Home Invasion Prevention

It has been said that one in five homes have experienced a home invasion. A home invasion is not like a burglary, which takes place when you are away. A home invasion is when someone comes into your home when you are there. Let's face it: none of us is immune to having our home invaded. It does not mater what neighborhood you live in, either. Upscale or slum, you are a target.

I have one female client in Murfreesboro, TN, who had a few home invasions. When she moved into her new home, which was a foreclosure property, she never had the locks changed. For a period of 6 months, she had this feeling that someone was entering her home. One evening, while she was sleeping, someone entered her home with a key. What woke her up was the sound of the creaking rail leading up the stairs. Luckily, she awoke and startled the invader, who fled. Now, imagine being a single woman and waking up with a man standing over you.

Here are some precautions you need to take.

1. Always have your house locks re-keyed when you move in and never leave a key outside under one of those fake-looking rocks. Criminals know where all the hiding places are.
2. Get a dog or make it look like you have have a dog by putting a beat up dog food bowl at the front and rear doors.
3. Get motion-activated lights put up on the front, rear, and sides of your home.
4. You can get a house alarm, but not everyone can afford one. Instead, get a stand-alone, motion-activated, infrared alarm. This would be a portable alarm. If you sleep upstairs, put it at on the wall where an intruder would begin to ascend the steps. You can check out the Infrared Portable Motion Alarm (HS5300) Digital Keypad 105db Siren online. In fact, I think Lowe's sells one for $27. Also, go online and buy the big mace sprayer. This unit is huge, costs around $50, but will take out a bunch of people quickly. When your motion alarm goes off, grab your mace, head for the stairs and, if the criminal is still there, hose him down. 
5. Make sure you have deadbolts; but do not rely on them. They can be easily kicked in. I will soon be offering an invasion deterrent lock on this site.
6. If you would like, take a self-defense course and weapons training. The best home defense weapon is the shortened 12 gauge shotgun. I would recommend the new Keltec semi-automatic shotgun. I think it has 18 shots and fires just as fast as you can pull the trigger!
7. Install a nanny-cam self-contained DVR camera. They come in different configurations. You can even get one that looks like a tissue container. These devices are motion-activated, coming on only when they detect motion.