Are You Eazy Pickins? Other Items
Written by Robert D. Sollars
Over the past few blogs, I’ve given you a lot of information about home security. It may not be as detailed as you need but that is where your research, and questioning, skills are put to the test, in other words, ask me the question if you have one, robert@sollarsviolenceprevention.com. This last post in the series will be listed in bullet format for quick reference. Self-defense techniques for both men and women will be in another post.
While out and about:
- Ensure that every door & window to the home is secure…even the doggie door. Don’t give anyone a chance to get in without leaving a sign.
- Always attempt to park under a street light or in a garage.
- Ensure that you are not followed from the mall, restaurant, etc. by constantly checking your rearview mirrors to spot the same car behind you.
- Always, always, check the back seat of your vehicle to ensure no one is hiding back there, and in the case of a blind individual, remind your rider of it.
- Set the alarm systems, if you have one, and frequently check your home surveillance, again if you have them. You never know if you have a common criminal cruising around or an anxiety-ridden canine.
- If allowed by state law, carry a personal protection device such as pepper spray (pepper foam is better if you can find it), Taser, or a concealed firearm. If you have to use any of these, to protect your life or the life of another, then the criminal will not want to mess with you anymore.
- Put your keys between your fingers as you walk to your vehicle or the entry door. If you are accosted the end of the keys make an excellent weapon to slash or poke the attacker in the face.
While at home:
- Always, check the home carefully to ensure that when entering, nothing is amiss.
- * Lock the doors behind you…including the garage doors. Ensure that the doors to your garage to the yard are solid core and not hollow.
- Install an alarm system in your home, see a reference below.
- Install a ring doorbell, or another surveillance device, at the front. This will ensure that if anyone checks to see if you’re home while you’re gone…you’ll know. This also helps if you’re scared to go to the door late at night or if the neighborhood has had any trouble recently.
- Have any packages of alarm and surveillance equipment been delivered to a different address, such as a significant other, work, parents, etc. You don’t want to let anyone know you’re ‘wiring’ your home for defense.
- Trust your gut. Gut instinct is one of the items that may save your life or the life of someone you hold dear. If there is a tingling feeling, of dread as some call it, in the back of your mind or pit of your stomach…listen to it. You may not be able to put a finger on it but chances are something is amiss.
- Constantly be on the lookout for trampled flowers, grass, bent branches, etc. If your pet goes missing could be another sign. Yes, it could be the neighborhood feline, canine, or kids, but…
- If anything is amiss or you do have an incident of some kind, make a police report immediately. This will be part of your documentation if something else were to occur.
- I always teach in my security officer classes…Documentation, documentation, documentation. This means if it is not written down then it didn’t happen. Dates, times, and even all of the foul language that may be spewed and other such items, need to be thoroughly documented to show the police that something is/was amiss.
- When installing cameras outside the home ensure that no one is observing you while doing so…this may be hard to do but you can try.
- Take note of any strange vehicles in the neighborhood and possibly when, where, and how long they’ve been there.
- If you are afraid of a stalker or something similar…drive around the neighborhood before pulling into the driveway looking for suspicious vehicles.
Self Defense techniques will be posted in a later post, so watch for it. The defensive techniques I tell you about may be difficult to deliver but I will do my best to describe them to you.
sites for security equipment:
I don’t endorse any of these. However, the commercials and websites are quite full of information for you. As always do your own due diligence before purchasing anything online. Don’t let fear cloud your judgment.
www.Simplisafe.com. Inexpensive affordable alarm systems.
www.Ring.com. Doorbell camera
blinkprotect.com. Under $80 per camera which includes two lithium batteries lasting for two years wireless, set it up anywhere.
I hope these tips and the ones provided earlier will be helpful for you and your family to protect them. Always do your due diligence when approaching home security to find out what is legal in your state so you don’t go to jail for a technicality.
The next topic in this series will be security for the disabled, which of course I am, and have discovered a few things about security I didn’t realize before. Watch for it in the next post.
www.sollarsviolenceprevention.com Twitter: RobertSollars2 e-mail: robert@sollarsviolenceprevention.com
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It happens to Anyone…Any Time…Anywhere… For any Reason
I May Be Blind, but My Vision
