TexasCHLforum.com

speedsix wrote:...lighting is the second most effective thing you can do to deter crime on your property, right after speaking respectfully to your wife...with good bright lighting in front back and sides where windows are, you've reduced your chances of being burgled or robbed by a lot...a bright, motion-operated porch light at entry doors increases the "You're on candid camera" feeling for them...pulling up to the house and being able to see that noone's lurking increases your safety zone...the most dangerous time when you come home is between the time your garage door goes up and when it comes back down with hopefully just you and your car inside...your back's to anyone who wants to slip in...I'll recommend a deadbolt on the door leading into the house...that you can open AFTER you're sure you're the only one in the garage...inconvenient, but if used, it will provide another layer of protection for those in the house...the door between garage and house should be heavy solid core wood or steel with no window and a peephole...

...haven't heard "interview" meaning the LEO way in awhile...I taught the "interview position" for flashlight...resting on my shoulder as I looked at suspects, read IDs, etc...until I was comfortable with them...any bad happenings, you're already cocked and ready...yet it looks harmless...

+1 on lighting, the garage door deadbolt, and the peak vulnerability of being in your vehicle inside your garage as the door is closing. There's no better time for a BG to slip into a position from which you can be very effectively confronted with no fear of observation by anyone else.

A note on lighting: 500 watts of motion activated quartz halogen flood lighting in the rear has persuaded many a creepy crawler to prowl elsewhere.

Beiruty wrote:This week I got a young man clean cut with 3 rings binder. His story, he is an employee from platinum co subdivision of GE who would to offer security system upgrade for FREE including cell phone module, morion detectors, etc. As long as we post their sign in the front yard and we are vocal about their system. I asked him to see his litratue docs and it seemed legit. However, he asked for entry in my house to explain the offer. I rufused to let him and he was insisting for letting him in. I got spooked and told him I am not interested.

Was my home being cased or just an honest young guy he wants to make a buck?

Companies don't give away free security systems. If they don't charge for the install, the monthly fees will make up for it.

Here are a couple of things that can help you sort something like this out really quick:

1. Ask for his Texas Private Security Bureau photo ID pocket card that every alarm salesman is required to carry. If he can't produce it on the spot, he's not legit - call police.

2. Go to the GE web site and see if they have such a subdivision and if they are making any such offers. I went to their website and did a search for "platinum". I didn't come up with anything vaguely akin to the information you were given.

3. An alarm system is not a vacuum cleaner. If someone purporting to be an alarm salesman comes to you, refuse to deal with him. For something this sensitive, you should deal only with companies you have checked out ahead of time and invited to your home.

donniet wrote:Last night, I think I was interviewed. I live in a nice quiet neighborhood. About 9:30 my door bell rings. I look though the peep hole and see a clean cut, early 20ish male standing well back from the door. I blade away, place my hand on my pistol, unlock and open the door part way with my weak hand. The young man begins to tell me about this large tarantula in my front yard, "the largest I have ever seen, larger than my hand, you need to see this" he said. I instantly went from condition orange to condition red. While closing the door I told him if it was that large he should call animal control. The whole thing could not have lasted more than 10 seconds. This was so off the wall, I think he was trying to draw me out from inside. I thought about calling the police, but he had really done nothing wrong. Other than not opening the door, what would others have done?

There is absolutely no doubt the subject was attempting to either lure you out of your house, or get you to open the door wider so he could barge in. Neither would have anything to do with a spider (which would be pretty difficult to spot by chance at 9:30 PM on the lawn), and if you had provided the opportunity your visitor would have taken full advantage of it.

Your instincts were spot on, and you dealt with the situation successfully in that you didn't suffer injury or loss or have to engage in a physical confrontation.

Some after action points you might want to consider:

1. Once you've unlocked a door and opened it even a crack, it's extremely easy for someone outside to charge the door, knock you off balance, and be on top of you in the blink of an eye. If you don't know the party on the other side, the door should not be unlocked at all. Seamus' suggestions about intercoms and cameras makes finding out what the party wants easier (I use an intercom myself), but speaking through the closed and locked door works well enough to get the job done.

2. Since the subject was unsuccessful at your door, there is an extremely high likelihood he would have gone on to try something similar at a nearby residence. Making the call immediately might either prevent a crime if he could be intercepted before another attempt, or might facilitate the response to a home invasion which might have started a minute or two after you closed your door. At the very least, the time, description, and approach details would be extremely valuable in furthering the investigation of similar incidents that you're not aware of but have been reported, and may well have progressed much further than yours.

Forget trying to rationalize how come you shouldn't call the police after something causes you to go into condition red. Here's the rule of thumb from the police side:

Better one call too many than one call too few.