SUBMARINEMUSEUMS.ORG Forum
General Boards => Website Updates and Off-Topic Discussion => Topic started by: Lance Dean on July 10, 2008, 07:53:07 PM
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There have been numerous break-ins in my county and community over the last month. I'm talking every day someone nearby has had their home broken into.
Other than the Castle Doctrine now in effect in Mississippi and my Remington 870 12 gauge, any other ideas on things to do to deter home break-ins?
:knuppel2:
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Get video camera's set up on motion sensors.. Around your house and add motion sensor lights around your house to LIGHT up the area, while this may not deter the crook it will help in the ID of the idiots who have done this and put them in jail. I cannot say enough about home security and fortunatly for me I live on a military reservation so I don't have the "normal" problems associated with that but when I do move off post I am going to get an alarm system put in my home regardless of where I am at and make sure that I have the outside lite up like the 4th of july.
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Good ideas. I've thought many times about getting a video camera that can upload images to a website via FTP. That way, even if the computer and camera are stolen, the photos will be saved remotely.
I have many outdoor lights that stay on all night long, as well as one motion sensor light.
The trouble is, I think every single one of the break-ins have occurred during the day. It's odd timing, mostly when people are only away from the house for a hour or so. It's got me nervous about going to work each day.
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Smith and Wesson works too. :knuppel2:
Try getting an alarm system. You can also get outdoor surveillance camera pretty cheap at Home Depot and other places. Wireless ones are easy to set up and usually work with any TV – post them to watch all your doors, and garage.
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Even a cheap ear-splitting alarm that attaches to doors would work. I think that they start in the $15 - $20 range. You can rig it to have a delay or go off instantly. Do you have a garage and do you use it as a primary way to enter and leave?
I'm not surprised that they are thieving during the day. Most thieves do not want anyone in a house when they rob it. So, waiting for granny to go shopping or for the soccer mom to take the kids to swim class is an ideal time to "attack". They're probably in and out in 15 minutes and if they pose as a lawn crew, painters, etc., they will blend in and look like they belong there. Playing it cool goes a long way to causing mischief and getting away with it.
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I am going to play doubting thomas here. I worked as a dispatcher for a Sherrifs office for 4 years. In that entire 4 years I never saw where a monitored alarm system was a help. You pay your $30-40 a month to pay some guy to watch a monitor. by the time this person receives an alarm, makes his checks and call the local PD and the PD gets there 10 minuts have already passed. and if you live outside of a city municipality, you are looking at 30 min or more. By that time mose crooks have completed pilaging you house.
Go by the old rule "make your neighbor look like a better targe". Get to know your neighbors will. Block watch is good, but do not get involved in a crime in process. A loud alarm and lots of lights are a great idea as is a security camera system that is recorded. Privacy fences are nice, but provide shelter for the crooks to do their dirty dead. Plane nasty thorney bushes under your windows. Keep all the doors and windows locked. Take pictures of all your valuables (tv, sterieos, submarines and family heirlooms) and store those off site And did i mention get to know your neighbors and let them know what your are doing as well as what they are doing and what they are doing.
The real sad truth to the whole crime problem is that once the dead is done there is very little you can do to catch the crook and prosecute. Even if you catch him, you are still out the money thet the little bastard took from you. You are still left with the violation, monetary loss and the mountains of paperwork trying to get what little the money grubbing insurance companies are willing to let go of.
The last bit of advise I can give you all is get to know the local PD. It is always good to have a freind there. Nuff Said on that part....
:police:
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If all the break ins are occurring during the day it's most likely someone very local - kids come to mind. What are they stealing? If it's electronics and things like that instead of jewelry and household items, I'd say it points to kids again. Neighborhood kids don't raise a flag. People are used to seeing them, so they can easily sneek around. Some one for sure is watching these houses and as soon as someone leave - they are in and out.
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there is a TV show on the Discovery Channel that comes on here in Newport News at 5PM it is called "it takes a thief" and they actually break into homes with the homeowners permission and they video tape all of the happenings and then show the families how they got in and why they were able to get in and then they do a "complete security upgrade" and it is quite informational IMHO as to securing your home and what you should have installed for security purposes.
Darrin
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that is a good show. Though it is not all encoumpasing as each security site has its own unique challenges. On the good side, it does give real good ideas to help your situation out.
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Good points all. Here's the situation. There have been at least 6 break-ins within 5 miles of here over the last 2 weeks. That's only the ones that *I* know of. The news isn't saying anything at all about these break-ins. The sheriff has to cover the entire county from the county seat, located in the center of the county. There is only one small city in the county that has their own police force, and it's tiny. The rest of the county is covered by the sheriff and his handful of deputies. The sheriff seems to be concentrating his deputies in my little community, as you can't go outside for over 20 minutes without seeing a deputy somewhere. It seems that even with good visibility, it's not deterring these thieves.
The houses broken into have ranged from houses on a busy highway only yards from the highway to older houses on dirt roads to housetrailers. ALL have been during the day. At least 3 have been on the same road! Items stole vary, making me wonder if there are at least 2 sets of thieves. Some houses have had air conditioners and lawn mowers stolen, while others (most) have had guns, jewelery, computers, and gaming consoles stolen. I know for sure that 2 of the houses the owners had just left the house and were gone just for an hour or two. All of the houses were visible and have decent traffic going by all the time!
For the first time in my life, I'm in fear of leaving my home for it being broken into when I'm not here. I have a good gun safe and everything I have is well documented off-site (serial numbers and such). I have a 12 gauge and know how to use it well. If I'm here and someone starts kicking in my door, they will be shot. Charlie Ross implemented the "Castle Doctrine" in Mississippi which gives me the right to use DEADLY force to protect me, my home, AND my property including my vehicles down to my lawnmower. No questions asked, no going to court. It's a good law. Mississippi isn't Texas, but we have gotten much better over the last few years.
Just this week a large, full size green van was spotted in our community with Alabama license plates. It was filled with males of various races with a white young girl. The van stopped at several of my neighbors' houses and the girl would get out, claiming to be selling Kirby vacuum cleaners. The law was called out and with a call to Kirby Vacuum Cleaners it was discovered that no one was selling their vacuums in our area. Once again it makes me wonder if their aren't multiple sets of thieves at work here.
I live in a housetrailer with no carport or garage. I'd rather not even say on this forum any more than that. Who knows who reads the posts here? It's that bad. I tell you, I'm about ready to put up a gate on my driveway or at least cut down a cedar tree and drag it across my driveway every time I leave home. My wife wouldn't like that very much though! :) These thieves are everywhere and it's getting worse.
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Sorry to get off topic of you post, but in Colorado their is a law like yours and it is called the "Make My Day" law, which states if anyone is on your property you can shoot them, and Oklahoma has a similar law not sure what its called though. I think everyone else has pretty much covered all the options for security, but you could always make home made explosives and set them up on a trip wire system, if you know how to make the explosives, lol.
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The problem with explosives is if someone's kid or animal sets it off and they get maimed or killed. Now you have a lawsuit plus the BATFE busting your door down for making mines and explosive booby traps without a license. The ATF nailed a guy for making dummy mortar rounds that went 'poof' when they hit the ground, because it was considered to be a "secondary explosive" - for WWII reenactments. Those jack-booted thugs don't need much of a reason to come calling.
If you're in a trailer, then it's pretty obvious when someoen is or is not there. Especially, if someone is canvassing the neighborhoods during working hours and keeping track of your where abouts. The girl knocks on the doors to see if someone is home and she probably knocks on every door on the street to see whether there will be any witnesses or not. Any empty street is a juicy target. With a van-load of guys they probably are in and out like Delta Force. One guy probably picks the lock and then signals when it's okay to enter.
I once had two or three young people canvassing my neighborhood selling Kirby's, but they were selling them at about 50% of retail. They brought it in and showed my wife, but I said no. $800 was too good of a deal for a $1400 or $1600 vacuum. We bought one a year later for about $1100.
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I had eight 4"x6" flags in my front yard lining the sidewalk over the 4th weekend...and someone took all eight of them...right in the middle of the day. Had to be kids but I've not seen any of them since. It's bad when someone will steal an American flag. :knuppel2:
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Sorry to get off topic of you post, but in Colorado their is a law like yours and it is called the "Make My Day" law, which states if anyone is on your property you can shoot them, and Oklahoma has a similar law not sure what its called though. I think everyone else has pretty much covered all the options for security, but you could always make home made explosives and set them up on a trip wire system, if you know how to make the explosives, lol.
That covers you from criminal law, now there is that pesky little thing called civil law that states anyone can sue any one else for any reason. And, depending on the Judge, that individual sueing can win buku's money.
Is it worth it? Remember, I come from AZ where you can ( and people do) wear a side arm walking down the streets........
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Maimed is never good enough, in my opnion. If I draw a weapon for lethal use, lethal is what it's going to be. That's one less person to sue you later on.
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:2funny: Nice Mark!
Oklahoma's law is called Make My Day as well. I can't belive that guy got in trouble for making dummy mortar rounds for WW2 reenacting. That tells me to be careful when I start doing it. All I need is to be in prison for having a awesome WW2 kit.
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I uses a trick when traveling - when I am in a hotel and go out I always turn on the TV. This way no one is sure that I am not in the room. I also leave on a light.
You could do the same at home. Turn on the TV and put a timer on some of your lights. Set the timers to go on and off at different times. Some timers can handle multiple programs, so you could turn on and off a light in the same room a couple or more times. You can also get a computer program to do this.
Record a barking dog and have it playing - just make sure it is not the same small loop.
Cardboard cutouts of humans to make a shadow in your window - works if you have a rocking chair. (but hard to do)
If this is a gang of some sort and not neighborhood kids - they will soon leave when it gets too hot for them.
If you have a small sherrif office - can they place a dummy car in the area?
Finally - living in fear is not good - stuff happens and all you can do is protect you and your family. It sounds as if you are in the country - can you do a little target shooting? Do that every day - maybe someone watching will get the idea that your place is well protected.
Check out these sites for good ideas: (you got me thinking about installing cameras again)
http://www.homesecurityinformation.com/ideas/
http://softwarebizsummit.com/
http://www.homesecurityinformation.com/
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Find some Viet Nam vintage "caltrops". The special forces used them on trails for the V.C. Ninjas also use them, but you don't want the ninja version. The ones that I am thinking of look like jacks but with nasty spikes and they sit a few inches high. No matter how they hit the ground, at least one nasty spike is sticking up. If that punctures a tire, it will make it go instantly flat. You could easily lay them out in the morning and have them tied in a long chain with kite string - you'll know fior sure that they're all picked up this way. They are usually a dark steel color. So, camoflage paint patterns would help them blend in to a gravel/grass/dirt driveway.
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They are very easy to make your self too. All you need is 2 pieces of steel and bend and weld then sharpen. If they worked against horses in Medieval times I am sure a rubber tire is FUBARed.
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One of my a**hole neighbors in K.C. was driving through my yard, because they thought that I had called the cops them when they were "making too much noise" with their crappy drum playing - it took me several months to piece all of the clues together. Anyway, I put several boards in my yard with a bunch of nails sticking up and painted them and covered them with leaves. I was just praying to find a disabled vehicle down the street with a nail board jammed into its tires and undercarriage. At a minimum, a pound of sugar would have found its way into the gas tank. Bye bye fuel injectors. :knuppel2: At worst, the car would have been torched. I guess it would have depended on my mood at the time.
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So...DID you ever find a abandoned car with a board of nails stuck to it?
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I have a couple of friends who work at the dispatch office. They said there have been over 30 break-ins since the end of May inside this county. That's a LOT for this area.
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No, I didn't, because the neighbors were also letting their dogs crap in my yard on their early morning walks - I almost caught them in the act one morning - and, of course, they noticed the nail boards. So, they didn't do that anymore. Usually, I would put them out at dusk and then hide them before going to work, since these events tended to happen at night or early morning - and I didn't need a neighborhood kid finding them or falling on them. Once I figured out who it was I was tempted to retaliate, but it wouldn't have been the same as them driving through my yard and getting tire damage. The sugar was still tempting. ::)
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Sugar is sweet......sweet revenge!
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They would have thought twice about vandalizing someone's yard again after their engine was trashed out. I was happy that they moved 3 months later.
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Well, it finally made it to the local news.
http://www.wtok.com/home/headlines/25523314.html
Watch the video if you wanna see what it's like here....Mississippi.
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Break-ins are still running rampant. More every day. No one has been caught.
Just got word that my next door neighbor, my elderly great uncle, had his home broken TODAY when I was at home. He had gone to be with his son who was having heart surgery at the hospital.
These people are scum. I am fully prepared to put the Castle Doctrine into effect.
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PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE shoot these idiots! It's you're duty as an American citizen to rid the world of a-holes and scum - foreign and domestic. Do you have an MG-42? You can go all Omaha Beach on their sorry a$$es.
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You live in the country so go to Fish and Game and request a few animal traps (you have a pest problem with skunks or something), set the traps around the area. Nothing like a big old bear trap to catch a rat! :knuppel2: Of course Smith and Wesson always works too! :buck2:
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Lance,
Make sure you have all the info on how far you can go protecting your property and that of a relative. This is usually not the same as self defense or defending someone with you. Many states have laws that deadly force can only be used when a life is threatened. If you are allowed to use deadly force when protecting your property. make sure the criminal can not sue you for injuries, ect. I'm sure you know my meaning. Good Luck
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About Mississippi's "Castle Doctrine":
The Castle Doctrine was a common-law legal defense that said that a man’s home is his castle. This meant that you had the right to use deadly force in defending your “castle.” However, you were then open to a civil wrongful death suit by the family of the robber that you used deadly force on when he invaded your castle. You also had a duty to retreat if you could safely do so before using deadly force. Even in your own home.
In 2006, the Mississippi Legislature, following Florida’s lead, codified the Castle Doctrine into law. It is Mississippi Statute 97-3-15, and it states in part that:
(1) The killing of a human being by the act, procurement or omission of another shall be justifiable in the following cases:
(e) When committed by any person in resisting any attempt unlawfully to kill such person or to commit any felony upon him, or upon or in any dwelling, in any occupied vehicle, in any place of business, in any place of employment or in the immediate premises thereof in which such person shall be;
(3) A person who uses defensive force shall be presumed to have reasonably feared imminent death or great bodily harm, or the commission of a felony upon him or another or upon his dwelling, or against a vehicle which he was occupying, or against his business or place of employment or the immediate premises of such business or place of employment, if the person against whom the defensive force was used, was in the process of unlawfully and forcibly entering, or had unlawfully and forcibly entered, a dwelling, occupied vehicle, business, place of employment or the immediate premises thereof or if that person had unlawfully removed or was attempting to unlawfully remove another against the other person’s will from that dwelling, occupied vehicle, business, place of employment or the immediate premises thereof and the person who used defensive force knew or had reason to believe that the forcible entry or unlawful and forcible act was occurring or had occurred. This presumption shall not apply if the person against whom defensive force was used has a right to be in or is a lawful resident or owner of the dwelling, vehicle, business, place of employment or the immediate premises thereof or is the lawful resident or owner of the dwelling, vehicle, business, place of employment or the immediate premises thereof or if the person who uses defensive force is engaged in unlawful activity or if the person is a law enforcement officer engaged in the performance of his official duties;
(4) A person who is not the initial aggressor and is not engaged in unlawful activity shall have no duty to retreat before using deadly force under subsection (1) (e) or (f) of this section if the person is in a place where the person has a right to be, and no finder of fact shall be permitted to consider the person’s failure to retreat as evidence that the person’s use of force was unnecessary, excessive or unreasonable.
(5) (a) The presumptions contained in subsection (3) of this section shall apply in civil cases in which self-defense or defense of another is claimed as a defense.
(b) The court shall award reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, compensation for loss of income, and all expenses incurred by the defendant in defense of any civil action brought by a plaintiff if the court finds that the defendant acted in accordance with subsection (1) (e) or (f) of this section. A defendant who has previously been adjudicated “not guilty” of any crime by reason of subsection (1) (e) or (f) of this section shall be immune from any civil action for damages arising from same conduct.
The “new” Castle Doctrine law also added civil immunity when you used deadly force within your house or motor vehicle. This means that if you are forced to shoot someone that is breaking in your house, you cannot be then sued civilly by his family. The law also removed the duty to retreat before using deadly force. You no longer have to prove that you retreated, from your own house, before you can lawfully use deadly force in protecting yourself and your family from imminent harm.
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Get the cops on your side. It makes the reports go your way. Remember when in court who will the judge believe? a certified and "deputized" officer of the law, or a civilian that thinks he is a lawyer?
Just some food for thought.
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Lance,
Make sure you have all the info on how far you can go protecting your property and that of a relative.
Good advise - this is a must Lance. Talk to the County Sheriff's office, or who ever has jurisdiction in your area. It's always best to get names, dates and two different opinions. If they advise conflicts then you need to seek out another opinion. Ask for a copy of the laws regarding the protection of your property and person.
Right now I don’t understand why the police have not set up some sort of surveillance. Come on – if it is happening that often – some one needs to be watching things.
In your area do they have city council or county council meetings? Go to one and make sure that the council knows of this problem and ask them what they intend to do about it.
Be prepared - you never know when the British will try to take us back as a colony...
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Oh I didn't go to work today due to a stomach virus or bad food or something. And when I went to get the mail there was a deputy sitting on watch not even 1/4 a mile down the road. They've been watching. The thieves still get past them.
And I'm attaching my solution to the problem.
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I want to get a semi-auto shotgun with an external magazine.
You might want to consider having a few weapons strategically placed through out your dwelling. It would suck to be unarmed because you're on the 'can' and the shotgun is in your bedroom closet.
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I have to pipe in again. With all this talk about guns laying around, I hope you do not have any kids in the house. If so, TRAIN THEM NOW, TRAIN THEM NOW, TRAIN THEM NOW, TRAIN THEM NOW,...................................................
I took a call on the 911 line where a 9 yoa kids shot his sister in the head at point blank. My children were in the school that this girl went to. I never want to see anyone go through that.
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I quit having guns in my home a number of years ago when my ex wife and I walked into our bedroom and our 10 year old was playing with our 25, and later I came back from the 101st and he had taken it out of it's "hiding" place that my ex thought was safe and he was jacking rounds through the slide like he knew what he was doing. 10 years later I still don't have guns in my house and honestly I don't miss them in here, granted I do live on a military reservation so it isn't a big problem but I still don't have them in my home.
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this is what I am talking about. I am not against anyone owning weapons. i am all for it. However, I have, first hand, seen the results of people owing guns and not taking the responsibility of owning them. I NEVER want to see anyone go through that. You have to realize that all weapons are serious and designed to be deadly. You must teach you children from the get go that weapons are 1) dangerous and to be respected (not feared) and 2) keep the secure (loceked up). NHRA has some very good courses that help deal with this issue.
Again I do not mean to offend anyone, I just want everyone to realize what can and does happen. I grew up with weapons in my home without a problem. My brothers and I were taught to use weapons. We also were taught what they can do by experience. I just do not want anyone to experience an accedental shooting. It is never good.
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The sad part of that story is that I was raised around guns and I have the greatest respect in the world for them and sadly at that time I had bought that 25 for my ex-wife so she would be safe while I was gone and it turned out that she and later I didn't have enough respect for firearms to keep that out of reach. Fortunatly for us it was never fired or used in accident and when I got her and the kids to the 101st I got rid of that real quick and honestly I haven't missed having a weapon in my home in years.
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No kids (yet). We've been working on that for months now. It's not as easy as they make it out to be in high school.
Anyway, my wife bought me a gun safe for Christmas one year after she claimed that she awoke to find me in the bedroom with a hammer raised while sleepwalking. I have no recollection of this nor of ever sleepwalking.
Anyway, my weapons are all locked away in the safe, minus my shotgun. It don't keep a round in the chamber. When we DO have kids in the house, I'm not sure what I'll do. I am sure that I'll gradually introduce them to firearms like I was. A BB gun, then a .22, then a 20 gauge. :)
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Weapons will have to be stored up high to keep little fingers off of them. It's the middle school age that you have to worry about. It's sad that a 9 year old blew her head off. Someone that old certainly should have known better. I agree that proper training to respect weapons would have prevented that issue.
My dad kept his .30-30 Marlin in his closet and as many times that we played in there, we knew not to touch it.
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My younger brother and I grew up with guns in the house. My dad had 2 shotguns that he kept unlocked in a closet. He taught both of us about gun safety. Even though it would have been easy for either of us to handle the guns, we never did unless dad was there. At present I have a number of handguns, rifles, and a shotgun. I don't hunt any longer, but I do enjoy heading out to the range and tearing up a bunch of targets or blasting away at clay pidgeons. Even though it is only the wife and I living here, I still keep all my firearms in a locked steel gun cabinet. All the ammo is stored in a closet in a separate room. This may change a little when I get my concealed weapons permit. I will need to find a secure place to store the handgun when not carrying.
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I always had guns in the house and still do. Even when kids were small, all ammo was locked up high and tight. No keys left laying around. Also guns were kept secure in the house. Back then gun locks were almost unheard of. My kids enoyed going out shooting, but that was the only time they handled any gun. Even then it had to be one that they could handle. They never got to shoot any of the 44 mags.
As a kid we had 2 or 3 guns in the house and shells. As soon as I was old enough I'd go out by myself with a 4-10 hunting. Earlest I can remember would be before I was 10. Times have changed. (I still have one of those 4-10's)
I just got a Mauser 98 a couple of months ago. Nice - heavy. It had to be a killer dragging one of those across a battle field.
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I used to shoot my 98k a lot at teh range and my shoulder always hurts after 15 rounds, because I always shoot the high-powered foreign mil. stuff. Lugging it around is the easier part. I do that a few times a year as a German reenactor. Once you get all of the gear put on, the rifle isn't so bad, anymore.
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The only problem I see in having my guns locked up and not loaded is: What if I have to use them for the reason I bought it for?
Seriously. I have a baby on the way and what if one night I get awaken by someone breaking into my house? Rush frantically to unlock a safe then get the ammo (worse if its in another room) then load it? I want the gun right where I can grab it and take care of the situation right then and there. I don't have too much experience with guns but living in a bad side of town taught me a few things:
~If you don't have a gun or superior weaponry then the criminal does.
~If you don't use it, they will.
and most importantly
~They do not care.
Maybe it's because I am young and cocky. Or because I have been shot at before. But whats a gun for home defense good for if it's neutralized?
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Each person has to determine where the fine line is between safety and accessibility. I have an AK under the bed, but the three loaded magazines are up on a closet shelf. So, it would take me at least 15 seconds to get it out, run to the closet, and get at least one magazine loaded. If someone busted into the bedroom while I'm laying there and I'm woken out of a deep sleep, it's game over.
One idea is to keep the gun loaded in a holster hanging off a bed post or on a night stand. During the day, you could lock it up or unload it and keep it away from little hands.
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That is the exact reason I stated that my gun security procedures will change once I get my CCW permit. Which ever handguns become my carry, they will be highly accessable unless my grand children or other kids are visiting. Whatever I am carrying, the rest will be secured safely.
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So, what's the latest on the break-ins, Lance?
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Well, the only thing I know is that I haven't heard of anyone nearby being robbed lately. If anyone has been arrested for the string of robberies, nothing has been said.
So either the crooks have been arrested for something else or else they are just taking a break.
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...or they got drunk, swerved off the road and died... or they got gang-banged...etc.
They could be laying low.
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...or they got drunk, swerved off the road and died... or they got gang-banged...etc.
We can only hope for such a happy ending to such a tragic story. :2funny: Serves'em right.