would rather take a bullet. I think the risk of fire is greater than home invasion.

I used to think that too, but recently, the news seems to indicate that home invasions are more common that house fires.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I used to think that too, but recently, the news seems to indicate that home invasions are more common that house fires.

They just dont make the news generally unless its a slow news day or somebody dies. There are over a million house fires every year in the US on average (1.3m in 2009). Still FAR more than home invasions.

I'll take the chance with the invaders as well.

 

[inxs]

I do things differently than most. Menards and others sell a box strike for $3-4 that will enhance the jam of most doors when you use some nice long deck screws in the base. I don't believe in lights being on all the time, motion lights will alert you and anyone else around that something is changing, and if you aim a good flood at the usual approaches you will gain further advantage.
Likewise with dogs. I have known people who have several who bark at anything, which eventually triggers an ignore response. If you can train them to be more selective, the alert will more likely prompt you to action.
An alarm system that is locally loud can be automatically or manually triggered and will work well even if you don't live in a good police response area.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

I installed one of these Home Door Security | Door Devil™ on each of my entry doors. A rep from the company had been setting up at the 1500, that is where I bought mine for $60 per kit.
Well worth the money, and easy to install, I do have somewhat of a mechanical background, but you really don't need one. The instructions are well written and easy to follow.

And here I thought I was the first person clever enough to come up with hinge-side bolts.

 

[cmr13]

Check out lowes. I just bought one of the $35 210 degree motion flood fixtures for my mom. That one has the user selectable option to run 20/100% dawn to dusk or 0/100. It also has the dual sensor setup so anyone that tries to sneak directly under it or slightly behind (if it's installed over an exit door for instance) it still comes on before you get out away from the house.

Thank you.

 

[jamil]

View attachment 23056 Caucasian Mountian Sheperds, only dog in the world with a stopping power of a .45 !

WTF? Did someone mate a German Shepard with a grizzly bear? Imagine how much poop those things produce in a day. You'd need a track loader just to clean up after it.

 

[swany11]

I live in the Butler-Tarkington area. About eight years ago we had someone break into the house not once, but twice. I could hear him trying to bust in one of our leaded glass windows while we were sleeping. He got in, motion detectors tripped the alarm. I saw him leave, just casually walking down the street, alarm blaring.


Went to call 911, but no dial tone. Both cell phones were downstairs. As I get ready to go downstairs, he starts coming back in the same window! I turn the alarm back on. Gets tripped seconds later, and out the window he goes again.


Not long after that, IMPD was at the front door. Then helicopter overhead, shining lights everywhere. Joked with my wife "here comes our 15 minutes of fame, we'll be on an episode of COPS next week!"


Eventually caught the kid a block away. The big mistake we made in all of this; left the living room drapes wide open. He could easily see the flat screen, and the laptop I left on the coffee table. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Having a security system with glass break, motion detector, and door alarm is crucial. Recently we added a quick chime so anytime the door is opened when we are home, we know.

 

[Sgtusmc]

I have an IP camera I bought from walmart for $99. I set it up in different locations occasionally. When we go out of town, it's definitely on. If there's any motion detected, I'm emailed the alert and the first picture it sensed as well as any further activity. The video gets saved on the card for later retrieval and is able to upload the video to a private youtube account. The camera is always hidden and if the perp thinks he/she is smart to just take the camera, the last photo I receive will likely be of their face.

It's capable of scan and pan, so I just connect to it with my ipad and look around when ever I want.

I've also setup a spare laptop with webcam security software to start recording if motion is detected. The laptop might be taken, but video of the crime is recorded as well and sent to me over the internet. I've been broken in before and it pissed me off more than anything that I had no evidence of who did it.