Posted: 4/12/2004 1:08:58 PM EDT
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I got a call at 11:10 this morning from ADT stating that the alarm was set off by the carport door. I'm thinking it's a false alarm but tell them I'm on the way. I then call our dispatch office and talk to the supervisor who is living with one of our paramedics. I tell her it's me and she asks, "What's going on at your house?" I tell her I have no idea but I'm on the way. She has a car enroute so I just ask her to call if they find anything. Two minutes later my cell rings and she tells me there are signs of forced entry and they are starting additional ward cars and Crime Scene for investigation. Of course at this point every possible worst case scenario starts running through my head: the home theater system is gone, my guitars are gone, my mom's laptop that I was working on is gone, my girlfriend's diamond necklace that was sitting on the dresser is gone, my house is trashed, etc. I know the TV is okay because it weighs 400 lbs. and would take some time to get out the door and loaded. I arrive home about 15 minutes later and find 3 ward cars plus the investigator's car. Everyone is standing in the carport while they dust for prints. I am very relieved when they tell me that everything looks okay and that there are no signs that anyone made it inside the house. They finish dusting and I do a walkthrough with one of the officers to make sure nothing is missing. Would you believe that they didn't take a thing? None of the high dollar items that would be easy to pawn and easy to rapidly get out the door were missing. The moral of the story? Twenty-nine dollars a month for ADT and living in a city with police response of less than two minutes all paid for itself today. The other lesson is that my deadbolts now require a key from both the inside and outside. E-95 |
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WARNING - As a FF, you should know well the risks involved with those key-on-the-inside deadbolts. Make it too hard for them to get in, and YOU can't get OUT. It's happened here in Miami, where families have burned alive because they couldn't find the key to open the damn gates they had installed over the doors and windows. Make such decisions with EXTREME caution. My .223.... |
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Zaphod, That's the exact reason that I had those type of deadbolts in the first place. But I'm now the only one living here and I can easily exit through any window in my single story house. [blue]Edited to add: The perp gained entry by pulling his vehicle into the carport to block the neighbor's view, breaking the carport door window, and reaching in and unlocking the door by turning the deadbolt knob.[/blue] E-95 |
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Quoted: Zaphod, That's the exact reason that I had those type of deadbolts in the first place. But I'm now the only one living here and I can easily exit through any window in my single story house. E-95 Well, I certainly think it's "better" if you're alone, but for heaven's sake, make sure you keep several keys throughout the house, and NEVER USE THEM (that way you won't be tempted to "use it once and put it back later"). I only consider those locks in places like french doors, where it's easy to break a pane of glass and get in. OTOH, one can just break out the center of a french door and walk in without opening the damned door, so go figure. Just be careful, dude. Way too many dead folks here where I live (where it's considered perfectly OK for the good guys to live in cages while the animals roam the streets freely), to make me like this idea. |
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Double sided deadbolts are a good way to stop thieves, they either have to make alot of noise breaking a door, or haul stuff out slowly through a window. My escape plan is windows if I have no keys too. A second good thing in my mind, padlock your garage doors on the inside, so it's tougher for them to open a door and pull a car in, closing the door and loading up, without damaging the door in the process. |
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Thanks for all the well wishes guys. I think everything should turn out okay. And believe me Zaphod, I agree with you completely. If I had kids or a wife in the house I would definitely have a deadbolt with an interior knob. But I can guarantee that I can get out of this house if necessary without using the doors. If I have to, I can even exit through a wall. There are benefits of firefighter survival training! [:D] E-95 |
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Quoted: I hope the perp wasn't just casing your home. That's what happened to me. They came the first time just to look around(and steal my wifes car). The next time they came I lost some fire arms. I did think of that and it is a concern. I've alerted the retired neighbors next door and the neighbor that lives across the street who works from home. I'll be purchasing security doors in the next couple of days on top of the new deadbolts. Basically what I've done is create an environment that will require entry through a window. That will result in immediate activation of the alarm from the motion detectors. If anyone can think of additional measures I can take, I'm all ears. E-95 |
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The first things I did when I moved into my house was add heavy duty deadbolts to several external doors, add armored strike plates, and door reinforcing around the knob and lock cylinders. Remember when someone forces the door, the lock usually stays in one piece, its the door and door frame that breaks. I picked the options on the home to avoid having any glass within 3' of a door lock. |
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Quoted: I agree with Zaphod. Double key deadbolts can be dangerous. I have double-key deadbolts in my house, but whenever anybody is at home, we always leave the key in the locked when the door is locked with the dead bolt, or if we don't lock the deadbolt, we just use the cheesey regular door lock, that will only stop the honest guy. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I agree with Zaphod. Double key deadbolts can be dangerous. I have double-key deadbolts in my house, but whenever anybody is at home, we always leave the key in the locked when the door is locked with the dead bolt, or if we don't lock the deadbolt, we just use the cheesey regular door lock, that will only stop the honest guy. My thought is I want to be able to get out quick if I need to and keep ne'er-do-wells out. If you leave the key in the lock when you are home, then someone COULD also use it open the door if they can reach in. Now you got a home invasion.................. I would rather make it so that no "reach ins" can happen. The way to do that is solid walls near the door. I also realize that someone could kick the door in. I think that will take more time than the "reach in", and be much noiser. Which will, hopefully, alert people due to the noise. Then I may have time to 911, and get my gun, flashlight, and form a plan......... |
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Quoted: I'll be purchasing security doors in the next couple of days on top of the new deadbolts. Basically what I've done is create an environment that will require entry through a window. That will result in immediate activation of the alarm from the motion detectors. If anyone can think of additional measures I can take, I'm all ears. E-95 well, if you are installing security doors then screw the deadbolts. the doors won't have windows built in to them that can't be smashed out so the dead bolt is a non issue. Use the ones you have. Replace the hinge screws and strike plates while you have the doors off. Also, do you have motion activated lights on the likely avenues of approach? remove all the plants that provide cover near any other points of entry? |
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Quoted: Quoted: E-95 Glad to hear everything was ok. Although the story would be much better if you told us your 100lb Doberman ate the dirt bag.[lol] C'mon, Slidestop, you're slipping! You forgot to add, "And then post the pics of what's left!" [:D] [lolabove] Yeah I didn't think of that and I'm always sayin "where's the pics" [lol] |
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Quoted: WARNING - As a FF, you should know well the risks involved with those key-on-the-inside deadbolts. Make it too hard for them to get in, and YOU can't get OUT. It's happened here in Miami, where families have burned alive because they couldn't find the key to open the damn gates they had installed over the doors and windows. Make such decisions with EXTREME caution. Thats an easy one. Just place keys that only you and other members of the household know about at known positions. Preferably, close to the floor for obvious reasons. (fire) Bob My .223.... |
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If you have a neighbor that is within eye-sight of your home, set up a video camera, plug it into the wall, tape on slow speed and surevy your residence for a few days to see if someone "drives by" suspiciously like. Like stated above, someone may be tempted to return. Glad to see things turned out as best as they could have for now. |
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At least you didn't mention that you had six or eight guns laying around the house [rolleyes]. I have a double key main door as there is a normal double pain window less than six inches from the door knob [whacko] - there's always a key hanging on a hook on the hindge side of the door when we're home. I have an alarm system that calls my cell phone directly and if there isn't an answer my trusted neighbor. Most dogs of any size are easy enough to kill within a couple of minutes with little to no contact and I feel give a false sense of security - they are one part of a well though-out plan but not the alpa and the omega. Someone killed my friends Dobbie without a sound being made. They think that someone was setting them up for a robbery. Dumb thing is that dobbie was nothing but a poodle in a 95 pound container. |
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Well, I've got the dog alternative covered. The only problem is that he was over at the folks' house visiting while I was at work. Needless to say, he's home now and anyone trying to enter here will be greeted by a very angry chocolate lab. Now while I see the obvious security advantages to having no windows in any exterior doors, I refuse to live in a prison. But as an alternative, the security doors I'll be looking to purchase are the type with windows made of double paned tempered glass sandwiched over lexan or some similar design. Additional motion detectors will be installed as well. A very knowledgeable friend suggested that I get a camel spider and set it up as a greeting for any intruders. While that would be very satisfying, I'm pretty sure that I would be summarily convicted of crimes against humanity. E-95 |
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You know Paul, I think I'd actually be more upset if someone killed my dog than if they got away with every gun I own. This guy is my best bud and kept me sane during my divorce. As far as the guns are concerned, they are secured and I will actually be increasing the envelope surrounding them. Naturally I'd rather not discuss my plans on an open Internet forum. E-95 |
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Basically what I've done is create an environment that will require entry through a window. That will result in immediate activation of the alarm from the motion detectors. If anyone can think of additional measures I can take, I'm all ears. Get magnetic contacts installed on those windows - Sentrol has a combination magnetic contact/glassbreak that works VERY well. The problem with relying on the motion detectors is that they are ALREADY inside by the time the motion detector sees them. If they are inside, you are in danger of serious bodily harm or death. They also have more opportunity to valdalize or grab stuff on the way back out. You want to keep them from entering past the window/door. Then again, with this crowd they [burglar] are most likely in more danger :-) |
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Quoted: Basically what I've done is create an environment that will require entry through a window. That will result in immediate activation of the alarm from the motion detectors. If anyone can think of additional measures I can take, I'm all ears. Get magnetic contacts installed on those windows - Sentrol has a combination magnetic contact/glassbreak that works VERY well. The problem with relying on the motion detectors is that they are ALREADY inside by the time the motion detector sees them. If they are inside, you are in danger of serious bodily harm or death. They also have more opportunity to valdalize or grab stuff on the way back out. You want to keep them from entering past the window/door. Then again, with this crowd they [burglar] are most likely in more danger :-) I have thought about the glassbreak detectors as well since my folks have them in their house. The only problem is that I grind my own coffee and I've found from personal experience that this creates the same audio frequencies as breaking glass. End result is that every time we ground coffee, the alarm would go off. Realistically, if they want in the house bad enough they are going to get in no matter what I do. If I'm home when that happens and they are intent on a confrontation then they are in for more than they expected. If I'm not home, I know that my best option is to ensure rapid LE response and the security system seems to be my best option. E-95 |