Home Defense, Geek Style?

Yo Maing writes "So my mom got lives alone, and got her car broken into last night. We have a motion sensor light in the driveway, and the car has an alarm but apparently both of these deterrents were ineffective. Crime has been rising around her neighborhood, and only action the police can take is to file a report. So I ask you, Geeks of Slashdot, what tricks do you guys have to defend yours and your loved ones homes against crimes like this? Not looking for anything that would get someone injured, but more in the area of detection and repulsion. Anyone have a holographic Yeti generator to scare away intruders? :)"

Comments

Get a dog

[rustin_ross]

Studies have shown a dog with a good bark scares away most would-be attackers. There have also been studies showing dog companionship actually lowers the blood pressure of seniors.

Go minimalist

[smoyer]

If you don't have anything of value, then you don't have to worry about someone ripping off your valuables. The things in life that are worthwhile are rarely tangible. If you're living in the crossfire of someone else's greed ... Move!

I vote

[ssclift]

Recognizing that crime is often (not always, but often) a product of personal desperation I vote for candidates who will do things like:

• Reduce the gap between rich and poor by progressive taxation and ensuring every working person has a living wage.
• Reduce the incentive to steal to support drug habits by making programs such as doctor-prescribed methadone (or even heroin) available.
• Reduce the incentive to commit crime by reducing the factors that force people into desperate poverty, like making medical care universally available.

At first, it may seem that, economically, you are better off keeping more of your dollars in your pocket (especially if you need them to pay the fees for your gated compound or personal home defense equipment). There is another equilibrium, which does mean higher taxes but on the other hand, makes the streets safe and crime less common, which is to reduce the societal risk factors that promote crime. Most wealthy Americans, for whom gated life and home defense is a minor cost, call this "rampant tax and spend looney pinko socialism". Many Europeans call it "responsible government".

Admittedly, shooting the "perp" and/or throwing him in jail does lead to a satisfied feeling that you have avenged, say, your Mum's honour. As many non-white citizens of your country can tell you, and good research has shown, your current system does actually promote, rather than prevent, the crime you wish to stop (cf. recent Cringly article as a starting point).

Want a safer society? Make sure it's one where everyone has a genuine chance, which doesn't oppress you if you're poor/black/unlucky, which is based on sound research and reasoning about policy (not 4000-year old policies promulgated in middle-eastern nomadic herding societies). Keep the police around to keep the hard-core cases under control.

It takes a little longer, and you guys nearly had it in the 60's, but it's worth it.

Re:I vote

[aelbric]

Oh god, here goes my Karma.

I am so sick and tired of people saying that, because I am successful, I need to be taxed ridiculously to carry people who aren't (more than a third of my income at last count). What the hell happened to personal accountability?

I grew up inside the city of Detroit on the low side of the economic chain. My prospects getting a high-paying job handed to me or a college education as an entitlement were exactly zero. You know what I did? I joined the military at 17, got myself educated, Got a job at 22 making 16K a year, worked my ass off for over a decade and MADE SOMETHING OF MYSELF.

You are now telling me that I have a social responsibility to "share" the fruits of my hard labor with some dumbass who made the poor decision to throw their life away on drugs or being too irresponsible?

Now I agree that people who need healthcare and the elderly and very young need assistance. However, these able-bodied societal leeches that suck down money from those of us that are middle class can rot AFAIC. Lock them up and throw away the key. If they are illegal deport them. Quit acting like being stupid and irresponsible is some kind of disease.

Want a safer society? Quit coddling our youth and giving them the idea that success will be handed to them. Teach them that you can only get ahead by trying your best and that there will always be someone out there better then you. Motivate them to reach their potential and not expect the government or anyone else to take care of them.

The only way to improve society is to make human beings independent of the political structures that are likely to hold them down. Anyone who says differently has a hidden agenda.

Combination approach...

[rtilghman]

1. Motion sensing lights at proper heights placed for full coverage of important areas

2. Motion detector webcam with pre-programmed scanning capabilities (the wireless Toshiba unit is superb http://www.toshiba.com/taisisd/netcam/index.htm)

3. Alarm system securing all major entranced points, and if you can afford it all the screens as well

4. Dog. Even if its a cuddly licker like a lab, dogs can hear and sense things no alarm system can handle. I'm constantly amazed how my lab KNOWS when someone is coming to the house, even when the car is still in the road!

Under no circumstances get a gun. It is a stupid precaution that only serves to increase your risk substantially. Killing someone is a tough thing, and your more likely to get shot with your own weapon (or get sued by someone you shoot) than you are to successfully defend your home.

Or as my friend always says, if you DO end up having to shoot an intruder make sure you finish the job... ;)

-rt

Best Tech - Social Engineering

[kerskine]

I bet your Mom is a really nice person because she's got a son who cares about her. She should use that "momness" to get other people in her neighborhood looking out for one another. Here's what your Mom should do:

1. Get a pencil and notebook
2. Locate all the houses in sight of her own
3. Knock on all the doors, introduce self
4. She tells them her story - car broken into - and then tells them to be alert
5. Then - most important step - she gets their name and phone number
6. optional step for bonus bingo points - leave a plate of cookies

The goal here is to get people aware, know that there's someone in the neighborhood who cares, and get them calling the police whenever something isn't right. Having known a number of police in my lifetime I can tell you that they don't mind checking out a "suspicious car/person" while their on duty. Just like Open Source, many eyes improves security.

Circle of violence

[sokk]

Killing someone because of trespassing? Someone that's almost surely unarmed!? That's the last solution I would've chosen, if at all.

Flame me all you want, but deep down you know it's wrong. Guess Michael Moore was into something in the movie Bowling For Columbine.

Re:Circle of violence

[winwar]

"And if he is indeed unarmed he try to disappear as quickly as possible after the first shot in the air IF he gave you enough time/distance to make that first warning shot."

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!?!?! Where the hell do people get the idea that a warning shot is EVER a good idea. Too much TV or movies perhaps?

Repeat after me. NEVER, EVER, fire a warning shot. Either you are justified in using deadly force or you are not. Period. The only time you discharge a weapon in a self-defense situation is with the intent of hitting the person/thing causing the deadly threat.

If you fire a warning shot, you become the aggressor. The attacker is now justified in killing you because they are (rightfully) in fear for their life.

Re:Well he fucking *killed* someone!

[Anonymous Coward]

No, he didn't set out intending to kill anybody at all. In response to repeated roberries, he set out to defend his business, which he has every right to do. Why the hell are you defending the robbers anyway, instead of the poor old man who was repeatedly victimized? Get your priorities straight!

Re:its obvious

[gibbsjoh]

Canadians are also better educated than Yanks. Go figure.

Re:been debunked

[ergo98]

While the number is still about 2500 deaths lower for Canada, no statistic can take into account the fact that the US has far more urban areas with more people packed more tightly together than Canada.

Errr, this is nonsensical. Per capita I'd wager that more Canadians live in urban areas than in the US.

I wish the origin of this thread didn't start another bullshit Canada versus the US thread - As a Canadian I'm sick of hearing people beating their chest and bleating about how great Canada is, just as I'm sick of all the ridiculous FUD slams at Canada that follow. Anyone mentioning Canada in a thread about the US needs to be brutalized.

Just the sight of a burglar alarm

[professorfalcon]

The number one rule of burglars must be to go for the low-hanging fruit. (Wow, same rule applies to performance tuning...)

I think burglars are smart enough to notice the burglar alarm sensors around the windows. Just the sight of these can make them choose another house instead of yours. I know someone whose neighbors have all been robbed, even during the afternoon with all sorts of people around, but his house has been spared all these years, thanks to the alarm system.

Get an alarm system with the monitoring through a reputable company.