Let me first acknowledge first that this is among the unfortunate reality subjects that does not have an easily identifiable upside.

 

Burglary must be one of the easiest crimes for criminals today.  The requirements for the criminal can be minimal.  They are:

 

• the residents be gone from the home, which happens most every day for most homes. Many burglars do not require and sometimes specifically target occupied homes.  Those are often called “Hot Prowl Burglars.”

 

That is it…

 

What makes them easy are several basic elements in addition to whether the person is at home.

 

The Visible:

 

When the burglar “cases” (reconnaissance, surveils, checks out, watches) the neighborhood.  They tend to look for those places that afford them the most convenient cover for their break-in.  If there is significant landscape coverage from things like hedges and trees, blocking the view from the street, corners or sections of the house which cannot be viewed from the street (and there always are) and they are accessible without overly difficult effort, this is good for the burglar and bad for you.  When there are windows with the curtains open allowing the burglar to see inside and know that there is no one home, again good for him/her, bad for you.  The added benefit here is that they get to preview the quality of items them may be seeking.  And then there is the obvious, if there is mail or newspapers sitting uncollected, vehicles that could normally be seen and are not present…these can be indicators that the coast is clear for an entry.

 

The Physical:

 

There is some cross over with the visible and the physical, but essentially, if there are windows left open, as often is the case in hot summers.  If there are doors with single locks, locked or unlocked.  If there are lights that are never turned on, or off…these could be indicators of the homes status.

 

If the home has poorly executed locking systems, this makes the break-in easy.  By this I mean, most homes have a rudimentary single lock, with a short throw (length) metal piece going into the door frame.  The metal piece may be only long enough to reach the frame, rather than long enough to provide sufficient resistance to force.  Sufficient lock resistance refers to the frame being wood that is not reinforced with metal or some other type of added protection.  Ideally, the lock needs to go into a space of at least an inch and a half (1.5) or better yet, two inches.  The door frame around the lock area should have a metal type of frame support for the existing wood.  Additional support would come in the form of a second locking dead bolt that is perhaps “keyed” on both sides.  This means that a key is required to get in AND out. Again, reinforcement for the dead bolt and door frame is ideal.

 

Windows typically have a single type of lock mechanism.  A French style window usually has a single lever mid-way along the length of the window with an obvious handle to lock and unlock.  Some have an additional lock that goes down into the window frame.  This is obviously, a good add on support.  Both are easily defeated if the attacker has time on their side, but this is still better than just the single lock.

 

Sash windows, those that slide up and down have a similar description, a single lock (some have two), mechanism mid-way.  These are sufficient but again, not ideal.

 

Louvered windows present a different kind of challenge to the burglar, but can also easily be defeated.  The window panes themselves can easily be removed.  Often the locking method gets more vulnerable from overuse and can be forced open.

 

Alarms:

 

Though not perfect, homes with ACTIVE alarm systems present a challenge for the burglar.  If no one is at home the sounding of an alarm may be enough to get the burglar to go elsewhere.  Response to the alarm is the question.  An alarm company is not likely to be sitting outside your home waiting for an activation.  Just as it is true that the police will not be sitting down the block ready to be called in when the alarm goes off.  Both may require the relaying of the alarm activation, which means time delay.

 

Just the signage outside your home, along with the physical evidence of alarm equipment might deter a burglar.  Having said all that some burglars do have various methods for defeating alarms.  Further, many, knowing the time delays incumbent in the alarm response by officials, they may dismiss the presence of an alarm.

 

Awareness:

 

One of the biggest issues in preventing burglaries at your home is your own actions or lack thereof and awareness.  The things you do to telegraph yourself and your homes status are important.  Social Media…if you announce to your friends (which means the world) that you are enjoying the beautiful beaches of Hawaii today, tomorrow your home could be visited by burglars.  The available information of people today, makes finding you more and more possible through social media.

 

If you fail to notice suspicious persons in your neighborhood and work with local “Neighborhood Watch” groups and your local police/sheriff officers, you could be a victim in waiting.

 

Lifestyle:

 

If you purchase your nice new big screen TV or sound system, and have it delivered, and the guys leave the empty box sitting out in the trash pickup area, you have just advertised your wealth.  That may be the very kind of clue the “casing” burglar may be looking for.  Even the presence of the Department store delivery truck could be a good indicator.

 

If you are known by your neighbors and friends to travel a lot, this may open the door to a future burglar who tracks your absence.  When those neighbors are receiving deliveries, visits from persons they do not have a close relationship with, as in strangers, this could be the source of future burglars.

 

If you have service people coming to your home, again, this could be a source of information on valuables and how doors and windows work in your home if one of those guys is scouting.

 

If you have “door knock” visitors asking questions or saying they are service people, they could also be burglars or at least scouting parties for burglars.  This seems to be one of the more frequent methods going on today across the country.

 

The Liquid Burglars:

 

Some years ago, I was serving as the lead detective working burglary investigations in the Venice/LAX/Playa del Rey area of West Los Angeles.  We had a sneaky spate of burglaries that we, at first, didn’t realize had been going on for a while.  The burglars were day time criminals, they did the door knocks, they sought out the easy access points of each home. They selected neighborhoods that would be described as “middle class” single family, or in other words, likely to have valuables inside.

 

The “Liquid Burglars” title came from the observation that in most if not all the crimes, the police and investigators found that the homes had alarm systems, and those systems had been soaked in the residents’ home dish washing liquid.  Why?  I cannot official say why.  At that time, we first thought it was simple mischief.  We later moved out thinking to it being some method of impacting the alarm function.  Whatever the case.  Over time we learned that this experience was not unique to my investigative area.  These, or copycat related criminals were doing the same M.O. (modus operandi) across the Southern California area.  And across jurisdictions.

 

We did, though some luck and focus, arrest a few suspects.  We found that almost exclusively they were young school age men.  Most were South Central gang related men.  And being school age, they were found to be juvenile.  So, the arrest of these few guys did not immediately impact the crimes.  They continued, obvious by other players.

 

So, where does this leave us today?

 

Local and national news reports seem to suggest that the residential burglary problem is alive and well, happening on a regular basis.  This is unfortunate.  Added to that is the dynamic of “home invasion” incidents.  These kinds of cross the line between robberies and burglaries.  If you invade a home but no one is home, that is just a violent burglary.  But if someone is home then the focus of the threat is the people inside.  That can turn the basic crime into a robbery.  Alternatively, if other crimes occur, assault or rape, arson, etc. then those become the focus.

In Los Angeles area, on the so-called Westside, there is a problem in the hillside communities with day time burglaries.  This is often happening when groups of men, though sometimes there are females as well, use the common methods of testing access, and then breaking into the homes. These homes are mostly middle class, if you can classify 2 to 15 million dollar homes as middle class.  In most cases these burglars are getting in quick, taking easily available items and fleeing to waiting vehicles.  In many incidents, the homes have alarms but they are still attacked.  In some they have cameras, and again, they are still attacked.  We have seen surveillance camera images from the affected homes and sometimes neighbor homes.  Far too often they do not directly lead to arrests.  But the point is, the crime has still happened and people are out of their property and have their comfort and serenity thrown off axis.

 

These incidents do not represent a failure by the victim’s alarm or camera systems, or their alarm companies or even the police.  Nothing is perfect.  The alarms are excellent, but require either that the criminal is discouraged by their presence, or someone, neighbors or the homeowner arriving home, to go along with the alarm activation.  This does not happen often enough.  Same with the issue of the alarm company and police.  They simply cannot be everywhere all the time.  And that word time.  It takes time to respond.  Time is, as previously stated, on the side of the criminal.

 

Finally, let’s get to solutions.  Are there solutions?  Well, yes, recommendations and modifications of conditions, along with the most important element.  That being a smarter home owner.

 

The physical, visible and system tools can be modified and improved.

 

The most impactful solution might be those “Neighborhood Watch” groups and those nosy neighbors.  A neighbor seeing a person they do not recognize going up to a door and giving a friendly “hi, can I help you,” might be enough to discourage that possible crime that is about to happen.  Most criminals do not want to be observed during the crime.  But it is important to note.  Signage warning of neighborhood watch are good, but there needs to be humans to give it legitimacy.  Someone needs to be around to look, listen and act. Again, alarms will be great, but need humans to support their impact.  That can be done if the home owner gets with their neighbors in those “neighborhood watch” type groups and begin supporting each other in their security plan.  When an alarm sounds, a neighbor looks to see what is happening.

 

Next are the actions by the homeowner.  A forensic type of review of the conditions of their home will go a long way towards identifying deficiencies and finding best recommendations for a fix.  We are talking about home lighting, home landscaping, home door and window locks, and one of the most important considerations is the homeowners’ lifestyle modifications.  In this we are talking about what the homeowner does to disguise the status of their home.  This refers to mail left visible, collecting because the homeowner is not home.   A car that is consistently visible from certain hours and not so during others…this is pattern recognition.  Home interior lights that offer the same clue during the owners workweek, on because they are gone from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday.  Or conversely when the owner is away for a vacation or business trip the home gives the appearance of being static, unoccupied.  Each of these have alternative actions that can be taken to at least mitigate what the vulnerability might be.  Guaranteed, of course not.  Suggested, absolutely!

 

Now, perhaps one of the best solutions, short of hiring a security guard to home sit day and night…a dog with a significant bark.  The signs and clues suggesting a dog is present almost certainly will discourage a burglar, sending the criminal to another location.  Is that a guarantee, no, but criminal interviewed on the subject have admitted they will avoid a home with a dog.  Not all dogs will offer a threat…my own elderly Jack Russel Terrier used to be an outstanding noise maker, but that was a decade ago.  Today, she sleeps through gunfire, earthquakes, emergency sirens and anything else that doesn’t sound like food being served.

 

Dogs are good!  But the first element is a smarter homeowner who is aware and conscientious about their homes status.

 

 

 

 

Henderson Cooper

Your.Situational.Awareness101@gmail.com

https://yoursituationalawareness101.com/