Home Improvement

The Problems with ‘Home Invasion Scenarios’

Just about everyone has had ‘that conversation’ about what their plan is if their home is ever broken into. There are a lot of outlandish ideas and misconceptions associated with this, on both a legal and practical level. Let’s talk about just a few of them.

Is It a Good Idea to Confront the Invader?

Let’s address the obvious question first, should one go downstairs with a gun, or failing that, a baseball bat, and attempt to drive the assailant(s) off, rather than cowering in the bedroom and, as quietly as possible, attempting to call the police? The short answer is no it isn’t, and not because you should act like a coward, you should always try to keep as level a head as possible in any emergency situation. Importantly, it is because you shouldn’t act like you know what you’re walking into when you clearly don’t. Do you know how many people are down there? What they’re armed with? If they have any violent intent or if they’re merely after you’re car keys, which quite frankly isn’t worth risking your family’s safety over if the thing’s insured anyway? Certainly one should prepare oneself for the possibility of violence, to do any less is simply not taking the threat seriously, but leaping into violence straight away when it could be avoided entirely is equally irresponsible. Like any emergency, the important thing is to 1) establish that there is a real danger, 2) put the pieces in motion to ensure that an appropriate emergency response is on the way, and then 3) do everything one possibly can to mitigate that threat, resorting to violence if, and only if, you know beyond reasonable doubt that a violent assault upon you or your loved one(s) is imminent, or if it is already happening.

Security Installations

Companies which do commercial fencing Chesterfield based and elsewhere will often have options for high security fencing, which can deter opportunists. Other options include reinforcing windows and replacing typical unplasticized polyvinyl chloride doors (UPVC) with composites, which are far harder to break through. Deadbolt locks are also one of the most secure door locks going, and are difficult to pick. Security cameras are also useful, especially those which can directly alert your local police department to trespassers. Dogs can be particularly effective in some cases, both for their capacity to alert their owners to danger, directly defend their owners if trained to do so, or at the very least, prove an extra obstacle for any would be attacker. All of these measures, however, are ultimately deterrent in nature. Few if any features can stop a committed, armed invasion of a home by multiple suspects, although, hopefully, such a thing would not normally happen unless one annoyed someone very dangerous and well connected.

 

Don’t Make Your Home a Target in the First Place

The most important thing you can do to protect your home, however, is remember what not to do. Criminals spend hours, days and weeks meticulously searching for weaknesses to exploit and targets to prey upon. These can be anything from open windows to weak locks on back doors to properties that look like nobody is in them. The important thing to remember is that criminals are, more often than not, cowards who will not be seeking direct confrontation if they can possibly avoid it. However, they can, and often will react violently if threatened, and there are invariably much smarter ways to protect oneself and one’s family than charging into potentially life-threatening situations guns blazing. Obviously, if you or someone you love is actually in the process of being physically attacked, however, then that’s different.

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