Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
parts of the country is not a new thing. Happened in NYC Long Island area many years ago even while people were playing cards or having dinner.
Being fairly new to the CLT area I do have a few questions regarding this subject and perhaps the answers might help other people in the future.
1) What type (income level) of homes do the bad guys hit? Is there a trend that they concentrate on bigger luxury homes where they know there is more "booty" or smaller homes that might not have alarm systems or household help?
2) Prime nabes? Do they hit in high crime nabes OR the fringes? Where is the highest concentration of home invasions? (Sub-divisions, zip codes) Note: I know where to find overall crime stats but what I'm trying to break out here is just the "kick-in the door, hi,guess who came uninvited for dinner,crowd")
3) In general are the people home? Time of day most occurences.
4) Have you had a personal experience, or know someone that did and can you give us details. Anything you might have done differently?
5) Lots of talk here on CD about arming one's self with weapons ranging from cap guns to Horwitzer cannons but how do the bad guys know you have the gun? How does the gun help you if your're making cannolis in the kitchen and your wife is waxing her legs, and your Uzi is under your pillow upstairs on the second floor. I'm joking but not joking. I don't understand the process and I would like to learn how to "welcome" the scuzZ-balls into my home. You know when I'm making cannolis or love I don't want to be interrupted!
6) Saved the best for last: How does one protect, anticipate or reduce the risk of getting unwanted guests in the house while at work or in the shower?
ALL great ideas gratefully accepted.
5) Lots of talk here on CD about arming one's self with weapons ranging from cap guns to Horwitzer cannons but how do the bad guys know you have the gun? How does the gun help you if your're making cannolis in the kitchen and your wife is waxing her legs, and your Uzi is under your pillow upstairs on the second floor. I'm joking but not joking. I don't understand the process and I would like to learn how to "welcome" the scuzZ-balls into my home. You know when I'm making cannolis or love I don't want to be interrupted!
Just hang a sign outside saying "Home protected by Smith and Wesson". I know more than one person who keeps a gun in every room of the house (even the bathroom).
My community policeman says that the home invasions are not really random, that the thugs know the "victims" and usually, the victim is less than a stellar citizen themselves. (or maybe it is one of the family that has run afoul of someone connected to the thug) at any rate, I think that your best weapon is a dog. First of all, most thugs are afraid of dogs and secondly, they are a great warning that a thug is approaching.(let alone breaking down your door) I have lived in bad neighbourhoods both here and up north and, a dog has always been my best protection. Especially the german shepherd-mixes that resemble wolves! I walked through horrible neighbourhoods with no problem accompanied by my shepherd-husky mix! She was very protective and bared her teeth a few times, but, nobody approached me!!
Again, having lived in some crappy neighbourhoods, I am not a gun advocate, especially that person that has a gun in every room. You are just inviting yourself to be shot and, the gun will be traced back to you...great stuff! Dogs are the best, then, maybe some mace or pepper spray...that is all you need.
I keep more doors locked most of the time. I have motion lights outside and do not advertise what we have in the house. I have a couple of pump shotguns and a pistol.
Only once have I had to pull out any of my guns, and that was when someone was standing out front throwing rocks at my house one evening. It was 1am, I heard something tapping against the siding. 3 kids throwing rocks. Nice. I got the Mossy out, walked out back then around front. I racked it and they froze. One ran, the other tried to hide behind a dogwood (lol, hard to do when the kid was 4' tall and 5' wide), the other hit the ground and cried. Cops came, they weren't too happy with my actions. No more rocks thrown at the house.
Just hang a sign outside saying "Home protected by Smith and Wesson". I know more than one person who keeps a gun in every room of the house (even the bathroom).
Your sign reminds me of another. Bad guy goes up to a car that has a sign "NO RADIO". Crook breaks window of car and puts his sign in that says "JUST CHECKING".
I personally know of two home break-ins that happened in the middle of the day.
In one the lady (with twins in the car) pulls up to her home to see a strange car (stolen Lexus) in the driveway. Thinking it was a friend with a new car she approached the house with her children only to be knocked down by three men fleeing her home with loot. They rammed her car with their car and sped away leaving her clutching and crying with her twins. $400Kish home south charlotte un-gated community.
In the second incident a lady refused to answer the doorbell. Two men went around to the back of the home and cut the power and phone lines then broke in the home. She ran out the front door to a neighbors home and called 911. Home in the $500s south charlotte un-gated community.
There have been some elaborate break-ins in Morrocroft Estates ($2-5M) but I am still clarifying the details. The neighborhood is gated with 24hr security and cameras on some of the street lamps. In the heart of Southpark, it is hardly on the fringe of crime-ridden areas.
I personally know of two home break-ins that happened in the middle of the day.
In one the lady (with twins in the car) pulls up to her home to see a strange car (stolen Lexus) in the driveway. Thinking it was a friend with a new car she approached the house with her children only to be knocked down by three men fleeing her home with loot. They rammed her car with their car and sped away leaving her clutching and crying with her twins. $400Kish home south charlotte un-gated community.
In the second incident a lady refused to answer the doorbell. Two men went around to the back of the home and cut the power and phone lines then broke in the home. She ran out the front door to a neighbors home and called 911. Home in the $500s south charlotte un-gated community.
There have been some elaborate break-ins in Morrocroft Estates ($2-5M) but I am still clarifying the details. The neighborhood is gated with 24hr security and cameras on some of the street lamps. In the heart of Southpark, it is hardly on the fringe of crime-ridden areas.
Whew! On the other hand makes me feel better about living in a cheapie in a crappy nabe.Maybe I should consider putting an old beat-up rust bucket car in the driveway along with a For Rent sign in the window of the house.Or, one of the signs that says "Do Not Enter. House has been Fumigated by Pest Control."
Just hang a sign outside saying "Home protected by Smith and Wesson". I know more than one person who keeps a gun in every room of the house (even the bathroom).
Wow! That sounds dangerous. I have never understood how a gun is going to protect you either if it is in another room or unloaded. My father use to keep an unloaded gun under his bed thinking it would be enough to scare someone off.
I am curious to hear how many times guns have actually saved people from being robbed or hurt during a home invasion.
Wow! That sounds dangerous. I have never understood how a gun is going to protect you either if it is in another room or unloaded. My father use to keep an unloaded gun under his bed thinking it would be enough to scare someone off.
I think it's dangerous if you don't know anything about guns or you don't train your children to respect them. I wouldn't choose to keep weapons like that but I understand why some people do. In rural communities guns are a tool not a weapon, most of the boys in my 6th grade class were regular hunters with their dads. It wasn't cool to show off a gun, it was considered no different than an axe or a piece of farm equipment.
I never heard of these type of home invasions before I moved down here. I find it strange that people say it is typical?? Doesn't make me want to have a gun in my home though...but it does make me nervous!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know more than one person who keeps a gun in every room of the house (even the bathroom).
I walked through horrible neighbourhoods with no problem accompanied by my shepherd-husky mix! She was very protective and bared her teeth a few times, but, nobody approached me!! 
Dogs are the best, then, maybe some mace or pepper spray...that is all you need.
Deterrent signs
