When someone breaks into your house, it's not just the financial loss that affects you, it's the loss of sense of security.
Because he seems to have such a great sense of security now?
You can't prepare for every eventuality. That's why renters insurance IS the best idea.
The amount of people who actually think a gun is some kind of solution in this situation is simply staggering.
Sentry on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
wrote:
When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
When someone breaks into your house, it's not just the financial loss that affects you, it's the loss of sense of security.
Because he seems to have such a great sense of security now?
You can't prepare for every eventuality. That's why renters insurance IS the best idea.
The amount of people who actually think a gun is some kind of solution in this situation is simply staggering.
I'm not suggesting that renter's insurance is a bad idea. The way tsmvengy had said it, I thought he didn't think it mattered if someone broke in as long as it could all be replaced. I was trying to say that preventing the break in altogether would be better as there are other costs besides financial that occur when someone violates your home. I also never suggested he get a gun, though I feel it is a valid form of home-defense if you feel like you are in danger of bodily harm.
I would second the home security company stickers on the windows. You can get them off ebay. It doesn't make sense to install home security measure in a place you are renting. Just get renters insurance.
When someone breaks into your house, it's not just the financial loss that affects you, it's the loss of sense of security.
Because he seems to have such a great sense of security now?
You can't prepare for every eventuality. That's why renters insurance IS the best idea.
The amount of people who actually think a gun is some kind of solution in this situation is simply staggering.
You are on a video game forum. Shooting badguys is instinct here.
At this point I'd say if anything happens again like a knock or you see someone actively looking then do a confrontation. Call somebody first just in case and have them on the line is also a safe idea. Just get out there that these guys can't be sneaky. Gets them second guessing.
You guys do know they make non lethal (well less lethal) shotgun shells right? They hurt like a son of a bitch and aren't likely to kill someone. They're typically either darts made out of some nerf like material or pellets made from the same material. Also, the sound of you working the pump is probably going to be enough to get any would-be thief to run away and consider a different house. If you don't want to use a shotgun get an air Taser or pepper spray, but weapons like those won't necessarily protect you if they have a gun or knife. My whole point is, there's little you can do to stop them from breaking in when you're not home, but how are you going to protect yourself if they decide to break in when you are? One shot from a shotgun isn't guaranteed to kill someone, but it's probably enough to deprive them of their will to fight.
My life is more important than my shit, and I'd rather be armed just in case.
You guys do know they make non lethal (well less lethal) shotgun shells right? They hurt like a son of a bitch and aren't likely to kill someone. They're typically either darts made out of some nerf like material or pellets made from the same material. Also, the sound of you working the pump is probably going to be enough to get any would-be thief to run away and consider a different house. If you don't want to use a shotgun get an air Taser or pepper spray, but weapons like those won't necessarily protect you if they have a gun or knife. My whole point is, there's little you can do to stop them from breaking in when you're not home, but how are you going to protect yourself if they decide to break in when you are? One shot from a shotgun isn't guaranteed to kill someone, but it's probably enough to deprive them of their will to fight.
My life is more important than my shit, and I'd rather be armed just in case.
That kind of stuff puts you in much more dangerous legal territory than buckshot would. It's like firing a warning shot: by virtue of the fact that you are using potentially deadly force in an attempt to be less deadly, you are implicitly admitting that the threat wasn't severe enough to use deadly force in the first place.
We ought to just stop talking about guns in this situation - the most likely thing to occur is that they will get stolen when he's not at home.
Went out today to my bank to see about a safety deposit box, but unfortunately they're all taken. There's a few open at another location, but it's enough of a distance from my place (I only have a bike as transport) that it's no more convenient to me than if I used my relative's safety deposit.
That said, there's a few banks closer to me that I can (and will) check out.
I'll also be taking today to look into insurance and some of the other options you guys have listed (thank god i'm taking the summer off from school!). I'm gonna hit up the local general stores for security stickers and fake having ADT or something. I was gonna do the beware of dog thing, but my place is small enough to figure out that I don't have a dog, and that's an obvious bluff.
I was also considering getting some type of trunk or foot locker for my closet that I could store stuff in. Is this as (or more) viable than a safe? I imagine it's pricey, but if it's cheap enough (at or below 200) I could pony up.
I also don't expect anyone else to come knocking, looking for someone who isn't here, but if they do, I'll have my camera ready . I'll also look into the bump proof locks, and see if my landlord won't give me a discount or something on it. And I'll contact him today about the situation and see what his advice is (I don't think he'll have any though)
Just do common sense stuff. Nothing is thief proof, and the only thing you can truly hopeful is make your property such a hassle to rob that it isnt worth it. Locks, flood lights, window jams, safe, cameras, etc. Dont do stupid stuff like leaving the window open, leaving a key underneath the mat, growing a huge ass bush infront of your back windows, etc.
I think this pretty much sums it up. Might look into getting a dead bolt on top of everything else, if only to make you feel safer.
*Somewhat related but not really helpful*
A few years ago, more like 10 years ago, my dads tools were stolen right off our porch. We heard someone walking up the driveway but didn't see anyone when we looked outside. We thought we were hearing things but our neighbor came to us about 5 minutes later. He said this dude came up to the porch, prone down right in front of the screen door (the one I looked out to see who was coming), then crouched up, stole our tools and walked away Agent 47 style.
Indeed! I live a few blocks south of UNM off of Yale.
Sucks about your dad's tools.
I had some rakes and stuff in my side yard recently, but brought them inside before the whole incident yesterday occurred, thankfully. I've got a small rickety wooden chair out there now. It's not enough to get on the roof or anything (only a 1 floor apartment), but even then I'm planning on storing it somewhere.
You know, if these folks are knocking on your door every couple of days and asking for someone else, they'd have to be the least subtle thieves on the planet. It seems more likely to me that they're collections folks -- i.e., somebody put your address on a bad loan or credit card application, and the collections folks are trying to catch them at home.
Which isn't to say that you shouldn't still do the other stuff in this thread -- ask for ID, take pictures (and make sure they *know* that you have their picture), install timer lights, etc. But if they were aiming to rob you, I'd guess they'd have done it by now, instead of introducing themselves multiple times.
"Hi, I'm Tim, and I'll be your burglar this week! Would you prefer to leave the back door open, or should I smash your ground floor window with this cloth-wrapped brick?"
I considered this. I figured if you were smart enough to case someone, then you'd have more than one excuse to knock on someone's door. But yeah, better safe than sorry.
You need a way to keep the trunk from being taken out of the closet/wherever you put it, otherwise it's just a convenience for the burglars; they have everything packed up nice in a box they can open at their leisure.
Extrapolating on this, the ratcheting sound a shot gun can make can be fucking terrifying. What if when someone was knocking on the door you made that sound, then asked who it was?
I bet they would move away from the door, but I also wonder what legal areas this steps in.
The "knocking on the door asking for random name" approach has been done in my neighborhood.
One day my family came home to find curtains blowing out a window. We had been robbed. Our neighbors said that a couple of kids rang her doorbell and asked if <random name> was home. She said they had the wrong house, and watch them as they walked down their driveway, over to our house, and up our driveway.
They must've been doing that waiting for the first house they found that didn't answer the door.
While people have been saying to look out for strangers and out of place cars, I think you should look out for the regulars as well. A girl in my neighbor hood has on numerous occasions stolen things out of peoples garages and unlocked cars ( I know, the people where I live are a bit naive ) in broad daylight because in a working class neighborhood no one is home. Plus she could go for walks and check out houses without suspicion because she lived nearby.
What do they do if there is a person with the name they use there? 'Oh uh, different John sorry' I suppose. For about 6 months someone's been calling our house and hanging up whenever someone answers too, it's kind of unnerving.
Protip: The guy who brings a knife to a gunfight usually loses.
Edit - The IRA has guns, don't they? :P
The IRA is pretty much limited to Northern Ireland, whilst there are some Sinn Fein/IRA type people in Ireland from my understanding they're pretty disliked as they're the equivalent of the nationalist type parties (for example BNP in the UK).
Also, the IRA doesn't normally deal in break-ins.. they do things like protection rackets and extortion to make their money to buy guns on the black market. Also, the IRA was swiss cheesed (by that I mean thoroughly infiltrated) by MI5 a fair few years back so they stopped essentially being any real threat to the UK in terms of terrorist/gun activity.
And to be clear the IRA's favoured method was bombs not guns, essentially whilst not impossible it's much harder to get guns in the UK and Ireland than it is to make a fertiliser based bomb. There's also less risk involved in buying fertiliser than trying to get illegal arms.
</slight derail>
As to security, I'd get some motion sensing cameras that record to jpegs and have them auto-upload to say a gmail account.
Having guns is such a monumentally bad idea, ultimately your home just contains things.. your life isn't in danger here. What happens if you have a gun and confront this person with it and they then manage to take the gun from you in a struggle and you end up shot with your own gun?
GrimReaper on
PSN | Steam
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
Indeed! I live a few blocks south of UNM off of Yale.
Cool! I work right around that area, literally across the street from the Isotopes stadium. It seems we get a lot of walkers/bikers around here (mostly from the colleges). Aside from all the advice here, it looks like it's under control. Here's hoping that it turns into nothing!
*imaginary wild guess*
I'm betting that a drunkard took your keys that night. Ever since cops have been cleaning up the local Frontier the delinquents just roam about the area.
Before you go spend hundreds of dollars replacing all your locksets just know there was some hacker con a few years ago where a 12 year old girl bumped a "bump-proof" medeco lock. The other thing is if I saw a $200 lockset that's only ever installed on bank doors I'd wonder what crazy awesome shit's in that apartment (drugs, guns, cash, other awesome?).
I've heard that installing your locksets inverted or spraying lubricant in the lockset can make it more diffcult to bump/pick. Though spraying lube into it is going to make the cylinder a magnet for dust and gunk so it's probably not a good idea.
None of these measures is going to prevent a master lockpicker from gaining access to your stuff (there's always the window), but chances are a master lock picker isn't wasting his time breaking into apartments.
You might want to get to know your neighbors and give a description of the person who was bugging you, so there are more eyes on the lookout.
I got broken into and it took over a year before I could rebuild the illusion of security that allows me to go to work and not constantly think about whether my shit's getting jacked.
Edit: I guess what I'm saying is there's no way to ensure the outcome that your place won't get burgled. You do what you can to protect yourself or insure that you can be made materially whole should it happen, and then move on with your life; don't get stuck turning your place into Ft. Knox, cause it's expensive and it's no guarantee that bad stuff won't happen.
You need a way to keep the trunk from being taken out of the closet/wherever you put it, otherwise it's just a convenience for the burglars; they have everything packed up nice in a box they can open at their leisure.
Get a cheap footlocker with a big padlock on it, fill it with bricks and leave it by the front door. Maybe stencil FRAGILE ELECTRONICS, USE CARE on it.
now we're getting into the semantics of "bump-proof"
Ah yeah I remember that now. I knew it sounded familiar but didn't see anything on a quick search. I should of known though considering I was at Defcon for the past 4 years.
I thought this thread was going to be about basketball.
1) Shotgun. You can buy a Maverick 88 (built by Mossberg) for about $100 new. Get some 00 shot and go to the range a few times to get used to handling the weapon. Load it and sick it under the bed... as long as you don't have kids or anyone else who would get a hold of it and hurt themselves.
2) Fake security cameras around the perimeter of the property. This is a great deterrent.
3) I know you said you couldn't get one, but a big dog is about the best deterrent you can possibly have in this situation. My dog (a 75lbs Weimaraner) goes bat shit when things go bump in the dark. I wouldn't want to face off with him.
underdonk on
Back in the day, bucko, we just had an A and a B button... and we liked it.
I thought this thread was going to be about basketball.
1) Shotgun. You can buy a Maverick 88 (built by Mossberg) for about $100 new. Get some 00 shot and go to the range a few times to get used to handling the weapon. Load it and sick it under the bed... as long as you don't have kids or anyone else who would get a hold of it and hurt themselves.
2) Fake security cameras around the perimeter of the property. This is a great deterrent.
3) I know you said you couldn't get one, but a big dog is about the best deterrent you can possibly have in this situation. My dog (a 75lbs Weimaraner) goes bat shit when things go bump in the dark. I wouldn't want to face off with him.
careful on the security cameras.
I've heard horror stories of people having law suits filed against them because something happened to them in view of your "security" camera and the potential upset/loss that results when they cannot acquire a video tape of what happened to them.
And not to be a dick, but the issue has been repeatedly noted that the suspected 'scouts' seem to be casing the place for a time when he isn't home, in which case a gun is worse than useless, as a criminal may now have access to said shotgun, which even worse, is presumably registered under his name. The issue at hand is prevention of a robbery while out of the house, not a home invasion.
Forar on
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
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ThomamelasOnly one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered Userregular
2) Fake security cameras around the perimeter of the property. This is a great deterrent.
No they are not a great deterrent. They aren't a good deterrent. They aren't a poor deterrent. They aren't a deterrent at all. There are times when you can get a deterrence effect from CCTV. You will never get one of those times when deploying it for home security.
leave a realistic looking mannequin sitting in a chair facing the door cradling any sort of large (fake) weapon, the bigger and more menacing the better and very slightly backlight it on moonless nights
and when you are home don't confront them with weapons, slip on your own ski mask and make like you're one of them or you got there first and this is your turf
I've heard horror stories of people having law suits filed against them because something happened to them in view of your "security" camera and the potential upset/loss that results when they cannot acquire a video tape of what happened to them.
Court cases based on having fake security cameras? I might be able to believe this if a business were involved and that business lead a customer to believe that they were "safe" because the area was being "monitored". In the case of a private residence, there would be no legal ground for a "victim" to stand on what-so-ever. They might be upset, but, well, who cares?
No they are not a great deterrent. They aren't a good deterrent. They aren't a poor deterrent. They aren't a deterrent at all. There are times when you can get a deterrence effect from CCTV. You will never get one of those times when deploying it for home security.
I'm sorry, but I'm really not following the point you are trying to convey. Are you saying that a fake security camera located on private property is not going to be an effective mechanism of deterring potential criminal activity?
underdonk on
Back in the day, bucko, we just had an A and a B button... and we liked it.
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ThomamelasOnly one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered Userregular
I'm sorry, but I'm really not following the point you are trying to convey. Are you saying that a fake security camera located on private property is not going to be an effective mechanism of deterring potential criminal activity?
CCTV cameras, real or fake will not prevent home break in. They are not a deterrent for home break in. Video systems are not intended to be a deterrent to break ins. That goes against their basic design principles which is to record events. Fake cameras do not have a magical aura that changes this.
I got lost in all the gun law stuff going on in the thread, but if it hasn't already mentioned in the thread, why not instead of setting up "fake" cameras, set up some wireless webcams. Hell, go ahead and set up some fake ones, and try to keep the webcams hidden, then you can actually see what's going on, and have more than just paranoia to present to the police.
EWom on
Whether they find a life there or not, I think Jupiter should be called an enemy planet.
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ThomamelasOnly one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered Userregular
I got lost in all the gun law stuff going on in the thread, but if it hasn't already mentioned in the thread, why not instead of setting up "fake" cameras, set up some wireless webcams. Hell, go ahead and set up some fake ones, and try to keep the webcams hidden, then you can actually see what's going on, and have more than just paranoia to present to the police.
Why would you use wireless webcams? You're still going to need to power them.
I'm sorry, but I'm really not following the point you are trying to convey. Are you saying that a fake security camera located on private property is not going to be an effective mechanism of deterring potential criminal activity?
CCTV cameras, real or fake will not prevent home break in. They are not a deterrent for home break in. Video systems are not intended to be a deterrent to break ins. That goes against their basic design principles which is to record events. Fake cameras do not have a magical aura that changes this.
Agreed, 100%.
Any money spent on a video camera, wireless, wired, fake, real, frosted with icing and a cherry on top, will be wasted.
Unless the frosting and cherry are particularly delicious. They have no value at all to you and serve no purpose and will only cost you time and money. You will be worse off for having purchased and installed one.
Also, you won't need a fucking video camera if you've got up to date insurance, an accurate log of your possessions (with photo evidence ideally), and locks on the door that do not match the keys you lost. If your door is kicked in and the shit is gone, you are not going to be expected to furnish the police with surveillance footage of the crime in order to get them to agree that a crime was committed.
Pheezer on
IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
I don't own a gun but I can't deny anyone's right to own and use a fire arm responsibly.
I don't follow statistics but years ago in college we had an ethics debate about gun ownership and I remember finding out that there's sort of a give and take with owning a gun. Years ago I think it was said that if you have a gun you're about a third less likely to come to harm in an assault/theft scenario. However you're equally as likely to hurt yourself with it or someone who is not an assailant or thief. Just recently I recall there was a boy shot and killed by a couple in Texas because he wandered onto their property.
Never assume that the law will be on your side in a self-defense shooting scenario, we live in a country that still has quite a bit of emphasis not on victims rights but criminals rights, some would argue this is unfortunate but this isn't the forum for such things. Even if you eventually win any legal cases that result from shooting an intruder which can range from justifiable homicide to civil damages, there's a lot of time, effort, publicity and other things that make that TV and 360 seem like small potatoes.
Precautions are really the best way to go. Insurance, neighborhood watches, cameras, police patrols (if you can get them) and dogs are the best way to go I think. The idea of substituting a bat for a gun is dicey, especially if you're not a physically strong person. 3 v 1 with the 1 having a bat, I'd still lay odds on the 3.
The LandoStander on
Maybe someday, they'll see a hero's just a man. Who knows he's free.
Even if you eventually win any legal cases that result from shooting an intruder which can range from justifiable homicide to civil damages, there's a lot of time, effort, publicity and other things that make that TV and 360 seem like small potatoes.
If the OP has to shoot a dude, I doubt it's because the guy was making a false move towards his Xbox.
Gafoto on
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ThomamelasOnly one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered Userregular
Any money spent on a video camera, wireless, wired, fake, real, frosted with icing and a cherry on top, will be wasted.
Unless the frosting and cherry are particularly delicious. They have no value at all to you and serve no purpose and will only cost you time and money. You will be worse off for having purchased and installed one.
To say they are without value isn't quite true either. If set up properly they can be useful for identifying thieves, which sometimes can make it easier to get back some of your items. It's not a replacement for insurance, but sometimes being able to retrieve your things can prevent the loss of items with sentimental value. The biggest problem for homeowners is setting up a system correctly is expensive and time consuming. You get a lot of people who attempt half-assed solutions like webcams, or don't take the time to look at things like how lighting will affect your image.
It's not the first place to spend money for home security, in fact it's well toward the bottom of the list.
1. Get insurance. No matter what precautions you take, you still might get robbed. You can't be around 24/7, and it's probably better that you get robbed while you aren't home anyways. Let's face it, you don't know who they are, or how dangerous they are. If you do get robbed while you're not at home, be happy you weren't at home.
2. Make it very apparent that robbing you isn't worth it. We own multiple television sets and video game systems. The only TV visible from outside is obviously a piece of crap, and it has a strawberry short cake DVD player hooked up to it. People are giving away old TV's all the time, owning a shitty one is worth it. The more security you have around your house, the more obvious it is to a thief that you have something worth stealing.
You need a way to keep the trunk from being taken out of the closet/wherever you put it, otherwise it's just a convenience for the burglars; they have everything packed up nice in a box they can open at their leisure.
Get a cheap footlocker with a big padlock on it, fill it with bricks and leave it by the front door. Maybe stencil FRAGILE ELECTRONICS, USE CARE on it.
CCTV cameras, real or fake will not prevent home break in. They are not a deterrent for home break in. Video systems are not intended to be a deterrent to break ins. That goes against their basic design principles which is to record events. Fake cameras do not have a magical aura that changes this.
I'm sorry, but what you state above simply isn't true. Are you actively working in the security industry or is this something you are simply speculating about? I implement and manage security measures at nuclear facilities, just so you know where I'm coming from. Cameras, real or fake, are incredibly effective as deterrents for criminal activity. You seem to be confused about what is a preventative measure and what is a deterrent. A camera is not a preventative measure; it is not going to prevent a break-in from happening. It is, however, an exceedingly effective deterrent by making those looking to commit criminal activity feel as if they are being watched (whether they actually are or not). Much like a six foot high fence isn't a preventative measure, it's a deterrent; it's not going to prevent someone from crossing a certain point, but it's going to slow their progress or be a hindrance. An eight foot high fence with razor wire top and bottom is a preventative measure. It is going to prevent someone from crossing a certain point. Do you see the difference?
underdonk on
Back in the day, bucko, we just had an A and a B button... and we liked it.
Posts
When someone breaks into your house, it's not just the financial loss that affects you, it's the loss of sense of security.
Because he seems to have such a great sense of security now?
You can't prepare for every eventuality. That's why renters insurance IS the best idea.
The amount of people who actually think a gun is some kind of solution in this situation is simply staggering.
I'm not suggesting that renter's insurance is a bad idea. The way tsmvengy had said it, I thought he didn't think it mattered if someone broke in as long as it could all be replaced. I was trying to say that preventing the break in altogether would be better as there are other costs besides financial that occur when someone violates your home. I also never suggested he get a gun, though I feel it is a valid form of home-defense if you feel like you are in danger of bodily harm.
You are on a video game forum. Shooting badguys is instinct here.
At this point I'd say if anything happens again like a knock or you see someone actively looking then do a confrontation. Call somebody first just in case and have them on the line is also a safe idea. Just get out there that these guys can't be sneaky. Gets them second guessing.
And renters insurance.
My life is more important than my shit, and I'd rather be armed just in case.
That kind of stuff puts you in much more dangerous legal territory than buckshot would. It's like firing a warning shot: by virtue of the fact that you are using potentially deadly force in an attempt to be less deadly, you are implicitly admitting that the threat wasn't severe enough to use deadly force in the first place.
We ought to just stop talking about guns in this situation - the most likely thing to occur is that they will get stolen when he's not at home.
Went out today to my bank to see about a safety deposit box, but unfortunately they're all taken. There's a few open at another location, but it's enough of a distance from my place (I only have a bike as transport) that it's no more convenient to me than if I used my relative's safety deposit.
That said, there's a few banks closer to me that I can (and will) check out.
I'll also be taking today to look into insurance and some of the other options you guys have listed (thank god i'm taking the summer off from school!). I'm gonna hit up the local general stores for security stickers and fake having ADT or something. I was gonna do the beware of dog thing, but my place is small enough to figure out that I don't have a dog, and that's an obvious bluff.
I was also considering getting some type of trunk or foot locker for my closet that I could store stuff in. Is this as (or more) viable than a safe? I imagine it's pricey, but if it's cheap enough (at or below 200) I could pony up.
I also don't expect anyone else to come knocking, looking for someone who isn't here, but if they do, I'll have my camera ready
Indeed! I live a few blocks south of UNM off of Yale.
Sucks about your dad's tools.
I had some rakes and stuff in my side yard recently, but brought them inside before the whole incident yesterday occurred, thankfully. I've got a small rickety wooden chair out there now. It's not enough to get on the roof or anything (only a 1 floor apartment), but even then I'm planning on storing it somewhere.
I considered this. I figured if you were smart enough to case someone, then you'd have more than one excuse to knock on someone's door. But yeah, better safe than sorry.
Thanks again guys. Appreciate it.
in many states this is considered "menacing"
http://www.lawinfoboulder.com/areas_criminal_litigation/menacing.html
Its probably a very bad idea to cock a shotgun if you aren't planning on using it.
One day my family came home to find curtains blowing out a window. We had been robbed. Our neighbors said that a couple of kids rang her doorbell and asked if <random name> was home. She said they had the wrong house, and watch them as they walked down their driveway, over to our house, and up our driveway.
They must've been doing that waiting for the first house they found that didn't answer the door.
Hope it ends up being nothing.
kpop appreciation station i also like to tweet some
The IRA is pretty much limited to Northern Ireland, whilst there are some Sinn Fein/IRA type people in Ireland from my understanding they're pretty disliked as they're the equivalent of the nationalist type parties (for example BNP in the UK).
Also, the IRA doesn't normally deal in break-ins.. they do things like protection rackets and extortion to make their money to buy guns on the black market. Also, the IRA was swiss cheesed (by that I mean thoroughly infiltrated) by MI5 a fair few years back so they stopped essentially being any real threat to the UK in terms of terrorist/gun activity.
And to be clear the IRA's favoured method was bombs not guns, essentially whilst not impossible it's much harder to get guns in the UK and Ireland than it is to make a fertiliser based bomb. There's also less risk involved in buying fertiliser than trying to get illegal arms.
</slight derail>
As to security, I'd get some motion sensing cameras that record to jpegs and have them auto-upload to say a gmail account.
Having guns is such a monumentally bad idea, ultimately your home just contains things.. your life isn't in danger here. What happens if you have a gun and confront this person with it and they then manage to take the gun from you in a struggle and you end up shot with your own gun?
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
Cool! I work right around that area, literally across the street from the Isotopes stadium. It seems we get a lot of walkers/bikers around here (mostly from the colleges). Aside from all the advice here, it looks like it's under control. Here's hoping that it turns into nothing!
*imaginary wild guess*
I've heard that installing your locksets inverted or spraying lubricant in the lockset can make it more diffcult to bump/pick. Though spraying lube into it is going to make the cylinder a magnet for dust and gunk so it's probably not a good idea.
None of these measures is going to prevent a master lockpicker from gaining access to your stuff (there's always the window), but chances are a master lock picker isn't wasting his time breaking into apartments.
You might want to get to know your neighbors and give a description of the person who was bugging you, so there are more eyes on the lookout.
I got broken into and it took over a year before I could rebuild the illusion of security that allows me to go to work and not constantly think about whether my shit's getting jacked.
Edit: I guess what I'm saying is there's no way to ensure the outcome that your place won't get burgled. You do what you can to protect yourself or insure that you can be made materially whole should it happen, and then move on with your life; don't get stuck turning your place into Ft. Knox, cause it's expensive and it's no guarantee that bad stuff won't happen.
I don't remember a 12 year old girl bumping the "bump-proof" lock. But I do know that people have managed to do it, http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/31/profile-of-the-lock-.html
Get a cheap footlocker with a big padlock on it, fill it with bricks and leave it by the front door. Maybe stencil FRAGILE ELECTRONICS, USE CARE on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1LH7lrftKA
now we're getting into the semantics of "bump-proof"
Ah yeah I remember that now. I knew it sounded familiar but didn't see anything on a quick search. I should of known though considering I was at Defcon for the past 4 years.
You may want to photoshop in "HCN1" or "Swine Flu" for added legitimacy.
1) Shotgun. You can buy a Maverick 88 (built by Mossberg) for about $100 new. Get some 00 shot and go to the range a few times to get used to handling the weapon. Load it and sick it under the bed... as long as you don't have kids or anyone else who would get a hold of it and hurt themselves.
2) Fake security cameras around the perimeter of the property. This is a great deterrent.
3) I know you said you couldn't get one, but a big dog is about the best deterrent you can possibly have in this situation. My dog (a 75lbs Weimaraner) goes bat shit when things go bump in the dark. I wouldn't want to face off with him.
careful on the security cameras.
I've heard horror stories of people having law suits filed against them because something happened to them in view of your "security" camera and the potential upset/loss that results when they cannot acquire a video tape of what happened to them.
And not to be a dick, but the issue has been repeatedly noted that the suspected 'scouts' seem to be casing the place for a time when he isn't home, in which case a gun is worse than useless, as a criminal may now have access to said shotgun, which even worse, is presumably registered under his name. The issue at hand is prevention of a robbery while out of the house, not a home invasion.
No they are not a great deterrent. They aren't a good deterrent. They aren't a poor deterrent. They aren't a deterrent at all. There are times when you can get a deterrence effect from CCTV. You will never get one of those times when deploying it for home security.
and when you are home don't confront them with weapons, slip on your own ski mask and make like you're one of them or you got there first and this is your turf
Court cases based on having fake security cameras? I might be able to believe this if a business were involved and that business lead a customer to believe that they were "safe" because the area was being "monitored". In the case of a private residence, there would be no legal ground for a "victim" to stand on what-so-ever. They might be upset, but, well, who cares?
I'm sorry, but I'm really not following the point you are trying to convey. Are you saying that a fake security camera located on private property is not going to be an effective mechanism of deterring potential criminal activity?
CCTV cameras, real or fake will not prevent home break in. They are not a deterrent for home break in. Video systems are not intended to be a deterrent to break ins. That goes against their basic design principles which is to record events. Fake cameras do not have a magical aura that changes this.
Why would you use wireless webcams? You're still going to need to power them.
Get insurance
Get fucking insurance
If you have insurance, yeah, photograph your shit, and then store a copy of those photos on a CD in your desk drawer at work. Not at the apartment.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Agreed, 100%.
Any money spent on a video camera, wireless, wired, fake, real, frosted with icing and a cherry on top, will be wasted.
Unless the frosting and cherry are particularly delicious. They have no value at all to you and serve no purpose and will only cost you time and money. You will be worse off for having purchased and installed one.
Also, you won't need a fucking video camera if you've got up to date insurance, an accurate log of your possessions (with photo evidence ideally), and locks on the door that do not match the keys you lost. If your door is kicked in and the shit is gone, you are not going to be expected to furnish the police with surveillance footage of the crime in order to get them to agree that a crime was committed.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
I don't follow statistics but years ago in college we had an ethics debate about gun ownership and I remember finding out that there's sort of a give and take with owning a gun. Years ago I think it was said that if you have a gun you're about a third less likely to come to harm in an assault/theft scenario. However you're equally as likely to hurt yourself with it or someone who is not an assailant or thief. Just recently I recall there was a boy shot and killed by a couple in Texas because he wandered onto their property.
Never assume that the law will be on your side in a self-defense shooting scenario, we live in a country that still has quite a bit of emphasis not on victims rights but criminals rights, some would argue this is unfortunate but this isn't the forum for such things. Even if you eventually win any legal cases that result from shooting an intruder which can range from justifiable homicide to civil damages, there's a lot of time, effort, publicity and other things that make that TV and 360 seem like small potatoes.
Precautions are really the best way to go. Insurance, neighborhood watches, cameras, police patrols (if you can get them) and dogs are the best way to go I think. The idea of substituting a bat for a gun is dicey, especially if you're not a physically strong person. 3 v 1 with the 1 having a bat, I'd still lay odds on the 3.
If the OP has to shoot a dude, I doubt it's because the guy was making a false move towards his Xbox.
To say they are without value isn't quite true either. If set up properly they can be useful for identifying thieves, which sometimes can make it easier to get back some of your items. It's not a replacement for insurance, but sometimes being able to retrieve your things can prevent the loss of items with sentimental value. The biggest problem for homeowners is setting up a system correctly is expensive and time consuming. You get a lot of people who attempt half-assed solutions like webcams, or don't take the time to look at things like how lighting will affect your image.
It's not the first place to spend money for home security, in fact it's well toward the bottom of the list.
1. Get insurance. No matter what precautions you take, you still might get robbed. You can't be around 24/7, and it's probably better that you get robbed while you aren't home anyways. Let's face it, you don't know who they are, or how dangerous they are. If you do get robbed while you're not at home, be happy you weren't at home.
2. Make it very apparent that robbing you isn't worth it. We own multiple television sets and video game systems. The only TV visible from outside is obviously a piece of crap, and it has a strawberry short cake DVD player hooked up to it. People are giving away old TV's all the time, owning a shitty one is worth it. The more security you have around your house, the more obvious it is to a thief that you have something worth stealing.
then use a gun to shoot anyone who takes it
I'm sorry, but what you state above simply isn't true. Are you actively working in the security industry or is this something you are simply speculating about? I implement and manage security measures at nuclear facilities, just so you know where I'm coming from. Cameras, real or fake, are incredibly effective as deterrents for criminal activity. You seem to be confused about what is a preventative measure and what is a deterrent. A camera is not a preventative measure; it is not going to prevent a break-in from happening. It is, however, an exceedingly effective deterrent by making those looking to commit criminal activity feel as if they are being watched (whether they actually are or not). Much like a six foot high fence isn't a preventative measure, it's a deterrent; it's not going to prevent someone from crossing a certain point, but it's going to slow their progress or be a hindrance. An eight foot high fence with razor wire top and bottom is a preventative measure. It is going to prevent someone from crossing a certain point. Do you see the difference?