Fly the American flag if you want. Do it correctly. That is about as much as I am willing to concede.
Everything else stays neutral.
Layer Two: Visible Deterrence
From the street your house should say one thing. Hard target.
Lighting is cheap and effective. Constant lighting where practical. Motion lights where it is not.
Trim back vegetation. Criminals love shadow and concealment.
Cameras should be visible. Signs should say cameras are there. Ring doorbells are fine. Redundant systems are better.
Reinforced exterior doors. Solid core. Quality hardware. Strike plates anchored into framing.
Keep criminals outside.
Vehicle placement matters more than most people think. If one vehicle is high on the theft list and the other is harder to steal, park one in front of the other so they have to figure out how to move the harder one to get to the easier one.
Make them work for it. Make them reconsider.
Deterrence is about friction. Criminals prefer easy.
The Stupid Stuff We Do.
How we sabotage ourselves.
Garage door openers left in cars that are parked outside the garage.
Decorative glass windows next to exterior doors that can be smashed and reached through.
Expensive items visible from the street.
The garage door opener in a vehicle outside the garage is self explanatory. You are handing over access.
Glass panels next to doors invite a smash and reach. If a criminal can break glass and unlock the door in seconds, you just walked him to your last line of defense.
Visible wealth invites targeting. You are not impressing the neighbors. You are marketing to thieves.
Layer Three: Hard Barriers
Garage doors are a common entry point. A stiff wire can be slipped above the door, snag the emergency release cord, and defeat the opener in seconds.
Zip tie the emergency release so it cannot be hooked from outside. It will still function if needed, but it cannot be snagged easily.
Lock the interior door between your garage and your home. Always.
Once inside a garage, criminals can close the door behind them, load a vehicle at their leisure, then leave. Do not give them privacy.
Sliding glass doors are another weakness. A dowel in the track prevents them from sliding open. That is good. It does not stop someone from lifting the door out of its track.
Run screws into the upper track just deep enough that the door cannot be lifted out but still slides freely.
Basement windows you never use are vulnerabilities. If you do not use them, secure them. Harden them. Make entry physically painful and time consuming.
Layer Four: Alarm and Containment
If you advertise an alarm system, actually use it.
Police response times are not instantaneous. But sirens and monitoring still create pressure.
Double cylinder deadbolts are worth considering. They require a key on both sides. If someone breaks glass to enter, they are still locked in unless they brought tools to defeat the lock.
Keys can hang on the interior side while you are home. When you leave, they go with you.
(Note: these locks are against code in some areas and can be dangerous. If the lock is locked and the key is not in the lock, anyone in the house is locked in. Careful planning and consideration must be made when thinking about installing these locks. I can not be held responsible for your decisions.)
If someone forces entry through a window, they cannot simply unlock the door and walk out. Anything stolen must leave the way it came in.
Basement doors can be reinforced with bars and quality hardware. Make forced entry cost time and noise.
Gun safes are non negotiable.
Every firearm should be secured. If you stage one at night, it either goes with you in the morning as your daily carry or it goes back into the safe.
Every stolen firearm ends up on a street somewhere. Every unlawful discharge involving that weapon works against the rights of every responsible gun owner.
Do not contribute to that problem.
If you can afford a gun, you can afford a safe place to keep it.
Layer Five: The Human Element
Two types of criminals.
Those who break in thinking you are gone.
Those who break in knowing you are home.
You will have very little time to determine which one you are dealing with.
If the intruder is surprised to see you, he is likely running. Your presence disrupted his plan.
If the intruder is not surprised, you are in a deadly situation. That individual planned for contact. He accounted for you.
This is not the time for bravado. It is not the time for one liners.
You act decisively. You act violently if required. You survive.
Your home is your terrain. You control choke points. You control lighting. You control angles. You control where weapons are staged and how quickly you can access them.
You have time right now to build this system correctly.
Why would you make it easy for someone who wants to harm you?
Layer it.
Deny intelligence.
Deter from the street.
Harden entry points.
Contain if breached.
Be ready for contact.
This is your castle.
Build it like you mean it.
For more information on how to prepare yourself and your home for unwanted events, check out my book:
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