I first got into the habit of locking my door under all circumstances because when I moved to Washington D.C., I was under the impression someone would try to kill me if I didn’t (murder capitol of the nation, and all).
Funny thing: About a mile from where I lived was the neighborhood of Mt. Pleasant, and even closer was Adams-Morgan. Some lunatic (The Mt. Pleasant Shooter) began stalking those neighborhoods about a year after I arrived, shooting people at random out in the street from his car and driving off. I was in Adams-Morgan the night a woman was boldly gunned down about a block away, picked only because she unwisely approached his car upon request.
So much for locking the door. The only strangers who ever approached it were Mormons.
I live in West Virginia, which has one of the lowest crime rates in the US.
I lock my door (I only have one) at all times. Most of the windows are locked, too. I am annoyed because there is only one lock on my front door, which my 4 year old can easily undo. The landlord won’t let us put up a chain lock. Car doors are always locked, too.
I’m not “afraid” of either, but both are a concern, of course. I’m not real worried about theft because stuff is just stuff. The things a crook would steal from me can be replaced.
I used to have faith in humanity and trusted people, then I started majored in Criminal Justice. I know exactly how many sex offenders live in my county and I know whether or not my neighbors have criminal records (looked it up, they’re clean). I don’t live in fear, but I’m well aware that there are bad guys out there. I figure all I can do is use some common sense and leave the rest up to God.
We don’t lock our door while we are here during the day, in fact, we often leave it wide open to better circulate the air. We lock it at night, partially for safety, but also partially to prevent drunken students from wandering in.
At my parent’s house in Ohio, they also leave the doors unlocked during the day unless they leave.
On my own, no. I don’t lock the doors if I’m at home (and awake). My wife always does though.
I have the feeling of being locked in rather than locking others out, and my main paranoia is neither theft nor outside aggression, but fire. We have a security (screen) door that opens outwards, and a very heavy solid timber main door with deadbolts that opens inward. My wife locks both, but when I’m home alone or with our son, I only lock the security door. In a fire, I am confident that due to my physical size and strength, and the rush of adrenaline which would no doubt be present, I could bust that thing wide open with one decent shoulder charge (but a thief trying to get in would still find it a challenge), however that solid inward-opening door would be beyond me.
a) I lock the door all the time - when I’m home, when I’m out, even when I take the dog for a short walk.
b) When I’m home I worry about privacy and personal safety. Plus we have a new doggie, and if someone unexpectedly opened the door, she might get out and run away! When I’m out, I worry about our stuff. Plus I have an unbalanced paranoid alcholic exboyfriend and I have constant fear that he will find out where I live and do something stupid. I also worry about if something DID get taken, dealing with the police and the insurance company, and having to justify why the door wasn’t locked in the first place.
c) We live in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Most people I know lock their doors most of the time.
(I lock my car doors too - even if I’m just hopping into 7-Eleven - I’m not sure why).
I’m a worrier and these measures just make me feel safer. However, I’m not nearly as bad as my brother, who lives about an hour away. He will lock all of the house doors even when they’re in his backyard!!! Even their door that goes into the kitchen from the deck - which they can CLEARLY see from the backyard. Weirdo.
When I grew up in the Sea Islands of SC (70’s), we didn’t even have a key to the house. When my dad started working overseas and the house was empty, my parents finally got the locks changed and had keys. Buy I have always kept my door locked when I was gone. Lately (last 5 years or so, after I moved to Miami) I keep it locked when I am home also.
I live in a very ethnically NON-diverse town, with nearly everyone in my apartment complex the same “color”. We have very low crime in my town, a nicely rising median level, and good economic development. But statistics don’t mean squat if it is YOUR place that gets burgled.
By the way, my town is 80% “black”, my wife and I are the only “white” people in our complex. We have never felt threatened or out-of-place, and we are very often the only caucasians in a restaurant or store.
a) Do you lock your door when you are in the house? Why or why not?
Generally when we are awake and at home, the doors are unlocked. I keep doors and windows open when the weather is nice enough to allow it.
Sleeping, I lock the front door. we sleep with the patio doors open- in nice weather.
We keep the garge door closed always except when we are out there, because of all of my husbands tools and such.
When we are gone, I will lock up the house. Sometimes I will leave the back doors to our gated patio open in nice weather when we are gone.
Out of town- all locked up.
b) Are you more afraid of someone breaking in to steal your stuff or someone breaking in to do you harm?
Our neighborhood hasn’t had any noticible problems and I am not that concerned about either.
Also, if you could state which country you could from (or what area of the US) because I would be interested to know how location affects this opinion.
We live in Henderson, Nevada (Las Vegas Metro area)
My door locks automatically when it’s shut, so I have no choice. But I would lock it anyway. Dublin isn’t the most burglar-free place I’ve ever lived (despite the fact - Moonlight Drive take note - that it’s the least diverse place I’ve ever lived).
Moonlight Drive, I would like to know exactly what you meant when you used the phrases “diverse” and “non-diverse.” You have told us what it* could * mean and accused others of inferring something you may not have meant.
Please tell us here or here just what you meant by “diverse” and why it would mean you need to lock your doors.
I’ve always lived in a locked house but then my family has gone through a couple of break ins.
My roomates a few years ago in general only locked up when we were all out or when we were sleeping. We had a doped up idiot invade our home and attack one of my roomates, (was later caught and jailed, but not a pleasant night). We always locked the doors after that. This was in Prince George, BC, population ~80,000.
In Toronto,and Vancouver we always lock our doors. I’m suprised more people don’t do this for insurance/liability reasons (maintaining an attractive nuisance and all that).
Forgot to say: Southwestern U.S. here, I don’t have a specific fear, and I’m pretty resigned to the fact that if someone really wants to come in, none of my doors or locks is going to stop them. It doesn’t really matter to me what the reason would be, I want nobody coming into my house uninvited. Period.
a) Do you lock your door when you are in the house? Why or why not? No, because it is an old house with keys that don’t work well. Plus, the door seems locked because it takes a lot of effort to open and we have a black lab whose bark is scary as heck so anyone would be scared away (although all she would do is lick them to death)
b) Are you more afraid of someone breaking in to steal your stuff or someone breaking in to do you harm? do me harm - I don’t own anything that I couldn’t replace
Also, if you could state which country you could from (or what area of the US) because I would be interested to know how location affects this opinion.
USA, Upstate New York
We keep the house locked up all the time. We live near a large uni, and sadly that makes for a high petty crime rate. Mum’s purse has been stolen once, but other than that we’re the only house on the block not to be burgled because of our not dangerous but big dog.
It’s also a bit of residual force of habit from when we lived in PNG and did get people trying to break in occasionally – successfully too, once, when 6 guys walked in on a Sunday afternoon with everyone but my dad home.
We lock our doors at night, when we’re in bed. We live in a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland.
I’m not worried about personal harm as much as theft/damage.
I grew up in rural Alberta, and we generally didn’t lock our doors if Dad was home. We felt pretty safe. In Calgary and other large cities, I always locked my doors at night.
Yes. This once happened to my mom. Somehow they actually got the dog outside, away from the house, and they hurt my mom and robbed the house. It was awful.
We have two very large dogs who are inside pets. We live in central Denver, and we only lock our doors at night.
Petty crime, and sometimes worse, does happen around here. But we have never had anything happen inside the house.
a) An anonymous apartment in a northern suburb of Houston, TX. I always lock up, whether I’m home or not. Car always locked as well.
b) If I’m worried about anything, it would more be that someone might steal my stuff, most of which can be replaced, but with some considerable hassle. Mostly, though, ‘cause I don’t want someone inadvertently walking in when I’m lounging around, half- or fully-undressed. This happened to me a couple of times at a previous anonymous complex, where people mistook my apartment for someone elses’.
The only time someone ever entered one of my residences when I wasn’t home was by breaking though a locked door. The person, thinking I was someone else he had a beef with, was waiting for me and fully intended to do me harm. I noticed the break-in as I came in and although not fully-prepared, and though the guy ran off before I could call the cops, it could have turned out much worse if I’d just strolled in not realizing someone had busted into the place.
