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My alarm system possibly saved my life. Two years ago my husband's job relocated him to another state. I stayed behind while we tried to sell the house. To prepare the house for the market, I hired painters recommended by my real estate agent, which turned out to be mostly illegals. I was home alone with them but didn't worry too much as I there was one female crew member and as my neighbor kept an eye out.
The night the job was complete, I made sure all the doors and windows in the house were locked as I didn't know if the painters had left anything unlocked. I was a bit nervous that unknown men knew that I was home alone so I also stashed a knife in my nightstand drawer for security. However, I forgot to set the alarm before going to bed. For some reason, I awoke at 11pm and got out of bed to set the alarm. At 4am I awoke again to the alarm blaring. Panicked, I jumped out of bed, peeked out my bedroom door and saw the the front door was wide open. I think, but I'm not sure, that I saw a car pull away from the curb in front of my house.
I locked the bedroom door, grabbed my knife and phone, locked myself in the bathroom and called 911. The police arrived about 5 minutes later and searched the house. They found no intruders but I assume the alarm scared them away. They also found no evidence of the lock on the front door being forced and no other signs of forced entry anywhere. Somebody with a key must have unlocked the door. There is no doubt in my mind that the front door was locked as I checked it 3 times before going to bed. Nobody except for my husband who was out of state had a key. The painters were not given a set either as I was at home for the job. However, I had a set of spare keys in a clear plastic bin in my closet that was painted. Those keys were missing and the painters were the only people with access to them.
I can only conclude that their intent was not robbery but something worse. The house was mostly empty as we had moved most of the furniture and valuables to the new house out of state. In addition, most robberies occur during work day hours as the robbers assume nobody will be home. Most break-ins with the intent to rape and/or kill occur in the early morning hours as the target is assumed to be at home sleeping.
Moral of the story: Females should try to avoid letting unknown men know they are home alone. Further, before having any work done on your home secure all spare sets of keys. Finally, always set your alarm. Buying a big gun and a bigger dog are good ideas as well (which I did). Living in a "safe" neighborhood doesn't mean you are safe. We lived in a safe area, but you never know who is being brought in by your neighbors to work in your neighborhood.
I realize this. That's what the alarm is for (monitored with cellular mind you-not a hardline which can be cut)...the gun is for when I'm home-if someone is breaking into my house when I'm there then my only conclusion is they have intent to do harm and I will respond appropriately-I guess you live in a wonderful place where people don't hurt others. Here a few weeks ago, some loser breaks into a 60 year old mans house (at night!) to steal stuff, encounters the unarmed homeowner and kills him-random, senseless act. I have a motion detector that covers any area outside my bedroom. I lock my bedroom door when I sleep. If my alarm goes off, out comes the shotgun and the cellphone to 911. Good piece of mind for me, guess no one needs guns in Maryland.
Agreed, i work on the front lines with the public................and if they are willing to kill me over a quarter...............trust me they will kill if confronted in your own home. Just make sure, if you choose a weapon/blunt object.....You are prepared to use it!.............this is not a time for indecision............when someone breaks into your home..........it's all out WAR!
Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
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ug! Its worse than I thought. There have been a total of 8 break-ins within a 1/2 mile radius. There is a jurisdictional boundry running down my backyard, and there were 4 on one side of it and 4 on the other. It took us neighbors talking to find this out (the police apparently don't talk). And these are not kids. Their MO includes casing the neighborhood, having a getaway vehicle ready and cutting (not breaking) the glass. *sigh* So, I am not looking into alarms. And one that can be here tomorrow (if not tonight)
I just saw a couple of episodes of a series called "It Takes a Thief." Two reformed ex-housebreakers basically break into someone's house (with the homeowners knowledge and approval) and steal their stuff. To cut a long story short they then show the tapes back to the homeowners to show how easy it was to break in and how they did it all. I was amazed. They burgalarized a cops home, a woman who was actually in her home during the whole invasion (she had no clue) and suburban family. After all was said and done they gave them a complete security makeover.
I learned so much from this program and was amazed how the thieves were in and out in less than 12 minutes! I hope you get the chance to watch it because it gave me a lot of ideas on how to secure my home.
...and was amazed how the thieves were in and out in less than 12 minutes! I hope you get the chance to watch it because it gave me a lot of ideas on how to secure my home.
Our neighbor's house was broken into while nobody was home and they stole things with the alarm blaring and the security company calling. By the time the security company called the house, got no answer and called the police, the thieves were long gone. I think the police called it "smash and grab". It was a corner house and the police said that, statistically, corner houses are broken into more than others since there are several direction in which to run. We've got a monitored security system but, if a burglar wants in bad enough, there's not much one can do. I suppose a blaring siren might scare some of them off, which is what we hope.
What good are locks if you have windows? Why bother? Locks help keep out opportunist criminals like local H.S. kids, but a real theif does not care about your puny locks.
I personally believe that the alarm company yard sign does you more good than the alarm system itself.
You dog will keep people away. It does not matter how aggressive. go talk to people at a prison sometime, most bad guys fear dogs far mor than people, or even policemen.
We have a 170 lb brindle English mastiff. No one comes near her unless they are dog people. She is sweet as can be, but looks really scray from a distance. Let you dog get big and she will probably be more effective than you alarm.
get a beware of dog sign.
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Living in a "safe" neighborhood doesn't mean you are safe. We lived in a safe area, but you never know who is being brought in by your neighbors to work in your neighborhood.
