# Have you or anyone you know in the real world ever been victim of a home invasion? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 30, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-or-anyone-you-know-in-the-real-world-ever-been-victim-of-a-home-invasion/648847 "2013-01-30T23:09:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 25
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-or-anyone-you-know-in-the-real-world-ever-been-victim-of-a-home-invasion/648847/25 "2013-01-31T01:21:17Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Look, you can take the word home and the word invasion, put them together and come up with any definition you want. But there is a specific law enforcement meaning to the term “home invasion.” It doesn’t matter that you might feel violated or invaded by a burglary. A burglary is not a violent crime. A home invasion is a robbery in your home. Robbery is taking something by force or threat of force. Burglary is simply entering a stricture for the purposes of theft. A home invasion is when someone breaks into or forces themselves into a home knowing there are people there. It is a violent act. Sorry if your personal definition does not match the law enforcement definition. > > I have known multiple people that have been victims of home invasions. All on a professional basis. None of my friends or family have been victims of such crime. Loach, if I recall aright, you’re a cop. In the thread that inspired this one, I laid out my plans for dealing with intruders in my home. Here it is: > [@Trying to understand the 'home defense' gun argument](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-understand-the-home-defense-gun-argument/648838/20): > > he tv-thing of a married couple hearing a noise in the middle of the night and going to confront the intruder is stupid, particularly in the era of cell phones. What you do is this: > > 1. If you live alone, get up, close and lock the bedroom door, grab available weapon, and await developments. If you hear more sounds indicating that an intrusion, call 911 and await help; do not attract intruder’s attention. If the intruder tries to come into the bedroom, loudly inform them that you are armed and willing to use it, and that you have called for help. If the intruder persists, move to most defensible position and await developments. If they seem to have left, wait till the cops arrive to go outside your bedroom. > 2. If you don’t live alone, but everyone in the house in in the bedroom with you, do the same as above except that also rouse your bedmate. > 3. If you don’t live alone, and there is someone in another bedroom, get weapon quietly, rouse that person, retreat to most defensible room, and proceed as in (1). > 4. If you don’t live alone, but it is conceivable that it’s another resident trying to move stealthily to keep from awaking you, secure bedroom, have gun in head, and call that person’s cell phone before calling 911. Presumably they’ll answer and say, “Yeah, it’s just me, sorry I woke you up,” or “No, I’m still at my boyfriend’s house, stepdad.” In the latter case, call 911, etc. > > Confrontation is the dead last option unless you are Spider-Man. If you are Spider-Man then your sense has already informed you whether the noise is Mary Jane coming home from her Esquire shoot or a burglar, and anyway you’ve already broken the intruder’s jaw for scaring Aunt May. Have you any problems with it? --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-or-anyone-you-know-in-the-real-world-ever-been-victim-of-a-home-invasion/648847)._