Seems even in the most restrictive pseudo-Police States you are never really safe.
House break-ins skyrocketed 24 percent in Boston last year, shattering the security of renters and homeowners who say they learned the hard way the importance of deadbolting doors, keeping lights on and eyes open….• In 2010, only 11 percent of the 2,846 reported home break-ins were solved. The previous year, only 14 percent of the 2,282 reported breaks were solved. Nationally, the clearance rate for burglaries is about 12 percent, according to the FBI.
that’s an 89% unsolved case rate…87% Nationally. Doesn’t that make you feel good?
Thieves get in through unlocked doors and windows about 50 percent of the time, he said.
Don’t make it easy for them. Also alarms, and security lights are always a good thing.
The crimes often happen when residents aren’t home, giving crooks time to escape.
Don’t become a statistic, just in case you home is a home invasion, or the criminal doesn’t realize the house is occupied, have a home defense plan.
This is just one more instance where you can’t depend on the police.
We have a plan and if we are forced to hold the master bedroom is where we go. Inside my dresser I have a laminated 3×5 card floor plan of the house, codes to open the garage door, cell and home numbers, and labeled keys for all doors. All of this is attached to a wood baton painted orange with a cyalum stick attached to it. If we are forced to stay in the house this is thrown out the window for the cops to help them get to us.
And of course “the plan” would also involve the liberal bristling of numerous small arms pointed at the door.
Indeed… and more than just locking and securing your home, ensure you do so in an effective and resourceful manner. Upgrade your doors and locks to include at least three-inch screws on all the hinges and strike plates (if not completely upgrading your locking mechanisms to ANSI Grade 1, which is surprisingly affordable these days), cut and install break-in bars for your sliding doors and windows (do not need to be anything more than 1x1s cut to the appropriate length), and ensure your home security system includes both motion sensors and door/window sensors (and that the former is placed in logical locations). Likewise, little things like exterior lights, planting roses/pyrocantha/etc. underneath your ground-floor windows, and so forth will also present the image of a “hard target”… or at least one that is not worth the criminals’ time.
Keeping your family safe can cost a bit of money, and you hopefully will never need any of it, but if you do, it is totally worth it…