Preparing for the Unthinkable: a Home Invasion

Your California alarm system will release a loud alarm if an intruder is in your home. But what then? Do you have a plan in place in the event you are awakened by the sound of an alarm? Here are some tips to help you develop a plan to protect you and your family when the unthinkable happens.

1) You will recieve a phone call shortly after the alarm system is set off. Make sure that you are by a phone to answer it and tell the Central Station to send the Police.

2) Make known a safe place where your family will convene. If an intruder proceeds despite tripping the alarm system, then there could be a danger to your family. The master Bedroom Closet is usually a good candidate for the safe place.

3) If you have to defend your family, you are much better off with a weapon. Buy some Peppr Spray, and keep it hidden in your safe place.

4) Keep hidden in your safe place until the police arrive. Listen for the sounds that an intruder would make. Keep everything around you very dark.

A Home Invasion is often only a breaking and entering. However, as the news often reports, it can sometimes lead to a more heinous crime. The vast majority of the time, a home invasion is just a burglary, and it is called a hot burglary if a family is home during the break-in. When TV commercials depict a home invasion or burglary, this is generally what happens: The family is minding their own business, when they hear something strange. Their first instinct is that it is not really a threat, because it usually is. Then they are caught by surprise when their front door is smashed open, and a burglar is standing there. The California security systemstarts alarming, it is so loud that the neighbors can surely hear it. Frightened, they run upstairs as the burglar flees the scene.

This scenario is definitely most common. Most burglars don't intend to hurt their victims physically. They only want to take their hard-earned possessions, then be on their way. But there are burglars out there that are willing to escalate a situation if they feel backed in a corner. Remember, criminals are often driven to crime by drug or gambling addiction, and they must feed their habit. So, if they really think they need the money, they will accept the risk of burglarizing a house with people in it and a home security system blaring an alarm. When they are still willing to burglarize an occupied house with the alarm system alarming, their risk of getting caught dramatically increases. They are not thinking straight, and this is combined with being put into a very stressful situation, and sometimes they are also strung out on drugs. When a burglary occurs, it is the time where planning for the worst pays off. In a home invasion, your security system will usually scare off the intruder, but in order to protect your family a plan could save the lives of your loved ones.