Caught an Intruder

[forgeblast]

There are also the products which are like a window tint (can get it in clear or dark or reflective) that will help prevent a window from being smashed in.
I watched a show on the history channel where they shot at it (i think it was 12mil thick) and the window held. I see it come up on ebay every now and then.

 

[dave1949]

I will have to vote for dog improvement. Some breeds and individuals within a breed are high energy and confident, some are not. Two dogs are better than one, they give each other support and pack confidence. A trained dog will actively protect you or your wife in a physical intrusion or assault situation, no camera or motion sensor will do that. That protection is portable if need be.

Dogs may not be the total answer, but I wouldn't discount their advantages--if well trained and cared for.

 

[simoutdoors]

I see lots of $$ in the camera systems. I have worked at very large commercial facility and a college campus that are wired with many cameras. It always seems that even if security can get an image of something going down, often it isn't enough to ID the person. I think trying to have a camera in the right place to watch a property line wouldn't be a great security investment. It might be on my list, but I think self defense training, safe room & weapon would be my first investments.

 

[dmccarty]

...It may not be likely, but certainly possible and as mentioned we can choose to ignore it and hope for the best or take reasonable precautions in the event our hopes are not realized.

Of all the victims of crime, other than domestic violence, there were few who didn't say something to the effect of "I never thought something like this could happen to me." If some think I am paranoid, it's certainly not the worst I've been called.

I think the vast majority of people in this country are in ignorant bliss of the evil that walks among us. The evil that lives a next door. People just do not know. Taking precautions is a good idea.

This morning there was a story of a very elderly couple attacked with a shovel in their retirement home. Course, a few years ago we had a woman beaten to death in her retirement home. Then there was a women and child who where just shot by three men for some reason. They shot an eight year old boy five times.

One can make plans to defend against this sort of evil or you can roll the dice and hope. I would rather plan and prepare rather than hope.

The OP's house seems to be like ours. If I saw a person looking at our house from the woods, THERE IS NO GOOD reason for that person to be there. NONE. If the person wanted help they would approach the house and knock on the door. Given our geography, there really is no good reason for someone to be standing in the woods. Someone with car problems would not walk to FIND our house to get help. They would go to the nearest house on the road. A person in the woods at our place is almost certainly up to no good. The people I have found in the woods WHERE up to no good.

The problem with the cameras is that they really are good for either keeping the bad guys away, if they see the cameras, or catching the bad guys after the fact. For the cameras to be useful, you really need something that can see at night. The best I could come up with was to have IR flood lights to illuminate around the house while having a camera(s) that could use that light to see what was happening outside. The IR light is not visible to human's but the camera(s) can use the IR. We have a boat load of outside lights, flick on the lights, which can be done from multiple positions in the house, and everything can be seen. Of course that would warn the bad buys which could be good or bad. The IR light would allow one to monitor without being observed.

A vulnerability one has in a rural setting is that there are often outbuildings a decent distance from the house. A bad guy that gets between you and the house is a concern. If you don't have a weapon with you then there needs to be one handy in the outbuilding. A cheap single or double shotgun locked up and hidden in the "barn" is a solution.

Later,
Dan

 

[greasemonkeyok]

A casual observation of the above posts. Those with experience in the criminal justice system recommend taking the situation seriously. Sure, the odds are that you won't become a victim. But given the severity of the consequences if you do become a victim, it is not paranoia to take reasonable precautions.

Criminals don't think like regular folks. If a regular-folk neighbor hears gunfire on your property, he thinks "I better not go over there unannounced." The criminal thinks "Hey man, he's got firearms that we can steal and sell on the street for our next hit."

 

[Obed]

I sort of question, not criticize, all of the security camera planning. ... Even with a record you have little chance of any satisfaction form a trespassing charge and if it is a record of theft or assault you have already lost the battle.

If someone steals from my property, I would love to know who did it, even if the knowledge would not result in getting my stuff back. In addition, local thieves will come back again and again as long as they think you don't know who is doing the stealing. Even if our lax judicial system fails to adequately deal with the perp, I can make thief very aware that he probably doesn't want to enter my property again. There's not much worse than having someone who lives nearby who repeatedly keeps stealing from you. That situation can drive you and your wife up a wall.

I had a friend who was building a house in a rural area who kept getting stuff stolen from his property. He suspected a teenager who lived nearby. One day my friend gave the teen a visit and said, "I own a backhoe. If I ever find out who is stealing from me, I will bury him in the woods where nobody will ever find him." The delinquent shortly afterward was busted on meth lab charges and got sent away to a juvenile detention center. The thefts at my friends property mysteriously stopped.

When I lived in my previous house, I recognized in the front yard of a house a 1/4 mile down the road a gas can that had been stolen from my property. I pulled into the yard, retrieved the gas can, then knocked on the door. When the 40 year old drug head answered the door, I told him I found my gas can sitting in his yard. I told him very firmly that he and any of his associates were never to set foot on my property again. I made no statement as to what would happen if he did but let him read between the lines.

 

[MasseyWV]

I sort of question, not criticize, all of the security camera planning. It would seem the priority would be notification of an intruders presence rather than a record after the fact. Motion detection lighting and alarms certainly seem appropriate to either scare away or offer time to prepare for an intruder. It just seems like the expense, given a limited budget, of camera systems would do little in the way of notification. Even with a record you have little chance of any satisfaction form a trespassing charge and if it is a record of theft or assault you have already lost the battle. Again this isn't criticizing any of the planning I have just been thinking of where I personally would concentrate my expenditures to provide the most security to my family.

Security cameras will only be a secondary line of defense. Intruder detection is my highest priority, where I will employ several different methods of detection, with motion detectors being but one of those methods. As for the other methods I plan to use, I prefer not to say what they are, but if my intruder returns he'll wish he hadn't.

To accomplish my goal of intruder detection, I'd like to use multiple outdoor wireless motion detectors linked to a single indoor receiver with an audible alarm. This will allow me to create choke points using brush and debris along the woods at property line and direct potential intruders to specific points of my choosing. I also plan to install a driveway alarm to detect vehicles before they get near the house. These are my highest priorities.

 

[crowbar032]

I like the idea of a Ruger LCR (or the s&w body guard) series weapons.
They are small enough that I think you could carry them all the time and you wouldn't get annoyed by the inconvenience of lugging a weapon around.
They both have an optional laser site! I think they make perfect carry weapons!

I don't have a full carry license but if I did I would seriously consider one of these.

I have the S&W bodyguard .38 with the integrated laser. Like all 2 inch barrel guns it takes some practice to shoot accurately. Overall I really like it. The only downside I've found is the lack of holsters that take laser into account.

 

[MasseyWV]

One of the things I plan to do to enhance my perimeter security is install electrified barbed wire along the property line adjacent to the field where the intruder fled. The barbed wire (powered by an electric fence box) will be hidden within the tree line so it won't be unsightly and will serve two purposes.

1. It will deter deer from crossing the line and setting off the motion detectors.

2. It will define a clear boundary line and give an intruder a good shock if they try to cross it, with the added benefit of slowing them down if they do manage to cross the line and try to flee after they are detected.

I think the vast majority of people in this country are in ignorant bliss of the evil that walks among us. The evil that lives next door. People just do not know. Taking precautions is a good idea.

Living in such a secluded area tends to make one feel a little too secure. I must admit that I became overly complacent and was caught off guard, but it won't happen again.

If someone steals from my property, I would love to know who did it, even if the knowledge would not result in getting my stuff back. In addition, local thieves will come back again and again as long as they think you don't know who is doing the stealing. Even if our lax judicial system fails to adequately deal with the perp, I can make thief very aware that he probably doesn't want to enter my property again. There's not much worse than having someone who lives nearby who repeatedly keeps stealing from you. That situation can drive you and your wife up a wall.

Exactly. Knowing the enemy gives one a very distinct advantage over them. In my case, I'm 99.99% certain it was a local, and I may even know exactly who it was. At least I've narrowed the list down to two potential suspects.

Granted, it could have been a random stranger, but it was too specific. Only someone intimately familiar with this property and it's surroundings could have known how and where to enter the area where the intruder was seen. And I strongly believe it was not the first time they've been there, they just got caught this time.

 

[Car Doc]

A few of these maybe?