When Strangers Show Up

Ken_f · Jun 12, 2006

I also live in a rural area with the state police providing coverage. I feel that this level of law enforcement is good vs. my tax level and the crime. But, I took a few steps to increase the odds in my favor. I installed a driveway sensor that sets off a alarm in the house when someone drives up. I placed large stones along the driveway so force any vehicle up past the sensor so nobody can sneak around the sensor. I installed the signs and I was surprised at the reaction that I have got from a number of people who are now afraid to drive up unannounced. Also, went to supercircuits.com and got a few cameras and a DVR security card and now I record everything from the camera on the driveway as well as 7 others.

My driveway is 1,100 feet long and my house is very isolated. Once you have made it to the house nothing stops you from breaking in as nobody would ever hear it. I had to push my security out to the edge of the property to mitigate the risk.

I also shoot a good bit so I hope that the gunfire makes anyone realize that I would not mess around with someone that would do my family harm.

dmccarty · Jun 12, 2006

Curt,

What did you kids tell dispatch? The response to a call is often up to how the dispatcher handles the call. If you kids told dispatch that they where home alone and two prowlers where outside trying to rob the place I would expect a lights and siren response from the agency.

Are you in a big county with few officers?

Later,
Dan

dooleysm · Jun 12, 2006

I'm 28 and have yet to have cause to call 911 for any reason, so I can't speak to response times in our area. We are in a pretty rural area, so I can imagine that the volunteer firemen would be at our house before anyone. I know quite a few volunteers and they are all very gung ho about fire runs.

I wonder if it would make sense to call in a house fire in the case of a break-in? Volunteer firemen would be there in minutes, and while they aren't law enforcement types, it sure seems like the presense of 15 firemen and their associated flashing lights and sirens would sure deter any bad guys. Around here, I'm pretty sure that more than a couple of the firemen would have guns in their trucks.

It might be unfair to expect firefighters to deter crime, but if it were my kids in danger, I think I would deal with the repercussions to ensure the kids' safety.

That said, why isn't there a volunteer sherrif patrol organized in rural areas? Too much of a liability?

Bird · Jun 12, 2006

( I wonder if it would make sense to call in a house fire in the case of a break-in? )

Probably get you arrested for making a false report. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Sigarms · Jun 12, 2006

With all the "negative" responses per "response time" thought of a recent incident worth sharing.

On the phone with my dad who lives in a "small town" up in Pa. I was at work, he called me on my cell phone. I was busy, told him I'd call him back in 2 minutes. Got VERY busy, ended up calling him back in a half hour. Phone line was busy. Phone was busy for the next hour. I was getting worried, dad never talks that long on the phone, he's in his mid 70's and alone now.

What gets interesting is depending on who your phone line carrier is, somtimes they cannot "intervene" on the line to make sure someone is talking on the phone. Got very aggrivated, and after 3 or 4 different phone numbers that was given to me to call, finally got somone who could "check the phone line" my dad was on. They told me that the phone was in use (busy), but no one was on it. Now I'm worried, live 8 hours away and not sure what to do at that time. Figure I'd call the local ambulance crew who is located about 4 miles from him. Called, told them the situation, and they told me they would go check at the house. Got a call back in 10 minutes, apparently the phone lines were down for some work (bad timing on my part).

I was impressed and happy that the local ambulance crew would take the time and go check on a worried son's father, and get back to me so quickly.

dooleysm · Jun 12, 2006

Perhaps, but in the case of our children, I think we'd all spend a night in jail to ensure their safety.

If someone's breaking into my home I'd rather have 15 volunteer firemen show up in 5 minutes than a sheriff show up in 45.

Bird · Jun 12, 2006

I wouldn't have thought about the ambulance crew doing that, but way back when I was a patrolman, it wasn't unusual at all for the police department to get such calls and we'd go check on the person. I've done it many times.

PitbullMidwest · Jun 12, 2006

Wow, this turned into quite the thread!

I left work shortly after posting (I get off at noon on Fridays /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) so didn't have a chance to respond to anyone. Let me try to give some "catch all" answers.

Response time: Unacceptable. But like all things there are reasons. Apparently the men left the property while my daughter was still on the phone with the dispatcher and the responding officer left the scene of an accident only after the ambulance arrived. We were told that if they had remained, a Deputy in the area would have been redirected - City/County politics. As far as fire and ambulance response time, the airport station is within view. When a neighbor had a fire they were there within minutes.

Firearms: I'm a strong 2nd ammendment supporter but am uncomfortable arming my kids.

When we bought the ATVs we were told by the salesman that Des Moines County had the highest ATV theft rate in the state. I always had to check up on the kids to make sure that the 4 wheelers got locked up each night, now they check up on each other. As I mentioned we use an aircraft steel cable run through the frames and securred to the framing of our deck. It was a learning experience and we are already implimenting some changes.

Our front line of defence is our dog, we've found that if welcomed by our GSD most people will leave or at least stay in the car until I call her off and hook her up. My BIL is self employed and works out of his shop so he is just a 1/4 mile away and will check up on things throughout the summer and my MIL is just 3/4 of a mile up the road. Neither kid is worried about being home alone which helps so I guess it's back to life as we know it.

Sigarms · Jun 12, 2006

You borught up an interesting point.

Usually we hold the officers in question personally responsible.

I would like to think that most people on this forum are law abiding (sp?) citizens who actually respect the law.

Try being on the other end being a LE. You have to deal with the "scum" of the earth, people lie, people steal, people do all sorts of bad things and YOU"RE the one that has to deal with it on a regular basis. You could not pay me enough money to "police" the some of the "idiots" who live within our society.

We're lucky, we have a "run in" with a bad person once or twice in our lifetime, it makes an impression. Try dealing with those "low lifes" EVERY day as a job, then go home to a "regular life".

Like anything else in this world, you have good people and bad people (just like LE). Don't group them all together.

No thank you.

Iowachild · Jun 12, 2006

Firearms: I'm a strong 2nd ammendment supporter but am uncomfortable arming my kids.

Could not agree more with this statement Curt!! My kids grew up with guns, but never without adult supervision until they were at least 16. The guns and ammo were locked in separate areas until all children were out of the house. Of course now I have grandchildren, so the rule still applies.

You should be proud of the way your kids handled the situation.

"Lucky parents who have fine children usually have lucky children who have fine parents." /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif