A little freaked out

[RoxMonster]

So there have been 4 armed home invasions in neighborhoods near ours in the past month. These are middle- to upper-class neighborhoods, one even being a gated community. Two or three people are coming in (what sounds like) unlocked back doors, tying up the family at gunpoint, stealing a bunch of stuff and then taking off in the family's own car. Two cars have been dumped at a nice apartment complex in town.

H works with a friend of one of the families that was victimized just yesterday. The FBI is being called in to help because the local police have absolutely no clues--no fingerprints, DNA, no leads, nothing. This is kind of freaky. These people obviously know what they are doing and are not stopping. I think it's also kind of freaky to have it happening within a couple miles of us. We are not in a gated or upper-class neighborhood, just a regular, quiet street, but it's still a little unnerving to have it happening so close by with no clues. We always keep our back door locked and dead bolted at all times, plus we have a locked privacy fence, so someone would have to scale a 6' fence to even get in our yard. But still.

I noticed our backyard neighbors kept their back porch light on all night last night when they previously hadn't. We have a light out back that can be made to be motion-sensored (right now we just leave it off and turn it on when we go out there) and I think H is going to change the settings so it comes on with motion now. I know the chance of our block being hit is small and the chances of our house being targeted even smaller, but I will say last night was the first night since living in this house that I laid awake for a little bit listening to every creak and noise and feeling a little on edge. Hopefully they catch these people soon.

What other things do you do to keep your house not an easy target for home invaders?

[pixelpassion]

The motion light is a good idea. Do you have any sliding glass doors? We used to put a dowel in ours so it couldn't be opened from outside.

[muffin0]

[muffin0]

3M security film on all windows.

Cameras.

[bania]

Ugh I'm so sorry. I have no other advice other than an alarm system maybe? It may help deter them but they don't sound like armatures.

I hope authorities catch them soon so you can sleep at night. That blows.

[shostakovich]

Yikes, that would be scary! I'm sorry about your neighbors being targeted, and that it's so close to you.

I think locking your back door at all times and re-setting your backyard light to motion sensing are good steps. Do you have an alarm system? Could you maybe call your local police department (the non-emergency line) and express your concerns and get tips from them?

[spindle92]

I hear you on being freaked out. There has been 2 arson house fires near me recently and it is scary.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using proboards

[bonquiqui]

Ugh, this is scary, and I am sorry that you have to worry about this.  I would get an alarm system.  

[RoxMonster]

On the big scary dog front, we do have Roxie. She is not huge (50 lbs) but SOUNDS big from her bark. I do put a lot of trust in her to alert us if someone is lurking in the yard; she alerts us when someone is walking down the street! I would hope anyone that would possibly target us would be scared off by her bark. My only concern is if they are not, a dog is no match for a gun :/ I hate thinking about that.

We have considered putting in an alarm system and this might prompt us to look further into it and quickly.

It makes me sick to my stomach to think about them tying up the little kids in these houses

[Deleted]

I would put in an alarm system. I would also put a couple lamps on timers that turn off and on randomly so it looks like someone is always home.

[snickers]

Holy shit. I am sorry you are dealing with this.

Get an alarm system. At least then if someone did enter, it would sound and you would know it, and help would be sent in the event you were tied up. If you have sliding doors, put a stick of wood in them so they cannot be opened. Keep your doors locked at all times (obviously)

I would think your dog would deter them. 50 lbs is enough to do damage to a person, and while a dog is no match for a gun--dogs are unpredictable and are usually enough to deter people.

[Deleted]

Oct 26, 2013 13:32:46 GMT -5 @otterama said:

I would put in an alarm system. I would also put a couple lamps on timers that turn off and on randomly so it looks like someone is always home.

Those types of lamps may not work in this case though since it sounds like they are just tying people up

As a general rule though, those lamps are great.

Where I live you can get an alarm system that automatically calls the police. It's about $40 per month for the monitoring plus the system. May be worth it right now.

[RoxMonster]

Thanks for all the tips. We are going out of town next weekend, and I plan to let our neighbors know, as well as put some lights on a timer, so it isn't obvious that the house is empty (though I guess I'd rather have us robbed when we weren't there than when we were if it was going to happen at all). Is it silly that I am considering putting a knife in my bedside table, so that if we were to ever get tied up we could get free quicker? It sounds like part of the problem is the families are not being able to free themselves for sometimes 2-3 hours after the crime and after the people are long, long gone. Or does that make me super duper paranoid?

We will call around and look into some different alarm companies. We had already considered getting one for the fire monitoring since Roxie is home alone all day and my worst fear is that a fire would start when she couldn't get out

[chickadee77]

Yikes. Scary. A friend of ours had this happen when he was a kid - the robbers came in and duct taped the family, robbed them, and left.

We have an alarm system and a bunch of motion lights, cameras, and a vicious attack cat . We also make sure our doors are locked - I have a routine before I go to bed, and double-checking our doors are part of it.

[juliahenry]

I think our dog is the single best defense we have against intruders etc.

Also, I'm sorry you're going through this but lol at your siggy pic + this thread...

[Deleted]

I have an alarm & a dog ( she's not big, 32lbs, but she barks & would alert us to someone on the front walkway or stairs, before the alarm could.

[thatgirl2478]

I think I live near you.

I would probably get an alarm - simplisafe has one that you don't sign a contract for ($25/mo for the monitoring, approximately $200 - $300 for the system depending on what you get). It's easy to install too. If we didn't need ours on our empty property in Northern IL I would move that system to our house - who knows when these guys are going to move down 24!

[AmeliaBedelia]

You wouldn't happen to live in central IL, would you? The same thing has been going on in my parents' town. It's very scary.

I would get an alarm system.

[jane6672]

Oct 26, 2013 13:14:28 GMT -5 muffin0 said:

3M security film on all windows.

Cameras.

They have a video on the website of a foiled burglary attempt and it is awesome.

[RoxMonster]

Oct 26, 2013 16:52:07 GMT -5 AmeliaBedelia said:

You wouldn't happen to live in central IL, would you? The same thing has been going on in my parents' town. It's very scary.

I would get an alarm system.

I do, yes.

[AmeliaBedelia]

It's definitely terrifying what's been going on there. My parents have been much more diligent about setting their alarm and making sure doors are locked always. I really hope they catch these guys - it's horrible not feeling safe at home.