Burglar alarms and home security

[trader4]

I don't know about Canada, but when I checked about a year ago here in the USA there was quite a big price differential between a monitored service you can get via phone or internet connection and one that includes cellular backup. You could be paying $50 more a month for the cellular one. Whether it's worth it depends on what you have to protect, how prevalent crime is in your area, etc. I suspect any system that goes off is going to send 99% of the thieves running. You could probably find a sticker that says "Protected by a cellular system", even if you don't have one, which might add some discouragement.

I think for most people seeking one, a good system that is installed correctly, with loud sirens inside and outside the house, that is monitored in some way can be effective.

As for the OP's silent alarm so that police can catch the burglar, forget that. Police get lots of alarm calls and almost all of them are false. There is no guarantee as to how fast they will respond. You want the perp detered before he actually enters the building if possible. An alarm going off when they force a door or break glass can do that.

Same thing for the silent alarm so you can use your gun to defend your property. You want the burglar defeated before they even enter the house, by the alarm going off. Or failing that, as soon after they enter the house as possible. The gun is for last resort.

Also, some mention was made of having the alarm system contact a neighbor. In most cases, I think that is a bad idea with all kinds of problems. Ranging from the neighbor getting false alarm calls at 3AM. To, what do you want the neighbor to do? Go over and find out if a burglar is really there? How about the burglar attacks them or since the alarm should also have gone to the police, they show up and the neighbor winds up against the wall or worse?

[Peter]

You need to decide what your risk is, and who is likely to provide that risk. If your neighborhood has had few burglers your risk is probably low. If it has had many..... Are you really trying to protect valuables or are more concerned about personal safety if you are home during an attempted break-in? Are your valuables insured? Are they replaceable if stolen? How important would it be to replace them if only of sentimental value? Are the burglars you are concerned about likely to be amateurs or professional?

The answers to these questions will guide you to what type of security investment is most appropriate for your circumstances. There is not one optimal solution for all situations.

And, with the rare exception of certain types of military sites, almost every conceivable valuable and security protected place has been burglarized at one time or another. So, you need to realize that you will not be preventing burglary, only making it less likely.

[clare]

Dual mode detects thump and tinkle. Much less liable to false trigger from thingls like wind chimes, telephones, or doorbells.

[Home Guy]

That's not a very rational or realistic piece of advice, because it's probably true that the average juvenille delinquent doesn't necessarily have a strong desire to enter any particular house. He just wants to enter at least ONE house as he trolls around looking for a candidate.

No, because they will rarely have any specific knowledge about what could be in your house to give them a strong desire to break-in in the first place.

So I question the idea that someone, anyone, will want to break into any house "bad enough". The only people that would ever want to break into your house "bad enough" are the police and firemen.

It's probably the case that the average juvenille delinquent who is out on a house-robbing adventure is going to troll through a neighborhood that is relatively far from where he lives. This is because he doesn't want to be recognized by any locals after the fact. As such, he won't have much of an opportunity to "case" any particular house if he follows this sort of behavior.

[clare]

A former customer used to have rottweilers. The dog had a radio collar that openned the "doggy door" and the on-demand feeder, so they could leave the dog at home alone for a week or too with no problem. They left for a week's holiday and the first or second night they were gone a guy broke in. The dog cornered him in the livingroom and put the "fear of the lord" in him. The dog could eat without loosing sight of him - and could also hang his ass out the door to do his business, but the poor bugger who broke in couldn't move 6 feet without risking having some important parts dissapear. When they returned the guy was very dehydrated, very tired,very stinky, and VERY pissed off!!

[Robert Macy]

If he claimed breaking in to seek shelter [since he has not left with any items yet]; it's a misdemeanor.

I wonder if he could sue?

[HeyBub]

Heh! We used to get an occassional false alarm from a motion detector. It was located high on the wall in a corner of the room.

Finally deduced it was the cat getting to the top of a bookcase directly below the alarm.

We masked off the bottom of the detector where it still scanned the room but ignored whatever might be on top of the bookcase.

[Jim Yanik]

Peter wrote in news:jlph32$8ih$ [e-mail]:

burglars often RETURN to places they burgled once,because now the owner has gotten NEW stuff to replace his stolen items.

[Rebel1]

What's to keep a burglar from breaking one of the side windows, which isn't covered by the security door, and simply reach in to undo the locks from inside? Do you have a double-cylinder deadbolt on the main door?

[Jim Yanik]

Rebel1 wrote in news:4f807835$0$24492$ [e-mail]:

make a side window that is not breakable. maybe 1/2" plexiglas or Lexan. it's kinda dumb to have a window right next to your door anyways.

[Home Guy]

Totally irrelevant to the current conversation.

If you want to talk about person A going after person B with the intent to confront, harm, kill, etc, that is a completely different situation vs what can a home owner do to secure, deter and/or monitor his property / home from a break-in / theft point of view.

[Home Guy]

I'd like to see that theory validated by others in some real publications or news stories / interviews.

What you find that gets stolen is cash, prescription meds, jewlery, coins and guns. Electronic items are largely ignored (unless they're small enough to stuff into a knap-sack or pillow case).

Every home will have that same assortment of stuff - to one extent or another, so there's no real point to go back to the same house you've hit before because you can be assured of getting it somewhere else when-ever you want.

Now, whether or not a *different* thief will hit the same home that was robbed in the past, that's another issue, and if the two thiefs know each other and which homes they've each robbed.

[clare]

Hardly able to claim breaking in for shelter with good weather in a relatively built up area. Could he sue? possibly. Could he win? Unlikely - he had a rap sheet.

[krw]

The idea is to make the neighbor's house look like an easier target than yours. In any case, the lock is there for the neighbor kids and the insurance company.

[gonjah]

Yup. I already mentioned how my neighbor got po'ed when I installed security doors. His response was "They'll just go to the next house."

[Ron]

Not what the police told when my house was broken into once.

They told me that the burglars move on to the next target.

[Ron]

Oh, and the 17 yr old punk ass kid was caught because he tried to push a window open and left palm prints. Needless to say, they already had his prints.

[clare]

There have been documented cases of "double dipping" by theives - and even involvement of salespeople at the stereo/tv reseller tipping off their buddies.

[George]

Sounds like they weren't paying attention during that 5 hour course they need to complete to be a cop..

Human nature is to go for the lowest hanging fruit. They already succeeded one time so why not try the easy way again.

[George]

Exactly, if something worked the first time why not do it again?