Home Security On my mind again

[pennwalk]

According to our local Police a FBI team was in town yesterday including a profiler. So it isn't just on TV there really is such a thing. The local Police are interviewing people at the High School. As you can imagine that is causing quite a stir. They are building a victimology profile on the son.

We have had painters working on the outside for the last 10 days. For some reason they removed the triple track storm windows so we have had one less layer if screen and glass. I will be glad to be done with that if for no other reason than it is a pain to have painters at the window of what ever room I want to use. As a side note they fixed a cracked window pane and had to break the glass and I was surprised that it didn't make as much of a racket as I thought. We were assuming that we would hear it if someone broke a window at night. We are still leaving outside lights on at night but I think we need to automate the system.

My wife really would like things to go back to the way things were in the good old days. We both grew up on homes that were never locked. Looks like we are living in a new world and it ain't that great.

I noticed Invisible fence working on a house on the other side of the street. There are little orange flags all around the perimeter so it looks like there is a dog in their future.

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

Steve,
That is a nice looking group of girls. Are they all yours. It made me smile just to see their picture. My 2 girls are playing soccer this afternoon. District semifinal. I'm a little nervous and I'm not even playing

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

I talked to the alarm guy today would you be surprised to hear that they are very busy?

Some points of interest.

He said that about 80% of break ins come through a door.
A conventional door is childs play to get through and it wouldn't necessarily make much noise.
The guy I talked to didn't like outside equipment which he thought gives too many false alarms and breaks down in the elements and is subject to tampering by bad guys I had thought the ideal thing would be to catch bad guys while they were in the yard.
He was doubtful of the value of outside lighting.
I guess I wasn't too surprised to learn that the existing system is totally obsolete and would need to be replaced except possibly the wires.
He didn't think too much of surveillance cameras but of course he would be happy to install them if thats what I really want.
He also thought there was too great a chance of most people shooting somebody they didn't intend to so he wasn't a big fan of guns.

Looks like everybody has their own ideas about how to best defend the home.

Chris

 

[RoyJackson]

Nice post, Dan!

I definitely agree with your comments concern using a pump action shottie. I can't count the number of times I racked one in the breech, pulled the trigger and...

Which is why I leave the breech empty and the safety off. In the case of an emergency, I'd just pump and go.
No kids here...if there were, I'd probably use a different method of stashing the shottie.

 

[RedRocker]

Those shells aren't old, I've got some that are probably 20 years old.
As long as they're stored in a dry place I wouldn't worry about them.

 

[ctpres]

If you get serious about a security system I would be happy to help you. Have been in security for over forty years and currently own an alarm company. Very briefly, you can buy or lease. Salesman may not make it very clear which he is offering. Sytems come in three levels of protection with lots of variations. Basically: Protect property, protect property and people asleep and protect property and people day and night. Std lease packages offer three doors and a motion, this does not protect people. Top end $$$ system will provide 24 hour protection (even with alarm off) with every window wide open using something called alarm screens. Think of an electroinic burglar bar. Don't know about pricing in your market, but top end system can run around $1.00 per sq. foot. If you have questions or would like more info, let me know, would be happy to help.

 

[pennwalk]

Thanks Dan good post. I have mini pepper sprays for the girls but I haven't had a chance to go over it with them. They will be good for when they go out running too. One of the girls from school got grabbed not too far from here. Thank goodness she was able to get away. So it is a real concern.

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

ctpres, I'd be glad for any education you have time to give us. We have 7 doors and 16 double hung windows on the ground floor. We are struggling to find a way to have the bedroom windows open at night and still be safe. We are safer than we were a week ago but we are going to get safer.

Chris

 

[1bush2hog]

We have security system, lights, dogs, guns etc., but one has to look at security from a totally different angle when you have children of any age in the house.

Make sure you are able to also identify an intruder as an intruder, and not not mistake your teenager sneaking back into the house after curfew, or little Johnny getting a drink of water after midnight as an intruder. Having a good dependable flashlight is a good idea too. Like others have mentioned, a good, well rehearsed "what if" plan is vital

Also, worth mentioning is a device I picked up for my yard when junior/senior wars were going on - a wireless motion detector that consists of the motion detector unit and a small base unit that plugs into an outlet inside your house. You can use the base unit as an audible alarm or plug a lamp, radio, or other electric device into it.

The unit was inexpensive from Home Depot and works great. I ended up leaving it in place to alert me when someone walks or drives up to the garage side of our house. Just thought I would mention this as I have been impressed especially since it is so inexpensive. I can't say that it won't trigger a false alarm, but it hasn't since I have been using it the last two years.

 

[pennwalk]

I like motion detectors. One thing I have been thinking about is an integrated outside lighting system. I want motion detecting spots on all 4 corners of the house and that would be great for lighting the driveway in front of the garage when we come home. It would be nice to have hi/low or dimmable floods to replace the cans along the front and back of the house and it would be nice if when motion was detected by the spots it would switch the floods from lo to hi for a period of time. Looks like I am going to have to take a trip down to the lighting supply house and see what they know. I'll let you know if I find out anything interesting.

Chris