PLEASE BE SURE TO KEEP YOUR GARAGE DOORS CLOSED AT NIGHT. ALSO BE SURE TO LOCK AND / OR SECURE YOUR VEHICLES AT ALL TIMES!
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[su_tab title=”Use Your Car Alarm”]
- Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home, or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.
- Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this:
- It’s a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation.
- Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage
- If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break in your house, odds are the burglar or rapist won’t stick around… after a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won’t want that.
- Also remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there.
- This is something that should really be shared with everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.
- Would also be useful for any emergency, such as a heart attack, where you can’t reach a phone.
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[su_tab title=”Wasp Spray”]
A friend who is a receptionist in a church in a high risk area was concerned about someone coming into the office on Monday to rob them when they were counting the collection. She asked the local police department about usingpepper spray and they recommended to her that she get a can of wasp spray instead.
The wasp spray, they told her, can shoot up to twenty feet away and is a lot more accurate, while with the pepper spray, they have to get too close to you and could overpower you. The wasp spray temporarily blinds an attacker until they get to the hospital for an antidote. She keeps a can on her desk in the office and it doesn’t attract attention from people like a can of pepper spray would. She also keeps one nearby at home for home protection.
On the heels of a break in and beating that left an elderly woman in Toledo dead, self defense experts have a tip that could save your life.
Val Glinka teaches self-defense to students at Sylvania Southview High School. For decades, he’s suggested putting a can of wasp and hornet spray near your door or bed.
Glinka says, “This is better than anything I can teach them.”
Glinka considers it inexpensive, easy to find, and more effective than mace or pepper spray. The cans typically shoot 20 to 30 feet; so if someone tries to break into your home, Glinka says, “spray the culprit in the eyes”. It’s a tip he’s given to students for decades. It’s also one he wants everyone to hear. If you’re looking for protection, Glinka says look to the spray. That’s going to give you a chance to call the police; maybe get out.
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[su_tab title=”Things Your Burglar Won’t Say”]
- Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your carpets, painting your shutters, or delivering your new refrigerator.
- Hey, thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in your yard last week. While I was in there, I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier.
- Love those flowers. That tells me you have taste … and taste means there are nice things inside. Those yard toys your kids leave out always make me wonder what type of gaming system they have.
- Yes, I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway. And I might leave a pizza flyer in your front door to see how long it takes you to remove it.
- If it snows while you’re out of town, get a neighbor to create car and foot tracks into the house. Virgin drifts in the driveway are a dead giveaway.
- If decorative glass is part of your front entrance, don’t let your alarm company install the control pad where I can see if it’s set. That makes it too easy.
- A good security company alarms the window over the sink. And the windows on the second floor, which often access the master bedroom-and your jewelry. It’s not a bad idea to put motion detectors up there too.
- It’s raining, you’re fumbling with your umbrella, and you forget to lock your door-understandable. But understand this: I don’t take a day off because of bad weather..
- I always knock first.. If you answer, I’ll ask for directions somewhere or offer to clean your gutters. (Don’t take me up on it.)
- Do you really think I won’t look in your sock drawer? I always check dresser drawers, the bedside table, and the medicine cabinet.
- Helpful hint: I almost never go into kids’ rooms.
- You’re right: I won’t have enough time to break into that safe where you keep your valuables. But if it’s not bolted down, I’ll take it with me.
- A loud TV or radio can be a better deterrent than the best alar m system. If you’re reluctant to leave your TV on while you’re out of town, you can buy a $35 device that works on a timer and simulates the flickering glow of a real television. (Find it at faketv.com.)
- Sometimes, I carry a clipboard. Sometimes, I dress like a lawn guy and carry a rake. I do my best to never, ever look like a crook.
- The two things I hate most: loud dogs and nosy neighbors.
- I’ll break a window to get in, even if it makes a little noise. If your neighbor hears one loud sound, he’ll stop what he’s doing and wait to hear it again. If he doesn’t hear it again, he’ll just go back to what he was doing. It’s human nature.
- I’m not complaining, but why would you pay all that money for a fancy alarm system and leave your house without setting it?
- I love looking in your windows. I’m looking for signs that you’re home, and for flat screen TVs or gaming systems I’d like. I’ll drive or walk through your neighborhood at night, before you close the blinds, just to pick my targets.
- Avoid announcing your vacation on your Facebook page. It’s easier than you think to look up your address.
- To you, leaving that window open just a crack during the day is a way to let in a little fresh air. To me, it’s an invitation.
- If you don’t answer when I knock, I try the door. Occasionally, I hit the jackpot and walk right in.
Sources: Convicted burglars in North Carolina, Oregon, California, and Kentucky; Security consultant Chris McGoey who runs crimedoctor.com; and Richard T. Wright, a criminology professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, who interviewed 105 burglars for his book Burglars on the Job.
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[su_tab title=”Common Car Jacking Trick”]
You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. You start the engine and shift into Reverse. When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your parking space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you shift into Park, unlock your doors, and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view.
When you reach the back of your car, that is when the car jacker(s) appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically mow you down as they speed off in your car. And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car.
So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity is now compromised!
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[su_tab title=”Rapist Trick to Lower Your Guard”]
Know what money you are carrying! You will see why as you read!
Criminals are coming up with craftier, less threatening methods of attack, so we have to be extra cautious. Here is one lady’s true life experience that can help us all:
It was approximately 5:15 a.m. in Opelousas, La. I had stayed with a friend there and was on my way to work. I stopped at the Exxon/Blimpie Pie station to get gas. I got $10 gas and a Diet Coke. I took into the store two $5 bills and one $1 bill (just enough to get my stuff).
As I pulled away from the store, a man approached my truck from the back side of the store (an unlit area). He was an “approachable-looking” man (clean cut, clean shaven, dressed well, etc.). He walked up to my window and knocked. Since I’m very paranoid and “always looking for the rapist or killer,” I didn’t open the window I just asked what he wanted.
He raised a $5 bill to my window and said, “You dropped this.”
Since I knew I had gone into the store with a certain amount of money, I knew I didn’t drop it. When I told him it wasn’t mine, he began hitting the window and door, screaming at me to open my door, and insisting that I had dropped the money!
At that point, I just drove away as fast as I could.
After talking to the Internal Affairs Department and describing the man I saw, and the way he escalated from calm and polite to angry and volatile….it was determined that I could have possibly encountered the Serial killer myself.
Up to this point, it had been unclear as to how he had gained access to his victims, since there has been no evidence of forced entry into victim’s homes, cars, etc. The fact that he has been attacking in the daytime, When women are less likely to have their guard up, means he is pretty BOLD.
So think about it…what gesture is nicer than returning money to someone that dropped it?????
How many times would you have opened your window (or door) to get your money and say thank you… because if the person is kind enough to return something to you, then he can’t really be a threat….can he????
Please be cautious! This might not have been the serial killer.. but anyone that gets that angry over someone not accepting money from them can’t have honorable intentions.
The most important thing to note is that his reaction was NOT WHAT I EXPECTED! A total surprise! But what might have happened if I had opened my door? I shudder to think!
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