What to do in a home invasion

[Charles L. Cotton]

Another Houston TV station has chimed in. This is from KHOU the local CBS affiliate.


http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/20 ... /27153043/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I saw that one too. As Excaliber noted, attitudes about home defense and even self-defense in general among the media seem to be changing.

Chas.

[Excaliber]

For me, I'd grab my Glock 19 that is staged on a holster attached to the bed while my wife pushes the panic button for the monitored alarm system. Then, we close the bedroom door (if able) and hunker down in the walk-in closet. The door frame of the closet provides cover that I can peek out from. The floor plan is situated that in order to get to the bedroom door, they will be putting themselves at considerable risk because there's a hallway. There's nowhere for them to hide if they decide to open the door.

It's just me and the wife, so no reason to go out looking for any invaders.

It's best to only use the panic button if there's no time to do anything else. It doesn't provide any info other than someone is calling for help, and introduces the extra delay of the alarm company dispatcher calling 911 with no detailed info.

It's far better to call 911, take the phone with you into the closet, and stay on the line with the dispatcher to give real time updates like your position in the home, what you're hearing or seeing, details on the offenders, etc.. You'll get a much faster and more targeted response and you'll have much less chance of being mistaken for the bad guy.

I am not for sure what my company does if you push the "panic button" which is actually 4 buttons. I have accidently and it takes them several minutes to even respond to ask if everything is alright. I have had them call my cell to see if I knew my alarm went off after I had been home 15 minutes. As soon as this contract is up (2 1/2 months) I will be looking for new monitoring service.

As far as the home invasion (if no children or grandchildren spending the night) we will call 911 and stay in the bedroom and pray hard for them that they do kick in that door.

Even if the alarm company calls within 15 seconds (time is dependent on activity level at that moment):

- You've lost 15 seconds, as well as the time it takes them to relay the call to 911 - that's a lot of time that would better have been used getting help on the way with a direct call to 911

- The alarm company will only relay their understanding of what you told them, and even that is only a snapshot in time. Things change quickly during home invasions.

- The alarm company can't answer a dispatcher's questions about your situation. You can.

A direct call to 911 is still the way to go. You need to be in direct and continuous contact with the 911 dispatcher during the police response. The panic button is for use when you can't reach a phone or talk.

Your alarm company should also be instructed to call 911 immediately without a confirming call to you when the panic button is pressed. These are rarely false alarms, particularly in the case of equipment that requires pushing two buttons at once.

The panic button is primarily to get the alarm sounding as quickly as possible to try to deter the criminal while we get in a safer position that will allow us to call 911 ourselves. If the alarm doesn't scare the guy away, there's not much that 911 is going to do to help the immediate situation. It allows us to delegate the task of dispatching police while we set ourselves up in a less compromising position, where we would no doubt call 911 so we can have better access to the dispatched units.

I think pressing the panic button is just as important as calling 911 ourselves. It tells the guy that he needs to get out of there quickly, or things are going to be bad for him. And I'd rather him leave as quickly as possible than lie in wait until police show up to force him out. It would also wake up many of my adjacent apartment dweller neighbors.

Also, this panic button is within reaching distance of both myself and my wife while we are in bed. It's not like we have to go out of our way to set the alarm off.

As always, everyone should always do what works best for them and their situation.

One school of thought supports programming the panic button to send a silent alarm. The thought here is that it can be used in a duress situation where someone is forced to turn off their alarm without notifying the bad guy about what you've done, because he might take offense at that. It also doesn't interfere with communications between residents or residents and police during the police response. For those reasons I subscribe to that approach.

With my background in interacting with the folks that commit home invasions, I wouldn't count on them being scared off by noise. It might happen, but it quite likely won't. I'll get the point across with a verbal warning if there is time and a tactical situation that allows it, but I want to maintain an environment that allows me to communicate readily and clearly with police, and that allows everything that happens to be recorded accurately on the 911 tape to eliminate he said / she said discussions during the after incident investigation.

[Charles L. Cotton]

While I'm happy to see some of these public service spots acknowledging the use of firearms for self-defense, I strongly disagree with the recommendation to announce that you have a gun. The attackers may leave or they may not and I'm not willing to give them tactical intel to use against me if they aren't feeling particularly charitable that day. They will learn of my presence and that I'm armed when the first rounds slam into their chests.

Chas.

[TVGuy]

While I'm happy to see some of these public service spots acknowledging the use of firearms for self-defense, I strongly disagree with the recommendation to announce that you have a gun. The attackers may leave or they may not and I'm not willing to give them tactical intel to use against me if they aren't feeling particularly charitable that day. They will learn of my presence and that I'm armed when the first rounds slam into their chests.

Chas.

Well said, couldn't agree more.

[Abraham]

Are there any statistics regarding home invasions being primarily done by criminals involved in drugs?

Or, no, home invasions are done for a wide variety of reasons, i.e., sexual assault, torture as a motivator, mostly done for monetary gain, etc.?

Anyone know?

[Charles L. Cotton]

Are there any statistics regarding home invasions being primarily done by criminals involved in drugs?

Or, no, home invasions are done for a wide variety of reasons, i.e., sexual assault, torture as a motivator, mostly done for monetary gain, etc.?

Anyone know?

I don't know of those stats are collected, but either the DPS or the FBI would be the first agencies I'd think might do so. It would be difficult to classify many such crimes. Anecdotally, most TV reports of home invasions I see in the Houston area are motivated by theft of money or property. This could well be to buy drugs, which is why I think it would be hard to determine which crimes involved drugs. Home invaders that don't fall into this category seem to enter either to commit rape, retaliation, or both, but they are relatively few in comparison to those committed for financial gain.

Chas.

[Abraham]

Thanks Charles!

The few stories I've read about home invasion specifics were about the invaders and the invaded being mutually involved in drugs in some manner, whereby the invaded owed the invaders money for drugs or retaliation or?

In other words, the homes invaded were not peopled by the innocent.

Certainly, some are peopled by the innocent, but from what the media has presented, quite a high proportion of the homes invaded were drug related in some manner.

[mr1337]

As always, everyone should always do what works best for them and their situation.

One school of thought supports programming the panic button to send a silent alarm. The thought here is that it can be used in a duress situation where someone is forced to turn off their alarm without notifying the bad guy about what you've done, because he might take offense at that. It also doesn't interfere with communications between residents or residents and police during the police response. For those reasons I subscribe to that approach.

With my background in interacting with the folks that commit home invasions, I wouldn't count on them being scared off by noise. It might happen, but it quite likely won't. I'll get the point across with a verbal warning if there is time and a tactical situation that allows it, but I want to maintain an environment that allows me to communicate readily and clearly with police, and that allows everything that happens to be recorded accurately on the 911 tape to eliminate he said / she said discussions during the after incident investigation.

Absolutely. The audible alarm is just one of many layers of security. And it's something that can be done even when someone is attempting entry (I'm planning on reinforcing my strike plate). It's obviously not something I'm completely relying on. In fact, if I didn't press the panic button, the alarm would sound anyways due to the door opening.

If I were forced to disable the alarm under duress, my alarm system also has a duress PIN that will disable the alarm and indicate to the monitoring company that police need to be dispatched. Also any "safe word" other than the correct one will cause them to dispatch.

Another layer of my security would be the fact that I'm on the 3rd floor of an apartment building. There are so many "easier" targets that I'm less likely to be the subject of a random break-in. That also means that there is only one way in and one way out, so an intruder has fewer options, and I only have to focus on the front door when it comes to fortification.

My most likely break-in scenario would probably be targeted and during the day-time. Although I don't bring over a lot of guests. I really need to find a few good spots to put cameras though.

[Rrash]

While I'm happy to see some of these public service spots acknowledging the use of firearms for self-defense, I strongly disagree with the recommendation to announce that you have a gun. The attackers may leave or they may not and I'm not willing to give them tactical intel to use against me if they aren't feeling particularly charitable that day. They will learn of my presence and that I'm armed when the first rounds slam into their chests.

Chas.

I subscribe to the thought that if the threat is outside the home and I have a safe barrier between us, a warning MAY be justified (i.e. if it is a confused or disoriented person, the warning might serve to deter). Inside the home, however, is another story. Ideally, the kids know to stay hidden until they hear a safe word from mom or dad, while mom & dad are set up to ambush. Hopefully the exterior security cameras, and the alarm have done their job by making our home a less desirable target.

The reinforced doors hopefully have bought me enough time to react to Plan A, however, Plan B gets increasingly complicated really fast. With two small children and a wife, its very likely I would have to clear the house myself, and tactically speaking, I don't like how our home is setup. The invader could easily get to the kids before me if he desired. I practice with a light as much as I can (its hard to do when you want kids to sleep). In that situation, my wife knows to barricade herself in the closet with a 12 gauge and stay in contact with the police. Safe words still apply.

No matter how it could potentially play out, it would be traumatic - especially to the wife and kids. I've taken steps to hopefully prevent this from ever happening in the first place.

[Rrash]

Are there any statistics regarding home invasions being primarily done by criminals involved in drugs?

Or, no, home invasions are done for a wide variety of reasons, i.e., sexual assault, torture as a motivator, mostly done for monetary gain, etc.?

Anyone know?

I don't know of those stats are collected, but either the DPS or the FBI would be the first agencies I'd think might do so. It would be difficult to classify many such crimes. Anecdotally, most TV reports of home invasions I see in the Houston area are motivated by theft of money or property. This could well be to buy drugs, which is why I think it would be hard to determine which crimes involved drugs. Home invaders that don't fall into this category seem to enter either to commit rape, retaliation, or both, but they are relatively few in comparison to those committed for financial gain.

Chas.

We had one in our neighborhood a couple of months ago that turned out to be a murder for hire. Money and an extramarital affair, however, was the motive.

[Charles L. Cotton]

While I'm happy to see some of these public service spots acknowledging the use of firearms for self-defense, I strongly disagree with the recommendation to announce that you have a gun. The attackers may leave or they may not and I'm not willing to give them tactical intel to use against me if they aren't feeling particularly charitable that day. They will learn of my presence and that I'm armed when the first rounds slam into their chests.

Chas.

. . . With two small children and a wife, its very likely I would have to clear the house myself, and tactically speaking, I don't like how our home is setup.

This reminds me of a statement Clint Smith made several years ago in response to a question by a student. When Thunder Ranch was in Texas, most classes (24 students) were made up of LEOs and non-LEOs on roughly a 50/50 ratio. One of the LEO students asked why he was teaching house-clearing tactics to non-LEOs when he should be telling them to call 911 and stay put. Clint's response was classic: "You can do everything right [clearing a house] and still get killed. You should stay put and call 911 if you can, but when you hear 'Daddy, Mommy HELP!!' you going to be one house-clearing son-of-a-gun, so you better know how to do it right. It won't guarantee you will survive, but it will guarantee a better chance of survival."

Chas.

[Rrash]

. . . With two small children and a wife, its very likely I would have to clear the house myself, and tactically speaking, I don't like how our home is setup.

This reminds me of a statement Clint Smith made several years ago in response to a question by a student. When Thunder Ranch was in Texas, most classes (24 students) were made up of LEOs and non-LEOs on roughly a 50/50 ratio. One of the LEO students asked why he was teaching house-clearing tactics to non-LEOs when he should be telling them to call 911 and stay put. Clint's response was classic: "You can do everything right [clearing a house] and still get killed. You should stay put and call 911 if you can, but when you hear 'Daddy, Mommy HELP!!' you going to be one house-clearing son-of-a-gun, so you better know how to do it right. It won't guarantee you will survive, but it will guarantee a better chance of survival."

Chas.

So many variables come into play. Its good to remember passages like Psalm 55:22. I will sleep much easier in about 15 years! Of course, then it will be my teenagers' actions, not the criminals that keep me awake at night.

[AlaskanInTexas]

These are rarely false alarms, particularly in the case of equipment that requires pushing two buttons at once.

Tell that to my little kids and the firefighters/police that are ready to break their necks.

[Excaliber]

Are there any statistics regarding home invasions being primarily done by criminals involved in drugs?

Or, no, home invasions are done for a wide variety of reasons, i.e., sexual assault, torture as a motivator, mostly done for monetary gain, etc.?

Anyone know?

I don't know of those stats are collected, but either the DPS or the FBI would be the first agencies I'd think might do so. It would be difficult to classify many such crimes. Anecdotally, most TV reports of home invasions I see in the Houston area are motivated by theft of money or property. This could well be to buy drugs, which is why I think it would be hard to determine which crimes involved drugs. Home invaders that don't fall into this category seem to enter either to commit rape, retaliation, or both, but they are relatively few in comparison to those committed for financial gain.

Chas.

Home invasion isn't a formal crime classification, so statistics are hard to come by. Most will get classified as armed robberies which aren't statistically differentiated from street holdups.

Most home invasions are targeting money, drugs, or jewelry that the BG's have reason to believe are there. Drug dealers known to their clients and other drug dealers are targets. So are small business persons who are believed to keep cash receipts in their homes, and some foreign nationals who tend to keep their savings as jewelry in their homes rather than as cash in banks. The average salaried person is not often targeted, but they are sometimes. An example is when a BG team follows people in a nice looking car from a shopping venue back to their home. In other cases, they start out as burglaries and either a BG encounters someone inside a home he thought was unoccupied, or a homeowner comes home while the burglary is in progress.

Home invaders are violent, impulsive and opportunistic and often commit crimes they didn't plan beforehand but decide upon during the course of the invasion. Rapes and spontaneous assaults and homicides often fall into this category.

[drjoker]

I would suggest that y'all NOT shoot a gun during a home invasion. Yup, you heard me. Overpenetration may kill your own family or neighbors and guns that don't overpenetrate will not stop an attacker. Toss a big can of pepper spray grenade down the hall. If they come through that hallway, they won't be able to see you as their eyes will be swollen. You can then take careful aimed fire back instead of panicked quick shots while your attackers are shooting at you with effective fire. In all likelihood, you won't have to shoot anybody because they'll just run away.