What does your home defense plan consist of?

S

StainlessSteel215

Moderator
Its no surprise that in a bad economy...criminals seek more opportunities and get more desperate. There have been more home invasions and break-ins in the Philly area including suburbs than ever before....in ALL neighborhoods including mine.

So I finally broke down and installed an ADT security system in our home last month, right before we went away for a week on vacation. We have way too many downstairs windows so I had to settle on just the front and back door sensors and a motion sensor in the main traffic area downstairs. And my wife and I use the system frequently, even on short daytime trips where we are only gone 30 min or so.

As for my defense plan for a home invasion, admittedly I dont not really have one other than to grab my 1 year old from her crib...secure myself in the master bedroom, allow the ADT system to notify police and take cover in the master bedroom with my Glock26 (with night sights) on standby.

I heard a story recently from my mechanic that a good buddy of his is serving prison time because he noticed a daytime break-in, entered slowly, stood at the bottom of the staircase waiting patiently and shot upwards and killed the intruder. Well, according to the courts he should have exited his home and dialed 911. I have to agree.
 
Anywhere in USA, even southern states like Florida that adopted the stand your ground laws. There is VERY specific language that went into legislation when these laws were crafted. You have to really prove without a shred of doubt that you had no way to exit the house safely before discharging your firearm at an intruder. Im telling you, you'd be surprised!
 
I try to use the multiple layered model of perimeter defense backed up with intel gathering about criminality in my local area to both predict, deter, and if necessary ultimately stop crime directed at my family or property.

I am currently in the process of improving my home's security plan. I am adding more motion sensor lights, anti pry plates to the doors, and experimenting with wireless motion sensor alarms to tell when people enter the property.

I already have hardened doors, a dog, firearms of various types, and practice surveillance detection techniques to catch someone "casing" the house. We also attend our local police department's anticrime meetings and keep up on local arrests in the paper to track crime trends in our area.

Currently most crime in our city happens several miles away from our neighborhood, but there have been a few incidents close by, mainly thefts from garages with the door left open.

In the future is more firearms training for my wife (from an actual instructor, not me taking her to the range and teaching her marksmanship), getting the alarm system worked out to get audible real time alarms for the backyard and outbuilding, and possibly CCTV cameras. I also want to purchase some gen 3 night vision gear, but that is years in the future due to having a kid on the way.
 
First line of defense:
Adequate exterior lighting, some on timers, some on motion detectors.

Second line of defense:
Early warning system consisting of Emma the Tactical Terrier and Toffy the Wonder Beagle.

Third line of defense:
Alarm system and integrated home automation. (the lights turn on for the zone which is triggered)

Forth line of defense:
3 separate hidden doors/rooms. These are not fully-armored "safe rooms', rather just someplace where you'd be difficult to find when hiding.

Fifth line of defense:
There is quite a bit of weaponry. Some of it is almost always carried on my person or that of my wife. Everyone in the household is proficient in varying degrees appropriate to their age.
 
I rent, so my options are limited as to surveillance equipment and alarm systems.

I compromise by living on the second story of a duplex. Two locked doors, one outside at the base of a staircase, one at the top that lets into the apartment proper. The latter of which is equipped with one of those stick-on, battery powered magnetic alarms.

Cell phone, pistol, and flashlight in/on the nightstand in the front bedroom where we sleep.

Retreat point is the rear bedroom that has no bed, but houses all of my other guns and ammo. Also here is one of those rope-ladder type fire escapes.
 
Stressfire,

Good thinking on the ladder, if I had a second story I would want one too. Also the flashlights. I forgot to mention my defensive guns have weapons mounted lights capable of lighting up the entire yard and I have had shooting with low light/flashlight training in the past.

Cellphones are a given, we keep several charged. Also since we are in a hurricane area we maintain a landline (local area has buried telephone lines) as a backup in case the towers go out. We have lost cell coverage in the past, never the landline.
 
Outside lights, alarm, dogs, "The plan", Guns!

The plan=KISS= flashlights, phones, safe place, knife, commonsense, awareness, Guns!
 
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I mostly rely on my location (the middle of nowhere) and the dogs as deterrents. Good exterior lights and a peephole usually let me identify what the dogs are after.
Beyond that, I keep a 30-30 in the closet by the door, and a handgun/flashlight/phone locked in my bedroom.

Incidentally - if anyone didn't know - you can use a deactivated cell to call 911, so if it's inconvenient to keep your actual phone in your "safe area", you can always just keep an old phone there instead.
 
Great posts - cant believe I havent thought of that already but I think I will install a couple motion sensor lights around the side and back of the house because they are relatively cheap ways to scare off intruders in low light. Luckily my home is directly in front of a street light so I think that brings at least some level of deterrent to a walker-by....in the front of the house at least.
 
Add video cameras, I have several inside and outside. When the home was built 13 years ago I had panic buttons put in each bathroom tied to the alarm system which are Silent Panics. They require two fingers to operate so just a bump will not send the alarm.
 
You do not mention dogs, but even one or two small yapping dogs would be the best first line of defense. Assuming you can't or won't get a dog or two, then your alarm system is a good start as long as the system is up and running and there is electricity. Nice thing about dogs is not electricity needed.
Some great responses in this thread.
 
Incidentally - if anyone didn't know - you can use a deactivated cell to call 911
Click to expand...

Forgot about that one - my old cell phone is kept in the "panic" room. Turned off, but I check the battery on occassion
 
I have a couple of motion lights outside but my two main lights (back door, front door) are dusk to dawn lights, they stay on all night.
I've added a couple motion light, side of the house, when you approach the house and an additional one in the back of the house. The back of the house one lights up with a nice 1000w bulb. That puts light though my rear sliding door so that it lets me know something or someone is in my yard.
 
We live off the beaten path with
no cell phone service.
I should have a plan in place and make
this cabin more secure but I don't.
I am retired ,hardly go anywhere cept to the
barn and out back cutting wood.
We can hear a vehicle coming from quite a ways
off and I always carry my friend Mr glock.
The barn also has a couple of my friends in there.
 
I use cameras, lights and pray.

Located with a fairway on one side and woods on another it's a lot of dark space around. Inside I have guns and an alarm with lots of motion, glass break and door sensors, and a small dog that barks and everyting.

Bad guys are getting bolder not smarter, just pay attention and pray nobody gets in your door, window, chimney cause if they do you are on your heels trying to take your ground back. Burgulars don't burgul alone 2 or more can carry more stuff so you may have to fight off more than 1, not something I have to think about dealing with while my family is in panic mode.
 
StainlessSteel215:
I heard a story recently from my mechanic that a good buddy of his is serving prison time because he noticed a daytime break-in, entered slowly, stood at the bottom of the staircase waiting patiently and shot upwards and killed the intruder. Well, according to the courts he should have exited his home and dialed 911. I have to agree.
Click to expand...

Have you vetted the story? A lot of these stories get passed around for years and at the end of the chain they don't sound anything like the original drama. They usually begin as "I got pulled over by a policeman" and end up sounding like "your Grandmother had an affair with Batman."

StainlessSteel215:
Anywhere in USA, even southern states like Florida that adopted the stand your ground laws. There is VERY specific language that went into legislation when these laws were crafted. You have to really prove without a shred of doubt that you had no way to exit the house safely before discharging your firearm at an intruder. Im telling you, you'd be surprised!
Click to expand...

Well, in a word, NO. That's just not true. In Massachusetts that was true years ago. North Carolina was about the last Southern state that had weird Castle Doctrine and even it's been changed. In South Carolina, the Attorney General issued a public statement that people should shoot intruders in their home. In Georgia, our Castle Doctrine has existed for the better part of 100 years. No retreat is necessary.
 
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I have installed 4 fake video cameras that all have LED flashing lights. They look very real and even have a wire that enters the mounting plate. I have noticed on 2 occasions people pulling into my driveway, noticing the cameras and promptly leaving. That right there told me that they were up to no good, and the cameras did their job. I also have cut down large bushes that would provide hiding spots for burglars, installed motion lights in certain locations, and have dusk to dawn lights on all of the out buildings so I can see anything that moves in my back yard. I found some fluorescent dusk to dawn lights that only use 17 watts, but provide enough light to easily light up the back yard enough to see any intruders, and it doesn't run up my electric bill. The motion lights come on if anybody approaches the front of the house or the back door. I have made my house and property totally undesirable for burglars so they will just go on to another house. Even an ADT sign and fake cameras will normally make them think twice and costs very little.
 
Wildthang "I have noticed on 2 occasions people pulling into my driveway, noticing the cameras and promptly leaving."

Sounds like it's time to move!
 
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