Burglars like to work at night, in quite areas, so they can hear if other people or dogs are around. Burglars don’t like bright lights or anything that will bring attention to them.
Let’s identify some habits and characteristics of Burglars:
Now that we have a profile, what do we do if we think there is a burglar in our home? We will make noise, turn on lights let them know that we know they are there. However this must be done carefully and you must keep your wits about you and stay organized.
We can assume that bright lights and noise will make the burglar nervous and possibly run away. We cannot assume that confrontation will turn out for the best. I have stated most criminals that invade homes and small business are not well educated and may not be well adjusted to society. Confrontation may cause this person to do something radical without fear of consequence. If armed with a gun or knife this person may attack instead of run.
What if you bring a gun to confront your intruder? The basic instinct of the average citizen is not to kill anyone. In fact the average person will find it very difficult to pull a trigger. Even if they decide to fire the gun, they will hesitate and that will give the criminal enough time to grab the gun and turn it on the home owner. We have trained police officers that know when to pull out their firearm, and they know if they pull it out they must fire it without hesitation if confronted with deadly force. Also they present an image that lets the intruder will know he can’t grab their weapon if the officer doesn’t need to use it. Police officers are trained in self-defense and armed not only with guns, but MACE, Tasers and night-sticks. Believe me when I say that badge and uniform strikes fear in the heart of a criminal.
To start our house or business should have been prepared in the event of a robbery. Make sure your bedroom or office door is a secure door (metal or solid door) and it has a good lock operated from the inside, and keep a door brace near the door. Make sure the window to your bedroom can be opened, but keep it locked and if on the second floor you might consider a foldable escape ladder, not only for burglary, but in case of fire. Keep your cell phone near the bed and arm yourself with MACE or Pepper Spray. If you want you can keep a Stun Gun or Taser next to your bed. Any one of these four items mentioned will disable, but not kill your intruder. With that in mind you will use them without hesitation.
A wireless home security alarm system will tell you if someone entered your house, a window or door. This system should alert you the owner and automatically call the police or if you are out of town it should also call you. A good alarm system will also shut off and reset itself after a few minutes, so if the intruder is still in the house it will detect them again. For evidence nothing is better than a video surveillance system. To monitor your store or your house while you are away the video surveillance system can connect to the Internet and you can monitor your home or business over your smart phone or laptop computer.
It should go without saying that if someone breaks into your business, call the police and wait for the police to arrive. Do not attempt to confront or capture the criminals. If your business is open with employees present, make sure the employees know to be compliant to the criminal’s wishes and give them the cash or merchandise. Nothing is more valuable than a human life.
If you are home and asleep in your bed:
1. Immediately get up and close and lock your bedroom door.
2. Block the door with a door brace or chair.
3. Turn on the lights and call the police.
4. Let the burglar know you are aware they are there.
5. If the burglar attempts to break the door down, open the bedroom window and escape.
If you have children, then it is extremely important you have an alarm system that will let you know the intruders are in the house. Also you should have an additional Motion Alert Alarm in the hallway prior to the bedrooms, that has a different tone or signal to alert you if the intruders have gotten that far. If this alarm has not gone off, arm yourself with your MACE, Pepper Spray, Stun Gun or Taser. Carefully check the hallway, get your kids and take them to your bedroom, and follow the five steps above until the police arrive. If the other people are adults or teenagers, prepare their bedroom the same as yours, inform them how to secure the room, and communicate by yelling to them to make sure they are compliant. A lot of homes are built with doors to the sleeping area or homeowners install a door to the sleeping area for just such an event. All windows should have secure locks and should be locked especially on the bedrooms at all times. With infants it is not a bad idea to consider bars or metal mesh to cover the windows for extra security.
Rooms or areas detached from the house can be protected with an auto dialer security & safety alarm. When this motion detection alarm is triggered, it sets off a loud shrill signal and dials up to 5 phone numbers to alert police and others. In the event this alarm goes off, stay in your house and wait for the police to investigate.
Valuables can be locked in a wall or floor safe, if their value warrants the expense of such a safe. However cash and lesser valuables can be put in a diversion safe and will be just as secure. A diversion safe, sometimes called a book or can safe, is an object that looks like some in your house or pantry, but has a compartment for valuables and usually weighted to feel full.
In your choice of non-lethal weapons, we want a weapon that will give us distance from our criminal. MACE, Pepper Spray and Tasers give us that distance. A Stun Gun is a personal defense you carry to protect yourself when someone tries to grab you up close. All are very effective and will not kill or permanently injure anyone. With the Taser C2 you will get 15 feet of distance, but you can use it as a stun gun up close if you need to.
Doug Harper is the owner of SharperSafety.com
Door Brace | MACE | Tasers | pepper spray | stun gun | wireless home security | video surveillance system
Sexual Assault Defense for Women
Women incur the violence in nine out of ten cases of violence. One out of every three women report sexual or physical abuse in their lifetime, and these are the ones reported.
Mace Pepper, Gel, Foam & Triple Action Sprays
Since 1970 Mace has been the leader in innovative defensive sprays. Their full line of products can fulfill the needs of anyone who needs personal self-defense. Mace is the most trusted name in women’s self-defense items and nonlethal self-defense products.
Closed Circuit Television Cameras
We use Closed Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) for surveillance, security, property protection, monitoring employee performance and to monitor areas that may be deemed unsafe for human habitation.
