Don’t be a Victim Part 2

You are the KING of your CASTLE! You are the decision maker, ruler and the keeper of all within!

Well, that was until some “piece of garbage” decided to liberate you from your precious belongings.

How was your castle protected. Did you have adequate security measures in place? How deep was the mote and how high were the castle walls?

Home security has never been more important than it is today. I remember growing up when nobody locked doors to homes or cars. Keys to the cars were often in them. It was definitely a different time.

Now it’s a matter of necessity to layer your protection. It is a combination of devices and environmental design to make your house less attractive to the average criminal.

The methods of entry

I would first like to say a vast majority of thefts occur simply due to the opportunity provided by the masses. For example, you leave valuables in your car that are in plain view. May as well have a sign posted "FREE". Our dummies walk the streets day and night and check doors. They also look for garage doors left open, valuables like tools and bikes left out and so on. You get the point.

So the first rule of thumb is to just simply put things away, close garage doors and lock your car and house doors. This is the first barrier to keeping your castle safe. Along with locking your doors, you need to removing valuables from plain view. Doing these simple things will reduce your chances of being a victim. Remember, dummies are looking for an opportunity. Take that away and they keep looking.

FORCED ENTRY

During This type of burglary, the dummies will typically break a window or force open a lock to gain entry. In my opinion most locks are designed to keep honest people out.

One popular method in the Los Angeles area is for the dummies to walk up to your front door, knock and wait. If they get no response, they walk around to the back of the home and smash the glass sliding door or a window.

If the dummies are confronted by residents who were home but did not answer the door they will often have some lame excuse for being on your property.

Because of the dangers associated with a "knock knock burglary" I encourage you to announce your presence when someone knocks. By no means does it mean to answer the door. It means, let them know you are home and unwilling to open the door. If there intentions were bad, they will move on.

If you are a good neighbor (neighborhood watch type) this is the time to call your local law enforcement agency and report the suspicious dummies. Many times when I am invesrigating a burglary, I have been told by a neighbor that he's/she saw the dummies but did not call. WHY!!!

Another crappy method the dummies use to get into your castle is by trick or distraction.

They may pose as an employee of a utility company or some other type of repair person or official. In these cases they typically seek out the elderly. The dummies will try and convince the victim they are there for a legitimate reason. Dummies will usually direct the homeowner to a problem in the back yard or somewhere away from the treasure box (place of values). While this is going on, a second dummy goes for the cache. The co-dummy can either be unseen by the victim or if the first dummy is doing such a convincing job, the victim forgets all about the partner.

Finally, the lead dummy finds a way to excuse himself by promising to return or alleging he has fixed the non-existing problem.

It can be minutes, hours or days before the elderly homeowner realizes he is even a victim.

SO HOW TO PROTECT YOUR CASTLE!

What kind of home security do you have and does it work?

I have not seen one specific fix-all device to prevents crime. Everything works in layers.

Every layer you add increases the strength of your castle and the dummies ability or willingness to penetrate it.

Alarms are a good starting layer. Alarms tell a dummy they have a limited amount of time before authorities may arrive. If there are two equal homes for dummies to chose from and one has an alarm, they will more than likely chose the one without. Some people purchase alarm signs and never own an alarm. Personally, I think it’s a good ruse. But remember, it is not an alarm.

Dogs are a good layer of defense. There are many sizes and shapes and of corse viciousness. None of this matters too much. I find a loud small dog can prevent crime just as good as a large breed dog. One scares and the other alerts surrounding neighbors that something is wrong.

Older houses have windows that are simple to open. You can use any flat device to unlatch an old cheap window. Upgraded windows are difficult to open and to break. A good but costly layer. There are window locks available for those old windows.

Fences and gates add additional layers making it more difficult to get onto your property. Not much more to say about them except if you have gates, lock them!

Speaking of locks, don’t be cheap when shopping for locks. Buy good quality locks or don’t bother.

If your door has a window, it's easy to beak the glass and twist a knob to unlock the door. Double sided deadbolts are great in these cases but remember, if they key is not readily available you may not be able to exit in an emergency. Leave the key in the lock (interior) when you are home is advisable.

Cameras have become ever so popular. More and more people have them in their homes and businesses. I have seen countless videos of blurry bad guys. I find it amusing when a homeowner shows me a video of a hooded dummy in the dark and thinks I will be able to identify the dummy. Don’t get me wrong, they are a good layer, but do not over estimate the value. They do a better job at catching your neighbor vandalizing your car.

Lights on timers can be a good layer. If you like timers, use multiple timers for different lights and radios. Not high on my list but everything adds to your protection.

Motion lights are good. Just make sure you place them in strategic locations that actually help you or your neighbors see why they activated. In addition, if you use cameras, add the motion lights to illuminate those dark corners.

Landscape is often overlooked. Bushes in front of windows create a great opportunity for dummies to hide behind as they attempt to defeat your window locks.

Another layer that can be great is an active neighborhood watch. Or at least neighbors you interact with. Again, I can’t believe how many times I find two neighbors who have lived next to each other for years and do not even know each others names.

Many burglars were seen by a neighbor who paid them no mind. Get involved in your neighborhood and help each other out. REPORT SUSPICIOUS PEOPLE & VEHICLES

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