Today my neighbor/friend’s home was broken into and burglarized in broad day light. Somebody kicked opened her front door, ransacked the house and took money, jewelry and some other items from her home. Thankfully, nobody was home. We live in a family friendly (and what I thought was) safe neighborhood and we have lived in this house for almost three years now and haven’t had any problems with unsafe activity. We previously lived a few blocks from here for almost four years. My neighbor has been living in her home with her children and family for over 23 years and nothing like this has ever happened. It has left us shocked and scared. We watch out for each other.
As most of you dopers know, my husband died recently. I live with my ten year old, nine month old and my mother who is visiting me to help out with the kids. I am already going through a vulnerable time and on top of that, I am freaked out and my anxiety is heightened at the moment given what happened today. I would like to invest in a home security system and was looking for some suggestions. Should I just call a security alarm company and set something up? Should I invest in patio door safety bars and other front door safety bars/gadgets?
Other information: I am renting this house. I have a patio door that leads to a backyard. The garage has an entrance through the side of the house and then another door leading to the inside of the house.
PS: I know my neighborhood is still probably relatively safe. But still, I would like to take some extra safety precautions, other than just making sure all the doors and windows are closed. Also, I appreciate firearm suggestions, but it’s not an option for me at the moment. Thank you.
Is a dog an option? Preferably a midsize or larger one? A dog is likely to raise a ruckus at an attempted burglar, both encouraging the burglar to run away and buying you time to call 911.
A midsize or larger dog is big enough to do some damage if the burglar keeps coming, too.
We had a rash of break-ins in our “safe” neighborhood a few years ago.
The police said the thieves targeted houses with certain characteristics. First, no dog or alarm. Second, a window or access point well hidden from view from the neighbor’s yards. Third, people with a regular schedule of being away from home. The police were very forthcoming with regards to the incidents and asked people to be on the look out for unusual things. We had flyers passed out and the township organized a meeting to talk about the incidents.
It wouldn’t hurt to ask the landlord about installing the security bars on the sliding doors or reinforcing any windows/doors that are hidden from view from the street or neighbors. Do you have a regular schedule? Can you mix it up a bit to throw potential burglars off? Are any of your neighbors stay at home parents or retirees home all the time? If you are all in the same boat it might be proactive to ask one of them to come over and check things out once in a while.
Trim hedges, trees and bushes to not hide or cover windows. Look at your house they way an intruder would. Shore up any weak spots you can see.
This. Even a small dog that is only going to lick an intruder to death can be a deterrent, if the dog is loud. My parents had a trio of Maltese (who weigh about 3-5 pounds as adults) and no intruder would ever go unnoticed. The little dust mops would loudly announce that Someone Was At The Door each time we had a visitor.
However, for home security, I prefer German shepherds, if you can get one without the hip problems. Good German shepherds are intelligent, loyal, protective, and know who is allowed on the property and who is a stranger. Mine usually barked once or twice at friends, in greeting, but they’d rouse the neighborhood if a stranger tried to get into the yard. Plus a lot of intruders are scared of this breed, with good cause. This breed loves its family, and they are very attractive dogs, in my opinion.
I wonder how long this will take to devolve into a conversation of the relative merits of 9mm vs .45? But seriously…
The above tips are good ones. Preventative medicine is the best medicine. But just in case the unthinkable does happen, it’s good to be prepared. If you don’t have renters insurance, get it. If you do, do some shopping around, review other policies available to you and make sure you have the best one. Renters insurance is usually pretty cheap, and the difference between a decent policy and an excellent one may be only a few dollars a month. Make a list of your valuable possessions, maybe go around your house with a digital camera to assist you in documenting your losses in the event of a break-in. Ask your police department what you can do to be prepared.
Of course you’re really worried about the safety of you and your children, not your possessions, but knowing you’ll be able to deal with the aftermath of a robbery should bring you at least a small amount of comfort. Think of it like a car crash: your first concern is that no one was hurt. But even if everyone emerges without a scratch, it’s still a pain in the ass to have your car totaled. In the aftermath of a robbery you’ll probably be under a lot of stress, to put it mildly. You’ll be grateful for every bit of homework you did beforehand to make the process of getting your life back to normal a little easier/quicker.
I recommend calling the local police and asking them to evaluate your house. They can tell you what you need to do to make it more secure. Let them know that it’s just you, the kids and your mother living there. Some things that you can do to secure the home are simple. Like if you want to secure a sliding glass door, put a broom handle at the bottom of the door to prevent it from being slid open. If you have double-hung windows, there are simple inexpensive locks you can get. But since you’re in a rental, I don’t recommend installing anything that requires drilling or screwing holes in the wood.
Please only look into getting a dog if you actually want a dog as a pet and have the time to train it and play with it. Family dogs should always be pets first, and intruder alerts second.
I like the idea of have the police do an evaluation and give you suggestions.
Two times I’ve purchased a video survelliance system for my house because of neighborhood vandalism, stupid kid stuff. I neved had to use it to identify anyone because as soon as word got out that cameras were in place, all the vandalism stopped. They’re a pretty good deterrent and my guess would be they’d provide an impetus for a criminal to pass up your house for one that doesn’t have such a system.
The first time I spent thousands of dollars, the last time just $300 at Sams. Put the cameras where they can view and be seen from a wide area.
Before you do any mods to the house, better make sure the landlord’s OK with it. Otherwise, you could wind up getting hit for a fair amount of money or even evicted for lease violations if your landlord’s as much of a jerk as some I’ve known.
Well, the OP said guns are not an option, otherwise I’d have suggested .357 magnum (hollow points) or 12 Gauge.
Heh. My Druidess, among many other talents, used to train Irish Wolfhounds (and border collies). Her fence had a sign with a silhouette of the gianormous dog over the caption: * I can cross this yard and clear this fence in 2.7 seconds. Can you?*
Others have already mentioned a dog. Keep in mind it’s not an attack thing. A dog’s security value is they will start barking when there’s a stranger in the house. For home security purposes, a chihuahua is as good as a german shepherd.
Other things to consider is in house security. Do all the bedrooms have strong locking doors? This will keep you family members safe even if an intruder is inside the house. Make sure you have a phone inside the bedroom so you can call the police from there.
You might also consider a system of outside lights that you can turn on and off from your bedroom. If a burglar is breaking into a house and hears a dog barking and the lights come on around him, he’s going to run away.
Thank you all. I spoke to my landlord this morning. She is understanding and I told her that I was looking into some of my options and she was fine with me installing a security alarm. I doubt she will pitch in half for it. I spoke to my neighbor whose house got broken into and she said that she is getting a security system (ADT) installed tomorrow and she got a deal where the installation is free and then she will be paying pay $47 each month, which I think I can manage on my own. I mean…if it gives me some peace of mind, then heck yeah!
My landlord was also fine with me putting in a security bar for the patio door, which I might still do even though I am getting the alarm. The lock on that door has always been flimsy.
She pays a gardener to come every week and take care of the bushes and mow the lawn and all that good stuff. I have a light sensor thingie at the front of the house. The one at the back of house is not working, so I will get that fixed.
I wish I could get a guard dog, but I agree with some of the posters. I don’t have time to care for the dog and offer it love given my life circumstances at the moment. I am also looking into some of the other suggestions here, which might be good to look into even though I am getting the alarm. I had a difficult time sleeping last night because of my anxiety, but I feel better today.
Also…side note, I saw the aftermath of my neighbors home last night. Some things were odd to me. To me, it seemed like they were looking for something specific in her home, almost like it was done by somebody known to the family. They didn’t take her diamond earrings that were on her dresser in plain view, they didn’t take her designer watch, her expensive sunglasses, a brand new designer bag that still had the tags on which was sitting by the foot of her bed, the Bose audio system which is fairly easy to unplug and take.
So I wonder if this was an isolated, intentional burglary. Either way…I feel bad for her and I’d rather be prepared myself.
Your neighbor signed up with ADT to pay them $47 per month and is happy to do so? That sounds like too much to me. You should be able to get a security system with monitoring for much less than that.
I used to be in the security industry.
Shop around, $47 per month is forcible rape.
The equipment is NOT that expensive nowadays, so don’t think that they’re doing you a huge favor by installing it at a reduced cost and letting you ‘pay it off’ over the course of years.
Yeah.
$8.95 is a possibility if you can pay for the equipment yourself.
Even if you bought a really nice panel and paid good money for the installation, it’s cheaper to not go ADT.
I suggest finding an alarm installer with a good rating from Angie’s List, who will install the equipment for you.
Yeah, I’ve heard really bad things about ADT. Look into other providers and maybe your neighbor can but the brakes on until she can do some more research. This tread over at Fat Wallet might help. Link
Home stores sell motion sensors that screw right into existing sockets; cheap and easy.
