Home Security Questions

[jks9199]

There has ever only been 1 door I could not get open. Ive used rams on metal doors with metal frames and got them open in less then 5 hits. The one time I needed to pass the ram after 15+ hits was a regular steel door you get at home depot and a regular door frame. The guy screwed a 2x4 strip on the inside of the door jam where your molding would be there was well over 50 screws holding it on. We neevr got the door open we ended up using an alternative breach point thru a window. It didnt look pretty but if you hada little carpentry skills you could prob. make it look ok and nobodys kicking that door in not even the police. Since then we now carry breaching rounds Id like to have another crack at that door with the breching round but im not on the team anymore.

Only one that slowed our breachers down with just a ram was a steel frame, steel apartment door in a concrete block wall. And he was knocking the frame out of the wall when someone finally agreed to open it.

Contact the PD; many have community resource officer or crime prevention officer who will come out, and walk around your property with you, and offer suggestions and guidance. Nothing beats a knowledgeable person looking at YOUR house and grounds, and offering suggestions.

Alarm systems are good tools, if you keep them maintained. So are alarm company signs, if you know what I mean.

 

[ballen0351]

Only one that slowed our breachers down with just a ram was a steel frame, steel apartment door in a concrete block wall. And he was knocking the frame out of the wall when someone finally agreed to open it.

We use either the rabbit tool or a 2 man ram for that type of door. I prefered the 2 man ram over rabit tool it took too long but when done right you could pop the door with a shoulder.

 

[oftheherd1]

If you get an alarm system, I would suggest you get one with a cell phone. It will cost a little more, but it prevents stopping the alarm being called in by cutting phone/cable cables. We started out with Brinks, and I think it was ADT that took them over. I don't think it ever took more than a minute to call our house when an alarm went off. Also, be sure to check regularly that your alarm is working, by calling your alarm company, and telling them you want to set off an alarm to test.

As suggested above, do look around for how you might get in. When we installed our system, we decided one window was higher than a criminal was likely to enter. One lawn chair later a difficult but effective entry was gained. Luckily the installation tech had installed a motion detector in an unlikely spot to avoid some work the original plan we ordered required. Drove them off. Our original plan wouldn't have gone off until/unless they left by an alarmed exit.

Be very careful not to set off the alarm by waiting too long to exit after arming it. Most jurisdictions will send you a letter, and more than two or three in a year will get you a fine.

Lights with motion detectors are good. Cats or wild animals may indeed set them off. Who cares? Consider security cameras to be sure it isn't someone testing your defenses.

Broken your security budget yet? Only you can determine what will fit in your budget and give your the most comfort you can successfully defend your home. You might consider talking with your new neighbors, as well as local police as to what systems give the most security for money spent.

Good luck.

 

[MA-Caver]

There has ever only been 1 door I could not get open. Ive used rams on metal doors with metal frames and got them open in less then 5 hits. The one time I needed to pass the ram after 15+ hits was a regular steel door you get at home depot and a regular door frame. The guy screwed a 2x4 strip on the inside of the door jam where your molding would be there was well over 50 screws holding it on. We neevr got the door open we ended up using an alternative breach point thru a window. It didnt look pretty but if you hada little carpentry skills you could prob. make it look ok and nobodys kicking that door in not even the police. Since then we now carry breaching rounds Id like to have another crack at that door with the breching round but im not on the team anymore.

All that is well and good but how many burglars are going to be bashing in doors with a battering ram in a regular neighborhood. What are they going to tell the neighbors? "Don't mind us folks, we're off duty SWAT team members and this is just us practicing on a team-member's house... while he's uhh, on vacation... yeah.... umm this is his ... initiation... ok fellas on 3... move along folks just ignore us. Watch for the YouTube video under practical jokes! heh"

As far as security cameras, I've a friend who made several out of sheet styrene and a small magnifying glass. He had a red LED hooked up to a 9 volt battery that he changed whenever it ran down (took a long time). Placed the *ahem* cameras within plain sight but high enough out of the way that close scrutiny isn't possible to see that they're faked. He wanted to mount one on a mobile swivel but it got too complicated until another friend showed him how.

Just SEEING security usually, usually deters the inexperienced burglar, true professionals will be far more determined and that is where the real security comes in. But again, find out about the neighborhood first and see what is out there for free. Do cops patrol down your street on a random (but frequent) basis? Etc.

 

[pgsmith]

Unless you live in a very large and swanky house, then a medium to large dog is your best deterrent. This is according to an old friend of mine that was in the business (grew up in a rough neighborhood ) According to him, if a dog in the house started barking, it had to be worth some serious money for them to bother dealing with it. They would just move on to another house without a dog. He said he would rather work on defeating an alarm system than deal with a dog.

 

[ballen0351]

All that is well and good but how many burglars are going to be bashing in doors with a battering ram in a regular neighborhood. What are they going to tell the neighbors? "Don't mind us folks, we're off duty SWAT team members and this is just us practicing on a team-member's house... while he's uhh, on vacation... yeah.... umm this is his ... initiation... ok fellas on 3... move along folks just ignore us. Watch for the YouTube video under practical jokes! heh"

No what I was saying is a cheap but ugly alternative to fancy door frames and strikers is a simple hunk of wood on the inside of the door jam. Nobody is going to kick the door in. Kick ins are the quickest and easy way people get into houses behind people leaving doors and windows unlocked.

As far as security cameras, I've a friend who made several out of sheet styrene and a small magnifying glass. He had a red LED hooked up to a 9 volt battery that he changed whenever it ran down (took a long time). Placed the *ahem* cameras within plain sight but high enough out of the way that close scrutiny isn't possible to see that they're faked. He wanted to mount one on a mobile swivel but it got too complicated until another friend showed him how.

Regular camera systems are fairly cheap now days why build a fake one?

 

[Xue Sheng]

Besides the attack Wolverine

I use to do a lot of Calligraphy and a friend of mine once asked me to make him a sign to hang on his door that handled all his security issues because no one, not even the occasional door to door religious person, ever came to his door again.

The sign said

Caution
Please do not let the children
Pet or play with the snakes​

 

[d1jinx]

When you place your door locks try to keep then as far apart as you can on the door to spread the force out over a wider area if someone kicks the door. I was a breacher on the swat team for a few years and the wider the locks the hard it is to get the doors open. Also try to reenforce the door frames as they give out way before the locks do. And make sure you use the dead bolts. I was able to breach alot of doors quitely and very quickly with the old credit card trick. I can open a door with a credit card faster then I can use a key.

As for alarm systems dont rely on them contacting the police as a deterent esp if using a national company it can take 20+ min for them to get the alarm signal, figure out where to call and then call. If you live in a town with a common name it can take longer. I worked for a small town called Cambridge when I first started police work. we would always get calls from like ADT for alarms in Cambridge Mass and we were in Maryland. So your best bet with alarms is get a LOUD system to make the criminals run away.

Motions lights are also good.

Dogs or at least beware of dog signs

Cops make the best crooks, crooks make the best cops.... why, they know all the secrets!!! :angel:

 

[d1jinx]

There was this show on discovery a few years ago called "it takes a thief". Good show. I use to love it. Basically they were ex-thieves that would break into your home and clean you out in less than 5 minutes. a real eye opener.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Takes_a_Thief_(2005_TV_series)


It showed some very easy and cheap trips to protect your home. Along with some elaborate and pricey as well. I picked up quite a few good ideas from it. some so simple. Check and see if you could find some re-runs or the series on netflix or something. It is a real eye opener.

A few easy suggestions:

get some home security signs of the companies used in your area ie ADT, Braun, Brinks etc.. even without actually having the system, the sign alone will discourage SOME would-be crooks.

Along with Dead Bolts, re-inforce the door frames. I have kicked a deadbolt door and had the whole door/frame go into the house... but the door was still locked!!!

They make a security film like window tint that you can place on some lower basement windows and doors, and any window or door that is obscured from vision. a little pricey but easy.

outside motion lights. not so much as a fortress look but around doors and entry-ways would help. nothing like approaching a door and the light comes on... but since most people are robbed during the day when at work its more of a sense of security for yourself.

BEWARE OF DOG.... watch the show and see how well the most ferocious dogs did. they were nuetralized very easily. But a $1 sign will cause SOME would-be crooks to stay away.

there are a ton more ideas, but bottom line, if they want it bad enough, they are gonna get it.

the idea is to deter as many as possible, but there is always that 1 or 2 that will still try... and succeed.

Take pictures of everything, like a video or something and keep it somewhere like work. to present to insurance company. Nothing worse than loosing it and the insurance company not wanting to pay for it.



remember, every hurdle you place in the path of a crook, is 1 more chance for them to say screw it and leave.

 

[pgsmith]

there are a ton more ideas, but bottom line, if they want it bad enough, they are gonna get it.

That line was worth repeating!

 

[jks9199]

The idea of physical security is simple: Balancing access with making it too hard or too time consuming to get into the building. You can surround your house with a 25 foot deep moat, filled with crocodiles, alligators, even sharks with laser beams, eliminate all the windows, use essentially an airlock set up with separate keys, and so on... but you gotta get in and out.

So, since that's kind of impractical... you want to make it hard for people who aren't supposed to get in, and time consuming enough that they'll be caught in the act. Standards for classified material rate safes and facilities in the number of hours it would take to defeat the security --and couple that with physical inspections more frequently. A 4 hour safe has to be checked every 2 hours, for example... Use the same principle for your house: make it hard to break in without being caught.

By the way -- all the security in the world is meaningless if you don't use it! So figuring out what you'll actually use is also part of the equation... (I am sick of taking reports that read "house/car was entered through an unlocked door" or the like.)

 

[jasonbrinn]

So funny you ask this question as I am just wrapping up 3.5 years of research and study on this very topic. I started the project cause of friends and family members in this line of work and have been planning to open a company to help people with this very question. The suggestions here have all been very good. I feel the best option is the one that not only works for you but the one that you will work. I would be willing to talk with you about your specific situation over PM or etc. so as not to reveal too much publicly but I pretty much believe in custom options once you past the basics. Other than the basics already stated I would ask; Will you have a long driveway? Live in the country, suburbs or city? Will you have a garage? There are more but these give you the idea.

My company is called LiveSafe (www.livesafeproducts.com) and we have not yet truly launched the site and the subsequent offers but you wil get where we are headed. We will most likely launch in a month or month and a half. I have to leave the country this month for a little while and that is setting us back a week or two.

Statistically Garage doors are the number one entry point for breakins. After that it is kicking in the front door and I would DEFINITELY get the reinforcements for the actual frame over deadbolts and the like. There are some pretty inexpensive options out there for this.

The MOST important thing is to have a plan for what you will do if a breakin occurs. As for possessions go through and get an insurance assessment to record everything, there are also some good home inventory apps for the iphone as well. The other MOST important thing is AWARENESS - nothing beats it.

Let me know if you have questions or want to talk. This line of work is my passion and I am always looking to help.

 

[Tames D]

Reinforce your doors? If I'm going to break into your house, I'll just break your god damn windows. Easy in and easy out.

 

[jasonbrinn]

Reinforce your doors? If I'm going to break into your house, I'll just break your god damn windows. Easy in and easy out.

Glass, noise, wood and debris to slip on - your choice. Either way I plan for all I can but definitely hit the high stats and those are definitely on the side of a) Garage door and b) front door - This is or course is provided you are not ambushed while entering.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Suggestions for reinforcing a garage door?

I've got a regular person door (steel) and an insulated garage door.

Person door I'm putting Ansi 1 deadbolts on, reinforcing the hinges and striker, and anchoring into the frame with 3 in screws.

We're evaluating alarm systems now.

Garage door has a deadbolt on 1 side. I was going to see if you could buy those and install on the other side.

Garage has no windows so those I don't have to worry about, but others might.


Also, found this http://www.itstactical.com/intellic...rage-door-security-tips-to-prevent-break-ins/

 

[Xue Sheng]

Reinforce your doors? If I'm going to break into your house, I'll just break your god damn windows. Easy in and easy out.

That is where the motion sensors come into play.... and of course my trained attack Wolverine :EG:

 

[clfsean]

That is where the motion sensors come into play.... and of course my trained attack Wolverine :EG:

Honey badger don't give a ****...

 

[Xue Sheng]

Honey badger don't give a ****...

true..but they listen to no one and attack everybody..... that is why I use Wolverines

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Bob the idea as Jks9199 mentioned earlier to to make yourself a hard target or simply not worth the time. Following are some things to do to make yourself not very attractive.

1. Lighting either on at night or motion activated but plenty of it.
2. Good quality locks and reinforced doors.
3. Door Security Bars (some thing like this: http://www.acehardware.com/product/...security&origkw=security&searchId=55510017344) (on every door and sliding door especially the one coming from the garage)
4. Alarm system with a loud audible alarm and even more important an alarm system sign and decals on windows.
5. Man's best friend who is big enough to deter someone with his sound and teeth! (this guy or gal is worth their weight in dog food)
6. Firearms and the training and ability to use them.
7. Good neighbors who know your well and will call the police when needed!!!

There are a lot more but that is a pretty good list.
Definitely make yourself a hard target but understand that all of the above may not be enough and you will have to take care of business on your end if the obstacles you have put up do not work!

 

[Carol]

I do simple stuff.

Leave the TV on CSPAN or ESPN when I'm away (or sometimes when I'm not). If someone is close enough to listen in, it sounds like someone talking. At night, the blue TV glow looks like someone is home, but the glow is difficult to detect during the day.

We have assigned garages but unassigned lot parking...there is no way of telling whether I am home or not by simply looking at the lot, even if you knew what kind of car I drive.

I don't use my physical address for anything. Not even the address on my Driver's License.

Occasionally, and especially when I'm away, leave a pair of 14EE boots my cousin used (before he retired from the Marines) out by the door (condo). Let a passerby determine if the owner of the boots is home or not.

Alarm stickers on the windows.

Neighbors who don't have alarm stickers on their windows

This isn't all I do, but its cheap and simple stuff.