Hot Prowler

[dixonge]

I don't think Walt would approve.

I don't know....Look where it got him! lol

 

[REWahoo]

I don't know....Look where it got him! lol

You mean retired, with a nice pension?

 

[dixonge]

You mean retired, with a nice pension?

Wrong Walt

 

[Teacher Terry]

We have 3 little dogs that would just bark. I have a big guy that would defend. He is very protective of me. If the house was empty that might be different.

 

[Jack_Pine]

If you gained entry to my locked home then I am in fear for my life. Period.

 

[Just_Steve]

If you gained entry to my locked home then I am in fear for my life. Period.

And if charged and I were on a jury of your peers, you would have nothing to fear.

 

[Dawg52]

That is scary. I have a big lab who barks at any unusual sounds. Sometimes a golf cart might ride by and he's barking at it. I doubt he would bite an intruder, but I can't imagine someone coming in with his big bark.

 

[Jack_Pine]

That is scary. I have a big lab who barks at any unusual sounds. Sometimes a golf cart might ride by and he's barking at it. I doubt he would bite an intruder, but I can't imagine someone coming in with his big bark.

We fell the same way about our GSD, Her hair goes up and she sounds bad but she is a cupcake. The effect, though, is very effective.

 

[ronin]

They/he/she tried again last night. I think it might have been around 10 or 11 when I heard a soft thump. Again, it was raining so could have been anything, even a car door out on the street. I didn't get up. This morning saw that the exterior door to my enclosed porch in the front of the house was almost kicked in. The door strike in the jamb was hanging by a thread and the jamb itself was ready to give. Motion sensor light 10 feet away made no difference. Us being home clearly made no difference. Why they didn't finish it off and get in I don't know, spooked, paranoid on meth. Whatever, this is crazy. Hope they never come back.

 

[Just_Steve]

.

 

[brewer12345]

They/he/she tried again last night. I think it might have been around 10 or 11 when I heard a soft thump. Again, it was raining so could have been anything, even a car door out on the street. I didn't get up. This morning saw that the exterior door to my enclosed porch in the front of the house was almost kicked in. The door strike in the jamb was hanging by a thread and the jamb itself was ready to give. Motion sensor light 10 feet away made no difference. Us being home clearly made no difference. Why they didn't finish it off and get in I don't know, spooked, paranoid on meth. Whatever, this is crazy.

You are right. Hope they never come back.

Have you discussed this with the local constabulary? It might also be a good idea to put a game cam or two (and maybe a strategically placed conibear) in the areas that seem to be attractive to the burglar.

 

[FUEGO]

I have found that the amount of time I spend thinking about/worrying about self-defense has gone down exponentially in direct correlation to the amount of guns I own. I don't worry about it at all any more now that I own none. YMMV

Same here. Zero guns, very little worry.

Random home invasions are quite rare (where the victim doesn't know the assailant(s) ). That's what would really adversely impact us.

Simple burglary? In n out, maybe do a few hundred in damage to the door/window and steal $500-2000 worth of our cool stuff (insurance would cover anything beyond that). No way would I spend many hundreds or thousands on alarm/monitoring systems/beefed up security/guns/dogs/etc just to prevent the minor loss of property.

Of course I don't have a lot of nice stuff, I live in a residential neighborhood near a main street so the cops are never far away, I have a $20 motion activated light and routinely lock my doors and usually windows too.

 

[Sunset]

It is true, home invasions area rare, although they are getting more common near here.
Burglary is nice when it's simple, but what are you going to do when it's not ?

Like when they decide you have money hidden and need to beat the answer out of you, or kill your kids because one of them saw the burglar, Or rape someone for fun.
Chicago Man Found Guilty of Killing Suburban Teen | NBC Chicago

I bought an alarm to wake me up if someone breaks in. I'll phone the police as they are only minutes away when seconds count. Then I'll hide in the bedroom with my little friend.

I don't worry at all because I have more than a bat.

 

[samclem]

We have several of these little IR alarms that we bought at Harbor Freight. Pretty handy, and about $15. It's all battery powered, wireless, and very simple--the sensor goes where it can "see" the "area of concern," when the IR unit senses motion it sends a signal to the chime inside (they can be up to several hundred feet apart). We've used them to alert us of animals on our back porch, to know when someone is on our front porch, etc. If placed where it could sense someone outside your enclosed porch, it might provide some peace of mind, or advance warning of trouble. In my experience, it's more likely to give "false positive's" (to alert on an animal, etc) than to miss a valid alarm (a person moving in the FOV).

 

[braumeister]

I like the Nest outdoor camera a lot. It will give you nice clear video of anyone who approaches, and since it's simultaneously uploaded to your account in the cloud, even damaging the camera would be irrelevant. Quick and easy to install, too.

I've had one installed for several months now and it's great. I can even go online and see the occasional squirrel or cat crossing my patio.

 

[MichaelB]

I like the Nest outdoor camera a lot. It will give you nice clear video of anyone who approaches, and since it's simultaneously uploaded to your account in the cloud, even damaging the camera would be irrelevant. Quick and easy to install, too.

I've had one installed for several months now and it's great. I can even go online and see the occasional squirrel or cat crossing my patio.

I had no idea you were into cat videos.

Seriously, no wifi issues? This camera is interesting but I can barely get good signal strength around the inside of my house.

 

[braumeister]

Works very well for me. I was a bit skeptical at first, but the picture is very clear. Nice to be able to watch it from my phone while on vacation.

 

[MichaelB]

Works very well for me. I was a bit skeptical at first, but the picture is very clear. Nice to be able to watch it from my phone while on vacation.

I like the Nest cameras (and thermostat) for the same reasons. Wrestling with signal issues, though.

 

[braumeister]

Maybe your wifi router could stand to be replaced? Or an extender added?

I use the one built into the Apple Time Capsule. When we moved here last year I found it did great on the main floor but wasn't always quite strong enough on the second floor. So I added an Airport Express to extend the network on that floor.

Depending on how old your router is, it might be time for an upgrade anyway?

 

[Ronstar]

I like the Nest cameras (and thermostat) for the same reasons. Wrestling with signal issues, though.

I solved the signal issues by hard wiring the cameras to a POE (power over Ethernet) splitter, then a single Ethernet cable to the router. The splitter provides power to the cameras through the Ethernet cables.

 

[Bestwifeever]

They/he/she tried again last night. I think it might have been around 10 or 11 when I heard a soft thump. Again, it was raining so could have been anything, even a car door out on the street. I didn't get up. This morning saw that the exterior door to my enclosed porch in the front of the house was almost kicked in. The door strike in the jamb was hanging by a thread and the jamb itself was ready to give. Motion sensor light 10 feet away made no difference. Us being home clearly made no difference. Why they didn't finish it off and get in I don't know, spooked, paranoid on meth. Whatever, this is crazy. Hope they never come back.

Two visits from the bad guys in 8 days? That is just so scary. I don't think I'd be able to sleep ever again. Do the police suggest any other deterrents?

 

[Mdlerth]

Security by Legitimate Business Inc.

In the 1980s, the safest neighborhood in New York was a four block radius around John Gotti's house.

At that time, we lived in north Jersey. For a while there was a rash of burglaries in our neighborhood, but they never touched us. No dogs, no guns, no alarms. Our home was protected by the Italian name on the mailbox.

 

[eytonxav]

I like the Nest outdoor camera a lot. It will give you nice clear video of anyone who approaches, and since it's simultaneously uploaded to your account in the cloud, even damaging the camera would be irrelevant. Quick and easy to install, too.

I've had one installed for several months now and it's great. I can even go online and see the occasional squirrel or cat crossing my patio.

I assume it has wpa2 encryption capability?

 

[Mulligan]

It is true, home invasions area rare, although they are getting more common near here.
Burglary is nice when it's simple, but what are you going to do when it's not ?

Like when they decide you have money hidden and need to beat the answer out of you, or kill your kids because one of them saw the burglar, Or rape someone for fun.
Chicago Man Found Guilty of Killing Suburban Teen | NBC Chicago

I bought an alarm to wake me up if someone breaks in. I'll phone the police as they are only minutes away when seconds count. Then I'll hide in the bedroom with my little friend.

I don't worry at all because I have more than a bat.

Fortunately for me, getting robbed isnt a high statistical chance. But, I am aware it could happen. Speaking of minutes, when seconds count... Finding my readers (and that is assuming any are in bedroom or bathroom) to unlock phone and dialing 911, would expose myself to more risk than rolling over to little night stand and chambering in 3 seconds. Heck I never realized it until now but I have a natural bunker ready for combat if intruder walks into bedroom. I think the tactical advantages are in my favor if I stay there rather than pursue.
So probably will let them just take what they can grab. But if they walk into my bedroom, it will then become a mission to save the taxpayers money.

 

[Sunset]

They/he/she tried again last night. I think it might have been around 10 or 11 when I heard a soft thump. Again, it was raining so could have been anything, even a car door out on the street. I didn't get up. This morning saw that the exterior door to my enclosed porch in the front of the house was almost kicked in. The door strike in the jamb was hanging by a thread and the jamb itself was ready to give. Motion sensor light 10 feet away made no difference. Us being home clearly made no difference. Why they didn't finish it off and get in I don't know, spooked, paranoid on meth. Whatever, this is crazy. Hope they never come back.

They will be back.
I said it in post 82 because it is so common, it's almost a rule.

There are a bunch of reasons they will be back:

1. They saw good stuff that later they realized they should have picked up.
2. They took some old things, that are now replaced by insurance and will be brand new.
3. Your place is an easy mark, they know how to break in and it was easy, vs the neighbor who maybe has a dog/son/gun/alarm system.
4. They live pretty close by, most thieves are locals, but it means they see your place other days, looking for signs like security stickers, new locks on gate.