How to secure your home, and your family

[hniHnitsuJ 8]

Hi All,

Last wednesday, my house got robs by 2 teenage age bwt 14-17(HIS.) from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM pst. I was wondering how all of you are secure your home and your family.

- We have alarm system at home, and I even POST the signs outside. The kids are smart enough jump over our fans, and SHUTOFF the power switch. And, break in from the windows.

- We have motion light at night time ON/OFF.

- We live close the BIG street, and next to the elemetary school with lot of pedestrian walk by every minutes/hours.

- Polices came by to write the report, and finger print. (no luck with finger print)

- The total loss with about $8000 including (CASH, jewelry, and my wife wedding ring) No hardware equipment.

I am thinking about setup Camera around my house. Anyone of you have any suggettions that would like to share with us.

Thanks.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?whse=BC&topnav=&prodid=11613604&ec=BC-EC877-CatHome&pos=5〈=en-US

Edited March 25, 2011 by hniHnitsuJ

[Kevin and 10]

Get a dog that might deter would-be robbers.

If you go the camera route, make sure they are hidden.

Edited March 25, 2011 by Kevin and Tuyen

[Mozzer1972 7]

I agree with the previous comment. Get a dog. I would recommend a breed called the American Bulldog because they are massive and great with kids. The males get to be about 120 lbs and there sole purpose in life is to protect their family and their property with a total disregard to self preservation. If an intruder enters your home, I am pretty sure the intruder would leave on a stretcher.

[Việt Kiều 2]

Backup batteries to the alarm system and cell signals instead of phone lines.

[michael7oanh 1]

Sorry to hear about your situation, hniHnitsuJ. I guess the dog and backup systems have already been mentioned. As these options will cost you money/time, perhaps an alternative if you have a room to spare would be to get a tenant that works from home (like a web designer, telecommuter, etc.). That way you have someone in the house to deter potential thieves and you're making extra money every month from their rent. Of course there's the issue of privacy and finding someone that you can trust in your home. Perhaps a friend or responsible relatives are the ones to consider. Just a thought.

[michael7oanh 1]

Ah, it won't let me edit my post... I just remembered that whenever I go to Vietnam I leave the car in the driveway instead of in the garage so as to make potential thieves think I'm still home. Therefore another option to deter criminals is to make them think you've already taken all of the extra precautions that have been mentioned. Get a "Beware of Dog" sign and put it on your fence... Allow a neighbor with a crowded driveway to park a car in front of your house or in your driveway (if you have space).... Get one of those programmable light timers to make the lights in your living room come on/off during the day... Get a doorbell that has the barking dog sound effect... etc. Basically the cheap 'smoke-&-mirrors' approach to theft protection.

[Tuanv 2]

My neighbor got robbed about a month ago. It happened between 7pm and 11pm. The police took finger print and everything but I am not sure if they will find anything. I think it is good idea to get a camera and a dog (if you can afford it). At my house, we have iron bar at the doors and windows. I need to buy a camera for my backyard though.

[ScottThuy 140]

I leave a radio on when I go out... and its loud.... they dont know If I'm home or not...

Most crimes are commited by someone that has knowledge of your home or you... the rest are usually the ones that go through a neighborhood hitting the obvious targets...

How do you know who did it.. or the ages? neighbors see them?

battery backup on the alarm is the best solution as the camera only tells you who did it after its done. . still not likely to get the stuff back... check the local pawn shops and take copies of photos of the stuff to them if you have some... include a motion detector in the system and its worth the $ to have it monitored.

Dogs are great, but take alot of care and attention and can do a number on your property.. What do you do with the dog when you go to VN for an extended vacation?

[quann 26]

yes i thought all house alarms have a backup battery in case the power goes out. just seems like common sense that robbers would try to shut off the power first. our house do you should talk to your alarm co. again. we also have 2 (small) dogs but they're loud

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

A gun , a bow,an electric fence, a large dog or reptile ( more people are afraid of 100 lbs of snake than the same amount of dog) A big gun safe ( you can fit a lot in one and NO ONE is carry it off in a hurry or unnoticed ), motion triggered LOUD alarm.

[BinhJerome 14]

Hi All,

Last wednesday, my house got robs by 2 teenage age bwt 14-17(HIS.) from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM pst. I was wondering how all of you are secure your home and your family.

- We have alarm system at home, and I even POST the signs outside. The kids are smart enough jump over our fans, and SHUTOFF the power switch. And, break in from the windows.

- We have motion light at night time ON/OFF.

- We live close the BIG street, and next to the elemetary school with lot of pedestrian walk by every minutes/hours.

- Polices came by to write the report, and finger print. (no luck with finger print)

- The total loss with about $8000 including (CASH, jewelry, and my wife wedding ring) No hardware equipment.

I am thinking about setup Camera around my house. Anyone of you have any suggettions that would like to share with us.

Thanks.

http://www.costco.co...os=5〈=en-US

Go to Ebay and get a camera system, then also get a batterypack they use for computers incase the power goes off. They have systems with night camera's, and DVR systems that can hold unlimited amount of time on them. They have simple s,4,or 6 camera systems or huge 16 plus camera systems, they also have motion detectors with alarms. If you go the camera route, hide the DVR system somewhere where they will not see it, I had one when I was in the states, the best thing is they have internet access, so if you are at work, you can switch them on and see who or what is happening at your house. I choose this system because i was raising dogs to sell so I had a "puppy cam" where customers could look in on their puppies they made deposits on, and people could look and see what ones they wanted. Really sweet setup and it was under $500 sometimes your insurance will go down as well.

http://cgi.ebay.com/8-CH-CCTV-Security-Camera-Surveillance-DVR-System-500GB-/120684377917?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c1959773d

This is an 8 camera system under $500 you can even watch on your iphone or galaxy if it is running android! Hope this helps Jerome

[BinhJerome 14]

I leave a radio on when I go out... and its loud.... they dont know If I'm home or not...

Most crimes are commited by someone that has knowledge of your home or you... the rest are usually the ones that go through a neighborhood hitting the obvious targets...

How do you know who did it.. or the ages? neighbors see them?

battery backup on the alarm is the best solution as the camera only tells you who did it after its done. . still not likely to get the stuff back... check the local pawn shops and take copies of photos of the stuff to them if you have some... include a motion detector in the system and its worth the $ to have it monitored.

Dogs are great, but take alot of care and attention and can do a number on your property.. What do you do with the dog when you go to VN for an extended vacation?

As Scott said, dogs are great, but if they attack someone in your yard or if the person gets out of your house they can and WILL sue you for dammages. Also if you really love the dog, what would you do if they killed it? I raised boxers, and they are about one of the meanest looking dogs there are but I made sure none of them were mean, and even our bulldog in Vietnam is a big baby, although not due to me training him, he has become protective of the house and will go off on strangers. So a few weeks back i put him to the test, I put my raincoat on started banging on the house and let myself in, he was chained up against the wall, when I came running in he hit the end of his chain and did not back down with the deepest growl I have ever heard from him, when I went to touch him he lunged and would have taken off my hand. So basically what I am saying by this is even the sweetest dog can do dammage and in the US, if the person gets out they CAN and usually WILL sue you. Also depending on the type of dog, some insurance companies will drop your insurance because of this fact. Luckily for me Boxers were not on that list in Indiana, Kansas, or Missouri

Jerome

[BinhJerome 14]

I agree with the previous comment. Get a dog. I would recommend a breed called the American Bulldog because they are massive and great with kids. The males get to be about 120 lbs and there sole purpose in life is to protect their family and their property with a total disregard to self preservation. If an intruder enters your home, I am pretty sure the intruder would leave on a stretcher.

American Bulldogs are banned in MANY cities and are on many home owners insurance NO list, getting this breed can and usually does cause trouble. They are a great dog, but before getting ANY BIG dog check with your city first. American Bulldogs (sometimes called or mistaken for Pit Bulls) Rots, German Shephards, Dobermans, American Staffordshire Terrier (real pit bull), Mastiffs (Neapolitan, English, Bull and Tibettan) are all dogs that are generally touchy in cities and some if not all are on city wide bans not allowing for the breed to be brought into the city. Also these are dogs on most insurance lists that will get your insurance policy revoked.

On another note. For all of you who reccomend ANY dog to a person this is very irresponsible. Certain breeds like the "American Bulldog" can be a really tough tack for ANY owner to control, especially an owner that has never had a dog before. I have raised big dogs for quite a while and in Vietnam you can get big dogs like Rots and German shephards or Dobies, I opted for a bulldog because it was smaller and would be easier for my wife (who had never had a dog before) to control, I did this knowing that bulldogs were very stubborn and it has been hell trying to get my wife to understand how to raise a dog, and how to control him. She has not been up to the task, he is 50 pounds of pure muscle and he does what he wants, ask Sayha or Bust, my wife cannot control him, and because of MY mistake on choice of dog he tries to take a leg on EVERY guest that comes into the house, a habit that when I am home he does not do, but when she is he does. So be very careful on any dog you choose and do adaquate research on what their personalities are. The American Bulldog is a good dog with children, but he is a VERY dominate dog and VERY stubborn and hard to train for novice dog owners. There is more to a dog than meets the eye, just like people they have specific traits, these traits are breed into them for generations, and just because you raise it from a pup does not mean you can train all the years of breeding out of it and make it something that it is not. Jerome

[웃 910]

Hi All,

Last wednesday, my house got robs by 2 teenage age bwt 14-17(HIS.) from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM pst.

Kids in high school have classes on Wednesday. If you KNOW they are 14-17 year old HS kids and you want to do some detective work would it be possible to look at the attendance sheet for last Wednesday?

Second, how do you 'know' they are 2 teenage kids 14-17? What is your evidence?

Like someone stated before, people rarely do random break ins just to see what goodies they can find. Obviously since they stole a nice amount of cash/jewelry worth over $8,000 it was not a coincidence (random break in).

They knew you had it. They knew where it was. And they also knew you weren't home at the time.

Sounds to me like more professional work than a couple of teenage kids (with the whole cutting the power lines thing)...

My guess is it is either a relative, a friend, or word got out of your stash spot (most likely word got out about your stash spot). Maybe you told some people who told some people or your wife told some people who told some people. The info got into the wrong ears and they plotted on you. It is also possible you might have had a contractor or a cable guy or someone in your house recently that saw a safe and wanted to come back and get the goodies. But if that were the case they would have just taken them then and there.

[luckytxn 2,264]

Strange as our alarm system electricity goes off it alarms the security company who then calls the authorities to let them know.