What’s Your Home Intruder Plan?

This is a guest post by Mike Jones

Our home is the most valuable asset we own. Businesses are meant to go up and down, but your own home is much more than a job. It is where you spend quality time with your family and friends, and the financial value is trivial compared to the sentimental value.

Home security is not a topic to take lightly. The danger is real as the statistics show us that the crime rate in U.S. has increased since 1990. If you are living in an urban area, the chances are that you wouldn’t be able to rely on police forces. The heavy traffic that came to describe any American city will work against the police when your home alarm is triggered. So, it is recommended to take matters into our own hands and protect our property by ourselves. Here’s how the ideal home intruder plan looks like.

The Bad Home Intruder Plan

First off, let’s start with the bad scenario. It may look like a good plan, but the result can do more damage to you than without it at all.

So, it is normal when thinking about a home intruder plan to imagine that every step you make will be logical and calm. When we are feeling safe and are in a self-controlled state, we might not take some factors into consideration. Such aspects are the panic, hand trembling, and conversation in high volume voices with your spouse.

All these natural effects when a man or a woman confronts a danger are understandable when you don’t have training in self-defense. All the trivial things that you plan in a moment of safety might look different when in a threatening situation. A simple 911 dialing can take several minutes of your time because the terrifying state will prevent you from thinking clearly.

Another example of a bad plan is to stick to changing everything around the house with the goal to prevent a burglary. Such things include moving the furniture away from the windows so that the intruders won’t have any objects to hide behind or installing too many security devices. Imagine the fear kids can live in if they are told they can’t have the furniture they want because a burglar can use it in their favor. Or when the kids leave home and they have to enter several codes to arm several alarms with the idea that their own home is always in danger.

The feeling of constant fear is a sign that the intruders have already won half the battle. Fear is a weapon against you and it should be avoided. Instead, a calm and controlled state is the best way to defeat any strangers.

The Ideal Home Intruder Plan

• Create an evacuation plan

Again, what may seem logic and simple in a calm state, may not look the same in an alarmed situation. Take the plans of your home and identify all the escape exits that can be used during a burglary. Make a scenario for every room that your family and yourself might be in when intruders break into your home. Note down how you would proceed step by step in a clear and concise style. Make it sound like you would explain the plan to a child.

• Practice the evacuation plan

Learning the plan goes hand in hand with putting it into practice. In the case of an emergency, you wouldn’t be able to restrain your adrenaline surge to focus on reading some words. You will be able to remember the steps if you have already done them before several times.

Don’t alarm the children if they are too little to understand. Make it seem more like a game and create codes for every step. For example, if one of the steps is that your kids leave the house through the back door, name this step with something like “Monkey bolt.” Usually, the first training might take several minutes, but the time will become shorter with every exercise you make. The exercises will also eliminate the need for a dialogue during a burglary, which usually signals your safe location for the intruders.

• Call the police immediately

The police should be notified as soon as possible, no matter how near the intruders are. Nowadays, it is normal for every member of the family to own a mobile phone. So, among the first precautions you can take to design your home intruder plan, one of them it should also be naming the location of every phone in the house. Every member will answer the instinct to reach for their own phone. However, reaching the nearest phone will save up time.

After dialing 911, many people will feel the need to describe the situation and then end the conversation quickly so that the intruders won’t hear them. However, the recommended action is to keep the phone call open the entire time. Tracing a call takes more time than the way it is done in a Hollywood movie, so keeping the call on will enable the police to hear everything that is happening and locate your position faster.

• Be prepared for confronting the intruders

While the police advise citizens not to engage with the intruders, the situation may leave you no choice. This is when the guns for self-protection are necessary. A pistol is easy to maneuver and at hand at any given moment.

Taking into account the fact that wherever you might hide the weapons in your home, the kids will eventually find them, you should consider the option to take your gun wherever you go. Choosing a concealed carry holster will make your gun possession legal in public and will keep your gun ready when the situation needs it.

So, these are the best steps to follow when designing a home intruder plan.  There’s nothing more important than the safety of your family, and such measures are normal in a responsible and aware household.

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