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My dentist called last night to cancel an appointment for this morning.
Seems that they were having dinner when they heard someone kicking their main entrance door, hard. Her husband, also a dentist, starts shouting but the attacker keeps kicking until he breaks the lower part of the door, his foot goes right through it. For whatever reason, the person just pulled his foot out of the door and escaped. It could have been that they saw someone noticing what he or them where up to, maybe a police car was near by, who knows? If they think someone just called the cops they usually leave. She was a bit stressed but otherwise ok. She was dealing with the problem of the broken door and apparently a neighbor (she doesn’t live near by) was helping them with the door problem.
This happens pretty often, and I keep getting emails from all across USA where these events are becoming more and more common. Even in the “safe” neighborhoods, home invasions with and without people inside are growing problem.
What can we learn about this type of incident :
1) Have a gun. I want to think its self-explanatory that this means you’ll only be buying it after doing some serious soul search and you conclude you have the required maturity and confidence to handle one safely and that you will get professional training so as to know how to use it.
2) As it sometimes happens (and I’m surprised to see some people still don’t believe this) some criminals just don’t care if you’re inside. Usually criminals go for houses that are clearly empty, no lights, no noise, but when the lights are turned on and they still try to break in, they don’t care if you’re inside. Not the most common scenario, but it does happen enough to be concerned.
3) The door folks! Have a security door, preferably professionally installed, get a bulletproof one if you can afford it. The main door is the quickest access to your home, especially in USA doors are just for looks, a well placed kick sends 95% of the doors in USA flying open. This guy, he apparently kicked the lower section of the door, not a pro. Had he kicked strongly where the lock is so as to bust the hinges instead of breaking the actual door, he would have gotten inside in a matter of seconds.
FerFAL
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5 comments:
A firearm is essential. A dog large enough to put a serious bite on a home invader is also very important. The combination of an alarm, a dog and a homeowner with a firearm he/she is able to use competently, will make it less likely that an invader will make the attempt and much less likely that he will be successful if he tries.
A simple way to kick proof your door is to replace the small two inch metal strike or latch on your door frame. This is the part that breaks when someone tries to kick down your door (what actually breaks is the wood door frame next to the two small screws holding the latch in place).
Replace it with a four or five foot long strike bar. You can buy them from any big box home improvement store for under $100, and install them in 15 minutes or less.
The strike bar replacement and a good deadbolt will stop your door from being kicked down, forcing a burglar to either break through your door with an axe or break through the wall of your house to get inside.
As for getting a bullet proof door, you really need to look at the construction of your home. The standard exterior walls of homes made within the last 30 years or so are just vinyl over plywood. Thus, upgrading just your door is not enough, as that only causes a burglar to go through the wall instead.
If someone breaks into your home at night they are there for more than just robbery. Especially if the mode of entry is a forceful "smash" that is likely to be heard by the occupants.
In Indiana, U.S.A. the smart home invaders will pretend to be police, because it is ilegal for any one to resist any search of a home by the police.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-ind-ruling-on-illegal-police-entry-sparks-protest-20110519,0,4882870.story
Fernando, I suggest you don't move there.
K - people impersonating police is growing more common. Especially plain-clothed in unmarked cars. Bright lights and flashing red or blue turrets are commonly available from many sources. Few people resist.
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