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You see an attractive and well designed enclosed porch, but I see a hidden layer of defense.

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It is an expensive and lovely porch that added a lot of value to the home. Most people will admire it for its beauty. I do that too, but I also admire it for another reason. That, my friends, is what students of physical security call a kill cage. Don't bother trying to Google the term. You won't find much information about them.

A kill cage is an area that has two sets of locked doors with a sealed space between. Step into it, and escape is not easy. While on the outside too, you cannot easily tell if someone inside is observing you. SWAT teams and home invaders hate them. You've been walking through them all your life without even realizing it. For example, the next time you go into a bank, you will probably find yourself within one.

In addition to kill cages, the path people take to your entrance is extremely important. It should be designed to improve your home's security, not undermine it. The military calls this an avenue of approach. Develop an avenue of approach in your favor. The example to the left limits cover for people approaching the door, it is a narrow space, and there is no quick escape once within it.

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Don't stop at your avenue of approach design. Also include good defensive attack angles.

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As people approach your entrance, there should be ways for you to easily observe them from inside your home. A good way to do this is to have them approach from the side of the door. Make them go up a set of steps with a railing or through a screened in porch. Combining the two concepts is even better. A good and cheap example of this strategy is shown below.

Put a window across from the ramp to improve your security even more. As they walk up the ramp, their backs would be to that window. Then they have to walk past the other window on the way to the door. The two windows combined provide you with excellent angles of attack if things go wrong. The people approaching your door are also locked into a specific path that is predictable.

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Most home owners do not consider these concepts at all, and those that do can always have their home's physical security improved.

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You should now have plenty of ideas on how to improve your residential security. Hopefully, knowing what you know now, you will understand why the entrance shown below is such a bad design.

The doors allow people approaching them to easily take cover to either side, they are not trapped within a confined space, and you have no way to observe them. In other words, the people on the inside are at a huge disadvantage.

This is a very small part of the overall security of a home. We could discuss different options for kill cages, avenues of approach, and attack angles for hours. There are numerous ways to improve existing homes, and new construction makes the process even easier. If you want help improving your entrance security, I will gladly assist you as my time allows.

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