Paranoia (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

How about if you have that sixth sense that what you're about to post is crossing the line of politics/policy/etc, then please PM Mary (or via other offline method) with your thoughts on self-protection. Otherwise, problematic threads will be locked, not sliced and diced, which no one wants to see happen.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

There are ways to let someone know that you're at home without answering the door or even going near it. Turn on the TV with the volume on high. Someone casing the joint or hoping to rob an empty house will hightail it out of there. Someone one a legitimate errand (or a con man ) will likely ring the doorbell - but you can go on ignoring that, and pretend you coudln't here it because of the TV. Anyone still lurking who hasn't rung the doorbell or knocked extra loud is definitely up to something both no good and damned peculiar. Another time when an intercom would come in handy. You could challenge the interloper without having to directly confront him and maintain total control over the situation. (The nice thing about an IP security camera system is that it also be connected to a motion detector and send both live video and a monitor and snap-shots or motion video to a hard drive - not a bad thing to have if a call to the cops is necessary.)

If I didn't live in a condo where the entire exterior is a "common area" where I can neither run wires nor conceal a camera, I'd seriously consider a similar system.

About a week ago someone knocked at my condo door (which opens directly into my living room, no vestibule or other "buffer area") at about 10:30 pm. I wasn't expecting anyone, no one had called. I was watching TV and hit "pause" on the DVR. I called out, "Who is it?" and got no answer. (I was sitting about four feet from the door and spoke loudly.) Waited a few seconds. Nothing. Turned the TV back on - and as soon as the show started there was another knock! Paused it again, asked who was there; no answer. I went back to watching my movie. I might have gone to the door and taken a look except the peep-hole is cracked and useless and that's one of the things I have not gotten around to fixing yet. (The peep-hole is an odd size that nobody carries, so I'm either going to have to get a smaller one, pack the hole with filler, then sand and paint the whole door so everything matches, or find a drill attachment the right size and make the hole bigger so that it can take a larger peep-hole.) I wish the area outside the door weren't common area, because this would be an ideal spot for a webcam.

Adam has a point about drawing down on a armed robber in the street - especially one who has already got the drop on you. In the case of a gunpoint robbery like that you'll be lucky not to have the crook spot you gun and take that along with your wallet and jewelery. The same is not necessarily the case with a robber wielding a knife, tire iron or similar weapon, or in a home defense scenario where you have the initiative, the ability to shoot from cover, and know the territory. I don't own guns myself, since I'm notoriously clumsy and would be a far greater danger to myself than anyone else would. But if I were considering the option, I think I'd also prefer a shotgun for home protection. You don't have to take precise aim under great stress. At short range you are almost certain to hit and incapacitate what you aim at, and that's the whole idea in such a scenario.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Mary M S]

Thank you Joe (and all)...your absolutely right.
“IP security camera system.” Husband has talked about it...it is the getting to installation. I’d like camera’s out front and all around garage with motion detector activated lights...but like your peephole project.....it would entail so much wiring, - research of products and setup...we haven’t gotten to it....really, really need to.

I called out, "Who is it?" and got no answer. that is highly suspicious and you did the right thing. I’m tallying my thoughts about stories in the neighborhood (as you can tell, - the subjects on my mind ). My single female neighbor on one side was scared witless (called the police) by a man who knocked on her door at about 11:00 pm the middle of winter, - but even though she yelled loudly standing right at the door “Who is it...what do you need?” many times, he kept knocking periodically but would never say a word. She could see his face via her peep...he cocked his head when she yelled, - he just would not reply. Police told her they think he was most definitely hoping she’d just open the door. We have a serial rapist in the DFW region who hit within a mile of me last month. I know I’m just overly focused on the ‘bad’ right now.

Shotguns: My husband states, there is nothing like the sound of a shotgun being pumped in a quiet house. He adds any uninvited in the vicinity would pay great attention to that sound.

.....the burglary...he hurt her... by pulling so violently on the purse, which she clutched hard due to pure reflex; in attempting to lean away from this strange man who was basically (by pulling purse) suddenly pulling her in to himself. The purse put a big dent in her well-built car when the straps broke, and cut and bloodied both her arms...in fact she bled quite a bit and that coupled with her chalk white horrified face..looking like a heart attack...was terrifying to me. There was no way to see him...unless I had walked the vehicle all the way around, as we approached, as we left the store entering car doors coming from nose of car and he was hiding behind the bumper. Security guard in a truck across the lot reported that fact later.

...I would never aim a gun at a human being over a purse or any material possession.
Moms deal: just woke up my instinctual self...to the fact, - these things do happen...what if it is not a purse snatching next time...but something worse? Will I be more ready...quicker to react ..nxt time. I am mulling life in general as it is affected by crime, due to the sudden ‘eye’ opening experience which occurred to me & mine...not the 10:00 news. These recently odd behaviors by people on my porch, - in the near past, I would have told myself, - I’ve seen too many movies, but currently they tend to have a deeper impact.

Linda...thank you for your well thought out, and written comments ...I agree.

 

[chris_everett]

Among defense experts, shotguns are generally considered the best home defense weapons money can buy. The wide pattern that reduces the need to precisely aim, combined with the pellets that won't go through a typical wall, (except at close range) makes them excellent for that task. And yes, there's nothing like that pump sound to get someone to give up without needing to fire a shot.

"the fact of the matter is that people are more likely to be killed by their own gun then anybody else's"

That's actually a misquote of the following statistic "Your more likely to kill someone you know than a stranger" That stat was and is often quoted but is misleading, as many legitimate self-defense shootings may be against someone you know (your next door neighbor decides to come over to rape your wife, etc,etc...) An actual study of accidental shootings vs justified ones showed that justified self-defense shootings vastly outweighed accidents, and neither counted those pumping the shotgun moments where no shots were fired. But remember, as spider-man says, with great power comes great responsibility.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Tell that to a rape victim.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Oh, man. This thread is soooo locked. Not that I disagree with one of the sides of the debate. Which one, I ain't sayin'.

 

[RobertR]

There was an occassion many years ago when I wish I had been as paranoid as Mary. :frowning:

 

[Kyle McCabe]

Seems pretty civil and friendly to me. I would imagine (or hope) that everyone here is mature enough to discuss certain issues without resorting to name-calling, insults, or other childish behavior.

*off to re-read the rules!*

 

[Greg_S_H]

Politics are against the rules, whether it gets heated or not.

 

[Mary M S]

I don’t think its crossed the line into politics, this kind of 'grey' area comes up particularly in 'movies', -but only your mod knows for sure? I think the posts written were more pertinent to calculating odds for me, by discussing the ‘facts’ which affect whether or not it is true, I am statistically more likely to shoot myself in the foot than to effectively self-defend, if I do choose to take courses.

A couple of yrs back on satellite some CEO Protection Security Expert talked about how to survive crime. I believe in plotting generalized plans of action in advance and always hope that by attempting to think over possible scenarios, when your brain freezes up it might synoptically start tracking along those paths of prior thoughts. (the reason skydivers and pilots practice emergency procedures over & over, so the brain goes on automatic during bedlam.)

What the ‘expert’ said hit me like a hammer. If you are ever being threatened by a weapon...even a gun...and asked to enter a car or the trunk of a car. Don’t think, Scream, make noise & RUN. He mentioned most people tend to go passive with shock thinking “I’ll be shot, if I don’t comply and hope that an opportunity to ‘get away’ will come later” He states once you are taken away from a populated area (where these crimes normally start), you are basically 99.9% sunk.
There is a fulcrum moment that your life hinges on, when both the victim and attacker do not have a total edge in the before mentioned ...“fully in control of the situation” He suggests ‘surprising’ the attacker yourself, by ignoring the threat of violence.

This, one I have thought over, and agree with the expert. ...I will run. I will never be forced into a car by the threat of a weapon (it would have to be a physical pick me up off my feet). Along the lines of the earlier comments on the accuracy of handguns Vs shotguns, the expert pointed out, most attackers use handguns and easily will miss a moving target! Even if he gets you, odds would be high it would not be a fatal location.

....there is a catch to making the above choice. It would always hinge on whether or not I was with someone I felt I had to protect, making that choice would only be possible if I were alone with no one else to worry over.

Robert....? ....I’m sorry to read that. I hope the moment was not something too awful.

...forgive if I’m appearing morbid working out my process of .... “What would you do if?”
My favorite recent ‘plan’ involves sic-ing an SVS sub on any would-be home intruders....

 

[RobertR]

It was unpleasant, but no injuries, fortunately. Thanks for the concern.

 

[mylan]

I need to go back and read all posts here but I get the general jist about paranoia and crime...get this, not for the first time but we have two doors leading onto a screened porch that I left unlocked last night. I always remember the door to the kitchen but the one leading right into our bedroom is so seldom used I failed to check it. We are deadbolted out the a** and I leave the bedroom door open for all. I just shrugged it off though, we do live in a nice neighborhood in a "safe" area.

 

[Mary M S]

and I leave the bedroom door open for all. you just flashed me back.
My Grandmother was a big gardener, loved ‘air’. In Spring & Fall it was every window open, she had a behemoth of an attic fan installed in the floored stand up-in attic.

I remember waking up in the middle of night as the air cooled down and having to pull the comforter up, or you froze. The sound of the crickets, owls and the moon shine. She had sheer white something’s draped to the floor on the windows, which the attic fan drawing and wind blowing would float and flutter through the night.

That was Dallas and many still never worried about leaving all windows open.
Sad how we depend on our locks and shades now.

 

[mylan]

It is sad, my wife keeps the doors locked even during the day, she's even gotten me doing it. She once walked in, leaving me on the porch and locked me out, just out of habit. I guess I am lulled into a false sense of security as nothing has happened to anyone I know like whats been described in this thread.

 

[David Williams]

My deadbolt stays bolted unless I'm actually going through the door and I always lock my bedroom door at night. I've had the irrational fear of intruders in my bedroom ever since I was little when some neighborhood friends of mine were robbed in the middle of the night while they slept.

 

[mylan]

Yes, my wife did that too at our old house where the inside lock took more than a few minutes to insert a safety pin and catch a mechanism that would turn the lock. She went to bed one night while I was out with friends and I had to pick it to go to sleep. At our new house, they all use those "courtesy locks" for all inside doors that require only a screwdriver to turn it. I finally broke her of that habit when I showed her how easy it was to defeat, however we do have an elaborate alarm system with pin switches for windows, doors, motion and glass break detectors so we're good unless its a crazed whacked out maniac, in which case, there is always the Smith and Wesson located in a safe postion!

 

[RobertR]

My wife deadbolts all the doors AND all the steel security doors AND activates the motion detector alarm.

 

[Robbie R]

Mary

Check out the link.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...009&CatId=1927

Its a wireless camera/intercom for homes. Simple to install and cheap. I bought something similar to monitor my babies room. I hooked it up to a video input on my Big Screen TV in my HT, If I hear my son making noise I simply hit the PIP button on my Harmony Remote and I can see my son in his crib.

Great toy for a HT nut . Installed the system in less than 2 hours, Including programming my remote A system like this would monitor your front door nicely.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I apologize for turning this thread into a referendum on gun control. My opinion is only one of many, and Chris and Jeff have provided valuable counter arguments. Thank you for correcting my apparently ill-begotten statistic.
I will amend my opinion from abstaining from gun ownership, though that is the course I personally prefer to take. I think most important is that if you DO choose to own a gun make sure you train yourself with it and reach a certain comfort level. If you can't wield it effectively when you're in control of the situation, you definitely won't be able to wield it effectively when you're being terrorized.

 

[Mary M S]

Adam, I didn't read it that way? Just a reporting on stats you had seen regarding, use of.
Weird how the brain handles emergencies, several times I've had some majors, and time slowed down nice and neatly, allowing me to go instantanously straight into action. As if I had planned for it all my life. If I could just figure how to make that batting average 100%.

Robbie, thanks for the link...I'll look into it. We have an alarm, but a camera/ intercom would solve my feeling like a heel for not speaking to people at the door, or SHOUTING at them. That and motion dectectors in key spots outside should increase peace of mind. We have soft path landscape lighting down to garage...and at trees. (I hate light pollution) I don't want anything looking like a prison yard when Lex Luther escaped. But motion lights should help indicate if anything is moving down there, if we can get it adjusted for the animals.

I can see my son in his crib. Parents' dream electronics!