Ways to Protect Yourself

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10 Ways to Protect Yourself during a Burglary

Every 14 seconds a burglary occurs.  The average property loss during a burglary is $2000.  Burglaries usually take place when homeowners are not at home.  The criminal will often knock at the door or ring the bell in order to verify no one is at home before they break in.  However, there has been an increase of home invasions where the criminals know the homeowner will be there.  They may have followed you home because you drive a nice car or live in a nice neighborhood.  If you happen to home and you hear someone break in there are things you can do to protect yourself and your family as well as what you can do during a home invasion.

1. Always keep a phone in your bedroom or your cell phone in your pocket.  If you hear a suspicious noise call 9-1-1.  It is more important that you are safe.  If it turns out to be a false alarm the police will not be angry.
2. Stay quiet.  More than likely the criminal thinks you are not home.  Gather your family and quietly find a way out of the house.
3. Do not try to check out the situation yourself.  If you surprise a burglar they may freak out and turn violent in order to escape.
4. Inspect your home before entering.  It’s always a good idea to take a look at your home before entering it.  Check for any broken windows or trampled bushes before going in.  If you suspect anything, leave and call the police.  Surprising a burglar in the act can be very dangerous.
5. If you walk in your home and find that it has been ransacked, turn around and leave. The burglar may still be in your home and you do not want to risk surprising them.
6. Stay calm. If you do surprise a burglar the best thing you can do is stay calm and not make any sudden movements that may cause the criminal to hurt you.
7. Cooperate. The most important thing you can do in this situation is to cooperate with the criminal.  Burglars aren’t usually armed, but some are.  Personal property can be replaced, you cannot.
8. Don’t be a hero. It looks great on TV, but in real life dead is pretty final.
9. Never carry a weapon. This may sound counter intuitive, but a burglar can use your weapon against you.
10. Wasp spray. You are probably trying to figure out what wasp spray has to do with protecting yourself.  If you’ve ever used wasp spray for its intended purpose you will already know that it is designed to shoot a stream of insect killer from a safe distance.  This will also work when spraying a criminal in the eyes from a safe distance.  When using pepper spray you have to be pretty close to the criminal and they can still grab you and hurt you because they are now very angry.

(homealarmmonitoring.org)

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