View from the cop: Crime & punishment
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AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2005 > June > 23 > Entry
Common-sense tips on foiling burglars/yeggs/bad guys/home invaders
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Common sense is the key to a lot of things, including crime prevention. I assumed that almost everyone had some common sense, yet last weekend I actually saw a man on a motorcycle tailgating me, and then later tailgating a portable-toilet truck. Either could have resulted in disaster.
Crime is sometimes overcomplicated by numbers and ratios. As you know, everything in the world is best explained by using baseball analysis. Baseball is full of statistical information ranging from the basics like hits and home runs totaled by the game or week, to the more complicated stats such as runs scored by left-handed hitters during home games where the dew-point is slightly higher or the combined on-base percentage of guys who pound their chest, kiss their hand and then point up when they score a run versus the guys who pick their nose in the dugout despite knowing they’re on the “Game of the Week” on TV.
Sometimes you need to return to the basics. Hit the ball, catch the ball and throw the ball. Each will get you into all the other statistics.
As far as you’re concerned, the only crime stats that matter accomplish your personal goal. “I want to look back during the last year and say for sure that nothing got stolen, nothing got burglarized, and I didn’t get robbed.” That’s a good year and, you used minimal statistics.
Combined effort
Effective crime-prevention comes with an understanding that you can’t do it all and we cops can’t do it all. The second understanding is this: Your personal protection plan for home, wife, kids, dogs, fish, cars, whatever, has to be higher on the priority food chain than what it probably is right now.
Security tends to fall on the scale of important things if you have never been a victim. You don’t really think about it until it happens. Then you get all mad and upset. Security become a big deal because it happened to you.
The hardest part about crime prevention is maintaining the level of interest in it because, if you do it right, you still don’t see the fruits of your labor. If a would-be burglar drives by the house and notes you’ve got holly bushes trimmed under the windows and the sign says you’ve got an alarm system and cars are in the driveway and the sign on the backyard fence says, “Bio-Hazard,” well, he may decide he doesn’t want to target your home.
The key becomes your consistency in making you home and personal security a priority that ranks a little higher than changing the fertilizer spikes.
Never say never.
It can happen. That’s just the way it is.
If you live in an apartment community, then know that most apartment burglaries are initiated by kicking in the door. Once inside, the burglar usually grabs the TV, stereo/CD player, DVD player, X-Box or PS2 game systems as well as the DVDs and CDs from the front living room.
Two things burglars can’t afford: Time and noise.
Knowing this, what do you do?
Find a good isolated area to keep DVDs and CDs. What this means is you have to get up and stash them in the hiding place. Immediately you’ll notice two things:
1. You’re lazy.
2. You tend to procrastinate.
I’m sorry to tell you this but it’s true. Now you have to figure out what to do with the game system. It’s not practical to have to set it up each time you want to play it but it’s more secure that way than left under the TV counter. The middle ground might be looking for a cabinet that doesn’t have the exposed area where the TV and stereo goes and/or locks. It makes noise to force open things. Maybe this burglar knows that someone is upstairs and can hear, so he or she decides not to mess with it. Your percentages are at least a little better than if those items were just out there for the taking.
A smaller percentage of apartment burglars come in through sliding door or back window. These guys have more time because they didn’t make all that noise kicking in the door. The same thing applies to them. Make them look, for a while, to find anything of value.
Doors and window are how they get in. Apartment sliding doors are notorious for being easily compromised. Many are actually put on backwards. There are door-bars that attach to the framing and a bar will extend from the casing of the frame to the inset part of the sliding door, restricting it from sliding. You can also drill a hole and insert a pin that connects the two door-frames together. Be careful not to drill into the glass or your hand. Now the sliding door has to be shattered for someone to enter. Although there are some that would do that, most will not.
Window locks are useful but I would combine them with drilling holes and using pins to connect the door frames. You can use a wooden stick or dowel, or pole, cut to the length of the top from of the window to the upper casing. Place it against the edge and it will give you added support.
Remember, if Plan A, which is keeping the burglar out, doesn’t work then Plan B should be to make things hard to find.
House burglars
These cats are a bit different. They normally look for stealth or blending conditions to get to and often to the back of a house to get in. Many entry points are back basement doors or windows. Most have “mature” landscaping that offers concealment. Fences are good to keep a percentage of bad guys out but for those who get in, the fence now offers cover.
Locking hardware is especially important on back and basement areas. If your basement door isn’t a cosmetic concern, then make sure it’s a steel door with no window. If you have an alarm [and even if you don’t] make sure an alarm sticker is visible right next to the “Warning, Bad Dog” and “SWAT Team Lounge” signs. Make sure the door jam is solid and your dead bolt a good one. A 1.5 to 2 inch throw is a good length and make sure the strike-plate is screwed in there with 1.5 to 2 inch screws.
In other words, make it hard to kick in.
If the burglar should happen to get in, the next obstacle should be the door leading from the basement to the upstairs. Most interior doors are lighter than exterior door. An exterior door would be much stronger. Use another dead bolt. It’s hard to kick in a door when you’re 3-4 steps down the stairs.
Some burglars will use the front door. Some pose as contract labor or service techs, but most dress in everyday clothing and may use a car or pickup truck. They try to blend but at some point they have to make a move to get in position behind the home or into the side doors or garage areas.
Many times detectives will interview witnesses and/or neighbors who said they saw someone in the area that seems a bit odd or even suspicious but they shrugged it off. Most of our arrests are generated from a complainant who calls about something that they saw that didn’t look right. A person, a car, even a dog barking out of normal patterns may indicate something that you need to call 911 on.
Alarms
Alarms are good if you use them. The biggest problem is this: A lot of people don’t use them unless they’re going to be gone all day or out of town. Fifteen minutes down the street is plenty of time to get in and steal your stuff, so it’s reason to set the alarm. Use it, use it, and use it!
Where to hide
Most residential burglars head for the master bedroom dresser area to find jewelry. Usually they find it. The next stop is the bathroom vanity area. Usually they score there, too. Don’t use these two locations nor the end-tables for jewelry storage. Again, make it difficult to score quickly and easily.
Floor and wall safes are good protection. Remember to lock them. I saw a report where an extensive amount of jewelry was taken from a wall safe that was unlocked during a real estate open house. Someone either posed as a prospective buyer and successfully tried the lock or someone just happened to try it and it was unlocked. Either way, the opportunity was presented when it was left unlocked.
Floor safes are good but put them in right. Most basement or ground floors are on a cement slab. Some safes are inserted into a hole cut into the concrete slab but under the slab is dirt. It only takes a couple of good whacks with a sledge hammer to bust up the concrete. Dig a larger hole and insert the floor safe, like a fence post and then surround it with concrete so that someone has a lot of work ahead to free that safe. Finally, don’t forget to lock it.
Some burglars will carry tools to fish money or items from a floor safe with a deposit slot.
Perception is reality
Motion detection sensors are a good measure for exterior deterrence. They notify you that the signal was tripped at the end of the driveway.
Back-yard lighting on sensors and timers are a good idea. Sensors will go off when the dogs, cats, raccoons and possums pass by. That’s OK. It’s systematically unsystematic. Let the fence-gates squeak when they’re opened.
Some of my readers have offered other tips such as: Leave a pair of size 15 construction boots [dirty] by the door step when you’re gone or like one elderly woman did: Write a note to the pest control man to cancel his appointment today because your son’s snake collection got loose and you haven’t been able to find them all.
In summary
Look at your security as more of a priority and do and combine several little things to make the home or business look less attractive to would-be burglars or thieves. Bio-hazard and crime scene tape have a place in modern crime prevention.
Be creative.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By SANDY SPRINGS RESIDENT
June 23, 2005 10:26 AM | Link to this
WELL I AM FREAKED OUT NOW AS I SUPPOSE I SHOULD BE- BUT ALL THINGS CONSIDERED I SUPPOSE JUST TAKING ALL KINDS OF SAFETY PRECAUTIONS ARE WHAT WE ALL NEED TO DO; LIVING IN AN APARTMENT YOU WOULD THINK THE MANAGEMENT COMPANIES WOULD GIVE A DARN; BUT IN REALITY THEY DON’T SO ITS UP TO RESIDENTS; SO IF THAT MEANS A FEW HOLES IN THE DOORS OR WALLS TO ENSURE SAFETY WITH EXTRA LOCKS THEN SO BE IT. IS’NT YOUR OWN SAFETY WORTH IT?????? THANKS!
By Tisa
June 23, 2005 11:32 AM | Link to this
We just moved in a new house and this is our anti-theft device: the cat door installed by the previous homeowners in the garage door which is just wide enough for our two pit-lab mixes to stuff their big heads through whenever someone walks up the driveway.
By Cookie
June 23, 2005 12:14 PM | Link to this
Especially for single women - leave a big dog bowl with some food in it outside the rear door. If you have a lawn, add a long, big leash to give the impression of a big house dog. Scatter big dog chews/bones by the front of the house. Add any other indication of a large dog around the house, apt or visible from windows.
By Debbie
June 23, 2005 1:09 PM | Link to this
I live in an apartment in Atlanta and our management continues to stress that our personal safety and security is our responsibility and ours alone. After numerous break-ins and thefts in the complex I finally got consistent with setting my alarm and I added signs on every window to SAVE DOG IN CASE OF FIRE. It lets firemen and potential burglars know she’s inside.
By Lee
June 23, 2005 1:41 PM | Link to this
Don’t you have a lot of other little furry creatures eating up the food from the big dog bowl?
By Tina
June 23, 2005 2:54 PM | Link to this
I have 2 signes posted on the front and rear of my home. One says, Screw the dog, BEWARE OF THE OWNER! The other says, “I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.”
Tina, Wife of a federal officer
By James Evans
June 23, 2005 4:34 PM | Link to this
Hello first of all i just wanted to thank you for your column, I enjoy reading it. I am moving into an apartment soon in atlanta and am concerned about it getting broken into. I have considered puting some of the little cameras in the living areas that would be activated when no one is there, to record anyone who broke in. Would there be any chance of actually finding the thieves if I got grainy video of them? And would it be worth the money? Just a thought…
By Tammy
June 23, 2005 4:41 PM | Link to this
Some other hints, since I just went through all of this (setting up my deaf father who now lives alone due to my mother’s death) is get yourself some decals for the windows and doors, along with the yard sign for security places (ADT, Protection One, etc…). Upon seeing this, a potential burgular has no idea whether or not you have a system or not. They’d rather not take the chance. I also set up the small window/door alarms that go off LOUDLY once the connection is broken and the window/door is opened. My dad can’t hear it, but the neighbors sure can and they have been instructed to call the Police if they hear it going off. Putting the sign in the window about ‘Firemen, please save my _Dog(s)’ is a great thing too. I put in the #3, since I found some other door alarms that ‘bark’ if the door is moved or opened in any way. I put some of them inside the doors—again, my dad can’t hear them, but he ‘triggers’ them when he goes through the house, so anyone outside the house thinks he’s got 3 dogs. I also set up the lights in the living room with the new Clapper that you can set for ‘Away’ and the lights come on at any noise made. Timers and music playing helps too. Anything to make the place seem ‘busy’.
By Marcia
June 23, 2005 5:11 PM | Link to this
Get a dog!
By Mike
June 23, 2005 11:05 PM | Link to this
I used to have an eight-foot rat snake. It was in an aquarium by the only entrance to my high rise apartment. It was quiet, ate about once a month, but seemed to keep people out like a raging pit bull. The maintenance men wouldn’t come in if I wasn’t home.
By laurie
June 24, 2005 3:28 PM | Link to this
Actually, Steve, since you speak of ratios and history, what are the benefits of owning a big dog when it comes to security? I live in an apartment on Roswell Rd, own a 55 lb dog with BIG TEETH and I don’t do much to change the public’s perception that we’re not to be messed with.
Statistically, how much is this likely to help me?
By Linda
June 26, 2005 11:42 AM | Link to this
I had a Great Dane once who was the greatest early warning and protection program anyone could ask for. He was the sweetest and gentlest soul but he would protect my son and me with his life! I tend to have a hot temper that can be easily triggered in the right circumstances and my dog, Damien, was with me once when it happened. Here’s how that went: A man in a shopping center parking lot ran a stop sign and nearly hit me. I was pregnant at the time and highly protective because of it. I yelled out my window, “Hey! Watch what you’re doing, moron!” Granted that was stupid. But at any rate the guy got out of his car as if he were going to fight me like a man. Well, my temper got the better of me and I thought, “I can take ‘im.” I opened the door to have an argument of wits with the guy and my Great Dane whom I had momentarily forgotten was with me came barreling out of the back of the car (6’ 8” tall when standing upright on rear feet). The guy threw up his hands and said, “Alright. Alright. We’re cool,” as he BACKED into his car and drove away as fast as he could go. “And let that be a lesson to ya!” I said as he drove away. Another time someone was snooping on my front porch at 3 AM (I could feel their weight jarring the living room floor so I know it wasn’t an animal. This was also a bad neighborhood.) Damien went to the front door and took a loud sniff along the bottom of the door. He ran to the window beside the door and threw back the blinds with his nose and barked and growled. I felt the jarring jump and then run down the stairs. He was great for running off the door-to-door people as well, just go to the door while holding his collar as he struggles to get close enough to them for a good smelling over. They always say they’ll come back later but never do.
By Brian
June 26, 2005 4:03 PM | Link to this
Actually if you own a large dog “solely” for your protection, you are mistaken. Guns are a lot cheaper to own (long term) and you don’t have to worry about an emotional attachment when going on vacation.
More women have fought off attackers with guns than dogs… and that’s a fact. Having said that, I’ll bet if you walk a big dog down the street as a woman, you will be less likely to be attacked than a woman with “no” dog. (I have yet to read any heroic stories of cats protecting their mostly simgle female owners).
By Syd Henry
June 26, 2005 8:12 PM | Link to this
I’m 70 yrs. old and just have questions that I hope you can answer. 1. Why is there no enforcement of speed limits anywhere anymore? 2. Why are speed traps given a bad rap when they’re just ticketing people who are breaking the law? 3. How many people have to be killed by drivers running red lights before something is done about the offenders? 4. Why are police not stationed at different schools on different days to issue tickets to all those drivers who continue going 45 miles an hour when the 25 mile school zone light is flashing? Thank you. Syd Henry
By Paul
June 27, 2005 10:44 AM | Link to this
I have 2 big dogs and a Desert Eagle! Signs posted on my fence and all entrances…..”Beware of Dogs, Fear Desert Eagle”
By SB girl
June 28, 2005 11:33 AM | Link to this
I have lived in a recovering area in west Midtown for a year. Within a month of buying my house I also bought: Brinks signs for the yard and windows, life member of nra stickers for front door, and beware of attack german shepherd sign to lean on the steps…the shepherd came from the pound a few weeks later, and everything else was from ebay. I walk him each day past the scary houses, and he sits in the front window watching when I’m gone. Wouldn’t hurt a flea, but who is going to try to get past all that!
By Margaret
June 28, 2005 11:19 PM | Link to this
Just remember to tuck your spare house keys and car keys somewhere out of sight so you don’t get repeat business…
By CatLover
June 29, 2005 11:05 AM | Link to this
@Brian’s cat remarks…sure, a cat won’t protect you, but my cats WILL give me a heads-up that someone is outside/on the porch, and all that without making a big racket. Allows me to come around from the back, armed, and surprise who-ever is out there.
and I am a guy.
By Jennifer
June 29, 2005 11:25 AM | Link to this
Big gun, big dog, extra big cat, another cat that is a Bengal breed; she’d just eat you.
By Aubrey
June 30, 2005 2:08 PM | Link to this
What do you do if you just have a big old softy for a dog? I love my australian shepherd and he is very protective but he jumps on people when he thinks they are threatening. He doesn’t bite. What’s he going to do? Paw them into submission? Maybe I need a bulldog.
By Dash
July 1, 2005 9:10 AM | Link to this
About the people with the signs touting gun ownership, I have been told that it’s a bad idea because it lets the bad guys know that there are guns in your home that they might want to steal.
Any thoughts on this from officers?
By Adam
July 1, 2005 10:04 AM | Link to this
I’m not a law officer, but I for one would hope that even a criminal would have enough sense not to risk breaking into a house where he KNOWS that the homeowner owns a gun. If the criminal still thinks he should break in…I say “good riddance.”
By Richard
July 1, 2005 2:18 PM | Link to this
I wonder what the school systems are thinking when they allow the kids to put a sign in a front yard advertising that a cheerleader lives there….. Seems to me that with all the sicko’s out there I would want a bit of anonymity for my daughter….
By Jerry
July 2, 2005 5:20 PM | Link to this
Richard:
Think about it. It is not the school system that posts the signs it is the parents. The school system does not have any say so in what signs you post in your yard.
By Katie
July 5, 2005 2:20 PM | Link to this
I have lived in Atlanta for 11 years and never been robbed or burglarized. May be a record. One of the things I found is to never be conspicious with property and never be too friendly. Also if you live at the front of the appartment complex, they take your car, at the rear, your stuff, the middle is safer.
Dare to be a jerk, you will live longer.
By TC
July 5, 2005 5:07 PM | Link to this
The best theft deterrent I know of was a friend who went to the gun range and taped her target onto the front door. Under the nine bulls-eyes was a note saying “Go ahead and try me.” Nobody ever did!