I think it is very frightening. Yes, I read about it in the paper every day, and this time a year, they are breaking in and stealing Christmas gifts from under a decorated tree. I think a home invasion, where the people are home and often terrorized, injured or worse killed, scares the heck out of me. I live in a semi- secure building, where the out-side doors are locked at night, but during the day our Apt door is locked all the time. Scary!!

our door is never locked...

We've always been conscious of security--living 2 miles from one of the most dangerous cities in the country. It's not uncommon for the city residents to take public transportation out to the suburbs to rob, purse-snatch, etc, then they steal a car to get home.

I haven't especially heard of more break-ins than usual around here. There is more crime in a near-by town where there are a lot of malls, shopping centers, restaurants, etc.--lot of pickpocketing, shoplifting, car jackings there.

What are we doing? As we always have, we keep our doors and windows locked, even when we're in the house. We lock our cars, even when in the driveway. And just generally keep our wits about us.

Back in our Army days (1969-71), when we would to a new post, there would be held an indoctrination in which the wives would be strongly advised to keep doors locked when their husbands were away from home. I've never lived in a state of fear, but my sister also remembers that and the very strong reasons they would present. The day I looked up and saw a man peering in our kitchen window reinforced it. Listening to what has happened to family members just in the past week has been sobering.

jeaninwa, I'm really curious about your answer - would you mind speaking further?

In a word - Yes !

Not really. I live in a gated community and while I'm sure that wouldn't do much to deter an aggressive/smart thief, it does make me feel better.

I also don't have any jewelry or anything of value so that helps! I'm not trying to make a joke of it but living a life in fear of something that "might" happen just adds unnecessary stress. Basic precautions are all you can really do. Keep the doors locked, don't have Christmas gifts or fancy electronics arranged so that they can be seen from the street and report suspicious activity.

just that...our door is never locked. I don't even have a key. We live in apartments, and have neighbors, but I'm not concerned with anyone breaking in. I'm sure if I'd been a victim, or knew of one, I would. My car is locked tho.
When I lived out in the country, I even left my purse in the car. I always knew where it was.

Our city has always been deemed one of the safest in the country, and we too have often been very lax about locking doors. I can't tell you the number of times we have gone out, often for the day, and not locked the front door. But there have been rashes of break-ins here as well so now, even tho I work from home, the doors are locked.

We were robbed several years ago, about 20 or so, when we lived in the city. We have had security systems ever since that day. It is an awful feeling of invasion knowing someone has gone thru your most intimate things. They stole my grandma's engagement ring, it had little monetary value but it was invaluable to me. Luckily her birthstone was at the jeweler being made into a ring for my mother.

We've had a series of break-ins here but the worst was wen they came upon a man with MS who was at home, I think he was in a wheelchair. They hit him with a baseball bat and he is now having a lot of troubles. They caught them this week and I hope they get the book thrown at them.

My street is very safe. The homes are smaller and it is similar to a cul-de-sac. I have a number of nosy neighbors, too. Anyone who is unfamiliar driving through here always gets checked out by the neighbors. However, we've had crooks drive through at night and steal things out of unlocked cars.

I do lock up when I go out.

When we lived in the city many years ago our apartment was robbed and so were others in our building. I agree it is that feeling of being vulnerable and having your personal space invaded that is far worse than the loss of stuff.

I guess this time of year creates more opportunities for the jerks out there.

This is the wrong house for burglars to come to. The sign over the door has a picture of a Magnum .357 and says "Forget the Dog...Beware of Owners". That is their warning! It is not an empty threat.

So...we don't worry at all.

We have never been very security minded, especially on Military bases even overseas. And our children always had the freedom to walk to school and play outside without close supervision in our neighborhoods. They built a new (beautiful) High School at the end of our street last year, and we worried about the closeness of it and all the new kids that would be visiting our neighborhood; so we put in an alarm system (we travel in a motorhome that is parked beside our house, noticeably absent when we are gone) and the "kids in the neighborhood" just never happened. Here in Oregon, we are in a small city with a small crime and gang problem, but it does seem like most of it happens in the McMansion areas and of course the less desirable neighborhoods. BTW we have moved very frequently and the longest we have lived anywhere is 12 years....and here 6.

YES...I am definitely worried about the uprising numbers of robberies and home invasions. In today's failing economy, people are carrying out hostile acts against others more often. About a year ago, I was home alone at about 11:00 pm, while my husband went out to pick up my son at work. I happened to be talking to my DIL on the phone, when I heard a knock on the door. My first thought was that my husband and son were home, so I started to just unlock the door. Luckily, my DIL yelled for me not to open the door. When I asked who was there, there was no answer. I looked through the front window but was unable to see anyone. When my husband got home, he drove around the block to see if he was anyone walking. A few days later, there was an article in our newspaper warning people about this. If you answer the door, they just knock you down, enter the house and rob you. If no one answers, they assume no one is home and then break in. Since then, I have been terrified. I hate to think what might have happened if I had opened the door that night.

We live in a quiet residential neighborhood. But we've had 2 odd incidents in 30 years here. We returned from work to find our front door ajar, went in, no one was there, no apparent damage but a door to one closet was open and inside I found a very old photo of the prior owners (I recognized the couple and their children were young in the photo. I called the police, who saw no damage, nothing stolen so they simply made a report. Then about one year ago, a strange man walked in my front door while I was reading the paper in the kitchen. I asked "Can I help you?' He seemed confused, mumbled something about "all these houses look alike" and left. I called my husband, who was sleeping upstairs and we watched the man drive away. Not really a break-in, just "odd". I've been keeping all my doors locked tioght since. My daughters kid us for "overdoing". But there were some breakins in the neighborhood the last year or 2. The police caught two neighbors (both young men, known to be drug users) and sent them both "away". One detoxed from heroin and is now back home. I keep my distance. Never liked him as a kid-he peeked in our windows, threw garbage in our backyard pool and hit one of my daughters in the face at the school bus stop. I'd like to see him back in jail.But yes, I am wary. Having a dog gives me peace of mind. Even tho she might just lick any intruders. She loves visitors.

Absolutely! I went to the doctor this week which is not far from my home, there were police cars everywhere, police with dogs and several helicopters above. As soon as I got to the docs office they opened the door and rushed me in and locked it again. They were in lock down. The police had told them to stay in, lock down do not let anyone you do not know in.
There were 3 felon fugitives loose in the area, they had stolen a car and I saw it in a ditch about a block from the docs office.
When I left another lady went out at the same time we said we would double team them LOL, They watched till we got in our cars, I did open my back doors to check in there too.
I got home and locked all the locks and the deadbolts.

WE NEVER have the doors unlocked even when we are home, we have had a couple of hoodlums that live in an area near here that have started breaking into homes in our subdivision they broke into one place while the people were outside having a bbq, they went in the front door and stole all the purses!! now that is brazen.

Our house is lit up like a Fort at night, the police told us the one time we had an attempted break in that was the best thing to do to try to deter them, light it up. They will go for the easy dark houses and avoid all the light.

Thieves have no idea if you have anything of value or jewelry they will find stuff to steal and if they don't that just makes them angry so they destroy all your possessions. It is the nature of the beast!

We live in a very safe area had never had any break ins for years but suddenly we have been hit, NO where is safe these days. We have a lot of elderly here too and that really scares me because many are just not used to that type of thinking and open up the door to anyone, we have had several home owners meetings with the police to try to make it clear to everyone times have changed, do everything you can to protect yourselves.

Here at our house we stay LOCKED AND LOADED!!

We have a big black scary looking dog. He's probably not foolproof but most people wouldn't want to mess with him The police here advise if someone knocks on your door, don't answer, but make sure they see you-otherwise they will think the house is empty and proceed to break in.

This is an interesting thread. I am home all week alone, have 2 dogs (they would just shoot them anyway) and if someone comes to the door, I always have my cell phone in my hand, talking to someone (yeh right, checking voicemail) and I say loudly, "Hang on someone I dont know is at the door, I may need you to call 911". Then I see the person on the porch take a few steps back. and I keep my line open, they dont know who Im really talking to.

I live in an area where it would be hard for a neighbor to spot an odd car in the driveway. While we have not had many break-ins in our area, I did just get a fake security camera mounted on porch ceiling. It looks very, very real. And I put a note on the door that says "smile, your on camera"

I also have a sensor in the driveway that turns on my porch lights. They come as if I saw them coming and I turned it on...love those lights!

I might add the gun picture too...another real possiblity at my house if you wanted to take it that far....one in the car, one in the kitchen, one in the nightstand.

I like the "talking on the phone" bit too if I am home alone.

We don't have much here that would entice a thief, but times are changing. Besides the usual criminal type, people are hurting financially. That makes me sad, but...

In our niece's case, the police said the thieves were after any good metals, which they then sell on the internet. Sometimes they go for older folks in the hope of finding prescription drugs. Those are a couple of things I never gave much thought to.

None of this was meant to be a downer nor to bring on fears. Just some common sense I need to be more aware of. We lock doors and windows at night, hubby has guns and knows how to use them. No dogs or alarms, and we don't even leave outside lights on (we will now). I just want to stop thinking it couldn't happen to us and to take normal, sensible precautions - not to hurt anyone or to freak out. Some of you have given very good ideas. Thank you!

I think today we all should take precautions and be alert to what is going on in our neck of the woods. I have attractive bars on all my windows and my patio door has an outside iron gate which remains locked.
Also have strategically placed outdoor lights which are motion sensitie and some on the back porch. My front light on the porch is on all night. I'm sending away for those things that screw into the light socket that come on at dusk and off at dawn.
I have several timers in different rooms that turn lights on at different times during the evening and night.

kids are out for the holidays, parents are working.

Here in my condo, I was told to watch if you are having pkgs delivered by whoever, to ask them to leave with a neighbor or you pick it up, as these unsupervisied kids see pkgs sitting on the porch, they open, take what they want.

And this is supposed to be a great neighborhood to live.

When we first moved here from CA we locked everything, (and still do) Son in law just laughed but even in our small town he now locks up when he leaves the city (he is in and out due to his job). We never had anything taken in the Big city, but here in our little town, have had money taken twice, and SIL had a gun stolen. But we are pretty sure we know who was involved, just can't prove it. Crime is increasing all over and we all need to be alert and aware.
We do have many trucks in the area,due to the fracking sand and oil business, but they are alert to unusual activity also. Also we have outside lights.

I just printed out a notice and posted it on the door....

WARNING,,,THIS HOUSE IS PROTECTED BY A DERAINGED VIET NAM VET WITH A LOADED ak-47 ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK....

lazypup - is that 'defanged or deranged'? LOL

Good one, Lazypup! I served with 1st Cavalry Division, Co D, 2nd Bn, 8th Cav (Airmobile) in 1970 in III Corp area South Vietnam as a light weapons infantryman.
It is a good time to be aware of the increasing crime rate and many people are in a desperate position due to the economy sliding downward.
I have handled firearms since 12 years old and have never had an accident or close call of accidentally shooting anyone. Common sense and strict application of all firearm safety rules and there will be no accidents.
I have firearms as I like them but also for self protection of my family. Some say they could never shoot anyone. It would be a negative life changing experience. But please consider this.
Standing by helplessly while someone who broke into your house harms or kills a family member is a much worse life changing experience. Even as a combat veteran I have no desire to shoot or harm anyone but I will not stand by helplessly while some drug addict or thieve shoots at me or any of my family. Shooting an intruder bent on killing so there are no witnesses, I find easier to live with than seeing or finding a family member murdered.
Life is tough and even harder for those who ignore reality.

A book I highly recommend for any Vietnam Veteran or anyone who would like to learn the true story of the anti-war groups during the Vietnam war, "Comrades In Arms" by Roger Canfield P.hD. http://americong.com/

we went to Lowes and got 2 very nice attractive heavy duty metal "screen" doors they are security doors that we decided on instead of just a plain screen door or a glass one. These are very sturdy and would not be easy to tear down, plus we put deadbolts and regular locking knobs on them as well as the doors. We have a lot of black wrought iron on the house and the gate to our driveway is black wrought iron so they look good with all of that. Just one more thing to make them have to get through to get inside.
I keep a metal pole down in the track of my back glass slider door to keep it double locked. Many of my windows do not open they would just have to break them out and that would be pretty noisy.

The house next door to us has so many trees and bushes around it you can not even see the house from the street and they have no lights outside, I can not believe they have not been broken into. Probably all my out side lights have them scared off.

One thing the police suggested to us was a driveway sensor that sounds an alarm( in the house) when something crosses the path of the sensors, so anyone walking or driving we would be alerted.
We did get one of those too.

Our big Great Dane was our best deterrent but since he passed all we have is our itty bitty mini fox terrier, she might chew an ankle off though and she is a good alarm.

Over the years I've been burglarized twice so I well-know the feelings. Not too much to do really. You get hit or you don't. Taking certain precautions is always good. The best thing is to be aware of your surroundings. I gave up on the timers and stuff when they broke in the first time and they had the timers set aside to take with them! (Didn't know they were valuable to thieves!) Certain lighting is good, especially motion lights but I don't try to make my place look like Vegas anymore. There's a practicality level. I try to be near a phone at all times but it's better to have a landline than the cell, although of course a cell is better than nothing. Once you dial a landline they have your address up immediately and if there's a 911 hangup, they'll investigate.

Many people attract burglaries. They make the outside of their house nearly gloat that they have stuff worth stealing so which house will the burglars go after?

I haven't heard of an unusual number of burglaries this year but I wouldn't be surprised. The weather is conducive to crooks too! That's the one thing, people can complain about 3' of snow on the ground with -30ð windchills, but say what you want, it cuts down on burglaries!

I always keep my doors locked because most of the time I am here by myself. I always have my cell phone on me, whether inside or out. My husband is not good about locking the doors when he comes in or goes out.

Sue

Doesn't concern me but I haven't heard anything about "all the break-ins". I live in quite a safe area though there were a few walk-ins on our street last summer where a few things were taken including someone's passport. I always pretty much keep the doors locked if I'm home by myself though in the summer it's just the screen door that's locked as I usually have all the doors and windows open.

I just don't live in fear - life is too short. Plus I've had so many experiences where I've worried about things that never happened. DH is always reminding me how foolish that is.

My apologies about posting the link as I found out that was a no no. I will not do that again.

We have had things stolen from our yard and it was obvious someone had gotten into our car looking for something to steal.
A survey found the nearby city has a section with the highest crime rate in west Michigan.
And a middle aged couple got a knock at their door and for some reason said "come on in" with out even checking. Two young men came in, one had a shotgun, demanded money and prescription drugs, got into a fight with the man who lived their and hit him in the face with the shotgun before they ran out. They recognized the one young man and the police picked them up shortly afterward.

We deliberately keep the outside of our house "ordinary" - nothing that yells that we have money. Also, I try to keep the inside of the house looking the same whether or not we are home during the day - drapes partly open, most of the same lights on, etc. About 6 months of the year we have motion sensors outside our house - they spray water as a deterrant to deer/elk, and are usually effective at that. We've thought they might keep human intruders away as well. :-)

We read the crime reports in our local paper; many of the break ins seem caused by people who know the homeowner. Since all of our friends/family are lawabiding citizens, we feel relatively safe.

I was very proud of my neighbor, whose wife just died. On the day of the memorial (published,) he asked another neighbor to keep an eye on his house during that time as anyone would know there would be no one home during the published hours.

We live in the suburbs of a large city and our neighborhood has a Yahoo group; you have to live within a specified area to join. When something happens (missing package, car break-in, or even robbery,) the homeowner usually writes a note to that effect on the website; this way we can see if there's an uptick in our area and and ask for more frequent police patrols if it's serious. Yeah, there are definitely fewer police around now and they won't come out for something fairly minor.

Actually, advertising that you have a gun in the house is a really bad idea. Guns are one of the 'premium' items that crooks go for--letting them know you have one is just asking them to stop on by and see what else you have worth taking.

Better to have one, where you can get to it, but where they wouldn't be able to access it on their own. A local dr. kept a loaded gun in his safe. One New Year's Eve, a group of 3-4 guys broke in, held the family at gunpoint (where is Gunpoint, anyway?) and demanded he get them money from the safe. He unlocked it, reached in, got his gun and shot a couple of them, killing at least one. He was shot, too, but survived and his family was fine. But he was smart to have that gun where only he would be able to get to it.

I lock my door when I leave, or when I'm to spend some time in the garden out of sight of the house but when I am home it isn't, except that when I come in on what I expect to be the last entry of the day, I often lock the deadbolt, that was installed by relatives for my old step-uncle who lived here earlier.

When I leave, I close the garage door, but it isn't locked, so the closing has little value except that it isn't obvious that it's permeable. Sometimes when car is sitting in the yard, 1/8 mile from the a road, the key is in it, sometimes (uaually) not.

Landlord has many valuables in his shop, has regular locking handle on the door ... but inside there's an steel frame that's padlocked to a frame anchored around the door so that one can't open the door enough to get in, just to open the padlock.

The dusk-to-dawn yard light stopped working a week or so ago, landlord suggested that I didn't make use of it much, did I ... he's right, I don't. Thought earlier that it would be helpful if it could be adjusted so that I could zap it with a remote when I went to bed. We'll have to call the electric company, as it's rented, so we'll not want to pay rental on a dead horse.

Most barns, sheds and garage aren't locked - though I can't be sure about the shed where the landlord stores his (rather large) boat.

If they break into my house, they'll have a hard time finding much that they'll bother taking away.

When I'm out about the town, I often leave the car doors unlocked, though not if something of apparent value is visible inside, and when someone questions that, I say that if someone wants to steal my 24-year-old car ... they can have it ...

... but I don't leave the key in the ignition.

ole joyful

when my late MIL would go to the store, she would leave her front door wide open. Her reasoning...anyone passing by would surely think someone was home, because people just do not go off and leave their door open. She was never ever burglarized. She also planted cactus under her bedroom window as a deterant. LoL

Two large dogs and my 2nd amendment rights make me safe.

I've always been security conscious. Just because I am private and aware by nature. So I lock doors behind me most times and my vehicle is always locked too.

We do our best to avoid calling 911. Now those rogues do scare me. LOL

Most crime in our neighborhood is car break-ins.

I would be much more careful if I lived in one of those quiet little towns people seem to think are so safe. That's where the meth labs and their clients are most prominent. At least in my state.

I just read about a robbery near me in our paper today. The homeowners had just had a new roof put on the house. The day after the job was done, some guys showed up at their door saying they were from the roofing company and had to check the roof from inside the house. The homeowner let them in. The crooks then proceeded to steal $86,000 worth of goods from the house! Can you imagine? What nerve that took!

I guess they drive around looking for big houses that are getting a new roof and when the roofers sign is gone from the lawn, they pull their scam. So there is something else to watch out for.

We live in a city of over 150,000 population and because of its low crime rate, has been named the safest large city in the state by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. We don't take it for granted though and we're always careful about locking doors and setting the burglar alarm.

Only lock the doors at night sometimes if I know the kids aren't coming home. Don't lock it in the day time either, go to work, kids go to school, it stays unlocked. We've had a big dog for a lot of years and I guess that's one reason I wasn't worried. We also have two cops who live on our street, which probably gives me a false sense of security.

I guess there are advantages to living in a poor, run down neighborhood.....short street and lots of patrol by the sheriff's department.

Your stories are all good lessons. Nest year I am moving to a house in a gated community which is very safe so my friends who live down there say but not when contractors have passes to get in. I will not have a front door like I have seen on television where they kicked the front door in. What the hen? The outside doors and windows are going to be my prioity.

I have had four walk ins in the almost 30 years I've lived here. One entered the side door and the others entered the kitchen door. One was a man and the others were women. They all thought it was a shop. The house is 170+ years old and there IS a sign with the original owners name and date but why they think it's a shop, puzzles me. >>We had an almost break in many years ago when I took my kids swimming. When we returned we saw cop cars and a few local punks who tried to break in but were flagged by a passing motorist. This summer I was mad because someone took a huge expensive hanging basket of flowers from a shepherds hook. It had to be a man because the thing was so big and heavy. I had a Xmas flag stolen one year. Now my flag is super high and my hanging baskets are wired to the hooks. I have a fenced in yard, sensor lights and two very noisy dogs who could inflict damage.