The element of surprise is a classic tactic. Your foe benefits from it as much as you. Criminals, by definition, do not follow the law, and they certainly do not fight fairly either. They will use surprise and trickery to their benefit, so do not allow them to catch you off guard!
When strong, avoid them. If of high morale, depress them. Seem humble to fill them with conceit. If at ease, exhaust them. If united, separate them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise. --Sun Tzu
Burglars and rapists regularly enter the homes of their victims in the middle of the night. They primarily do it to have the element of surprise, and you are most vulnerable while you're sleeping. Therefore, your home should be well secured at night while you sleep.
This may seem paranoid at first, but look up the statistics before you decide.
All the way back to early human history, dogs have been used for security. They acted as a sentinel, to give advanced warning, while people slept. You may not want a dog, or perhaps where you live does not allow you to have one.
As you know from my previous posts though, the primary concept of security is "defense in depth." Even if you lock up your place well at night and have a dog, you should also have other layers of defense. A window vibration triggered alarm is a great additional layer to consider.
The device shown above is installed on a sliding door. It is a Doberman Security SE-0106 Vibration Triggered Window Alarm and one of many inside my home. They are battery powered and have an on and off switch.
The devices resolve two issues at once.
The first issue is being caught off guard as you sleep, and the second issue is your neighbors not hearing a burglar breaking the glass or defeating the window lock to enter your house while you're away.
It is incredibly easy to defeat a typical home window lock, and breaking the glass can also be done very quietly. The image below will hopefully show you how easily the lock mechanism can be worked from the outside.
Any thin object, such as a knife, can be placed between the top and bottom window pieces. Then the object is used to wedge the locking mechanism to the side, and that will release the lock. The process can be done quickly and usually without any notification to those inside.
The window vibration alarms however prevent both tactics. Breaking the glass or defeating the lock create vibrations on the window's surface, and the alarm will sound. Only switch them on at night while you sleep or when you're leaving for vacation to avoid nuisance alarms.
The devices are legal no matter where you are, easy to install, inexpensive, and very effective. If you have questions about them or other residential security products, please feel free to ask below. I'll gladly assist my fellow Steemians with their residential security as my time allows.
As a professional in the telecommunications and security sector, I have enjoyed reading another well-informed professional. Of course the police and security forces are far behind the industry professionals in terms of new products. There is so much innovation in the industry that it does not give them time to adapt.
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Thank you! They are not only behind but have other priorities. Alarm companies are selling a product to profit from, and the police don't actually want our homes to be castles.
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After reading this, I counted my windows and started searching for the weak points. The only time I've been happy my windows are the 'old school' type; they latch in the center of the window and aren't accessible. We also have storm glass windows that are on the exterior of the window (like having another window aka more glass to clean).
We have metal screens, like you mentioned in a previous article, and they are the final barrier to the window. While it is certainly not burglar-proof, it is much more time and labor intensive.
It would create quite a bit of noise to make any attempt to open the locked window and making it more likely that the 'force multipliers' nearby would alert.
My wife works at a facility where mental health patients (most of them criminally detained) and they added security to the windows to 'secure' them. They added blocks on either side of the window which kept the window from opening more than halfway (fire hazard!). They had a patient escape out the windows after these windows were 'secured'.
No surprise that they figured out the major flaw of the 'blocks'.. How do you clean the outside of the window? You fold the top portion down! The patient simply pulled the top half of the window down, like they were going to clean the exterior, and climbed out the top of the window.
Had they opted for a sounding alarm that functions on vibration, I doubt there would've been an escape. It's a great added measure of protection and it's a great 'force multiplier' 😉
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Yes, as you said, windows are tricky. There's a long post of material for them, but I just haven't felt like writing about that topic enough yet. Secure them, sure. Just never make it difficult to escape out of them. There are ways to do this that I'll share in the near future. I never want someone, or their loved one, to die because of bad window security advice!
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Without a doubt, @finnian. If a security feature hinders escape in an emergency it isn't worth it. A dog at least can provide some security and companionship - I would recommend that before obstructing a path of escape.
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Thanks for the tips @finnian. I hadn't heard about these window vibration detection devices.
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The residential security market is astonishingly huge. There are so many gadgets and so many options, that an entire life could be spent on researching options. That's my plan! ;-) I love physical security and defenses even more than doing private investigation work.
Most people in the physical security profession focus on the corporate customer. I'm focusing on the residential home owner instead. Yes, there's less money in it, but I'm not doing this for money. I want to help people have safer and better defended homes.
I'll teach people the things the police, fire departments, and alarm companies will not teach!
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Congratulations you have won the @OriginalWorks daily resteem contest!
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Thanks! Resteems are very powerful. I wish people did them more often, for they are one of two best ways to gain quality followers.
Edit: The other is adding valuable and quality replies to other people's popular posts.
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I agree. You've got quality down ;)
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Thank you! I hope you and your good idea continue to be successful too.
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great advice ty
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You're very welcome, @kingfish111. Thanks for your comment!
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Activate @originalworks please!
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The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @finnian to be original material and upvoted it!
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Solid advise! Thanks!
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You're very welcome! I have a few more devices like this one that I plan to post about in the future.
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