I've been thinking about these lately, but it seems like all the break ins i've heard about lately have involved houses which have a system.

Do you guys think having signs/stickers around your house act as a deterrent for criminals, or can they often have the opposite effect, since they think you must have something worth stealing?

I wonder if there's any data on this...

1/27/2009 4:39:37 PM

the thing about security systems is that by the time they time out and call the cops, and the cops (or you) actually get there, those in the house are going to be gone

the only way that i can see it working is if there are visible cameras that record on motion and send the pictures/video to a server off-site (which i am actually thinking about doing one of my parents condos, they had a break in)

[Edited on January 27, 2009 at 9:12 PM. Reason : 

1/27/2009 9:10:45 PM

Here's mine:



burglars generally don't fuck with dogs. Those that would aren't going to be deterred by an alarm system either.

1/27/2009 10:39:54 PM

Plus the dogs will warn you before any alarm system will.

I think the best thing you could do for home security is landscape and/or build your house to make it more secure. Keep windows high enough off the ground that you can't climb up to them to unlock them (maybe break them, but that climbing in them would be difficult enough to give you a lot of warning), keep key-only deadbolts on doors with a good amount of glass on them in case somebody busts the glass, keep some pretty dense shrubs/bushes in front of lower windows, and train your dogs to go for the crotch.

I mean, if you live in a townhouse or something that isn't going to be that hard to break into to begin with, and ya can't get a dog, I could see why you might want a security system. In this case, I'd suggest get sensors for all the doors and windows (and for breakage and optional motion sensing if ya got the $$$) and get them to put in a few of those horribly painfully loud klaxons/sirens/ear-rape devices just so that if somebody DOES bust in your place they can't think because it's so fucking loud in there that their ears are bleeding.

I mean, we had to rescue my grandma once when her health was failing and couldn't get the security system to shut off (cause we were idiots and were doin it wrong), and when that one little siren on the wall went off (WEEETWEEETWEEEETWEEET) it really hurt you and made you want to get the hell out of there. Little bit o wire cutters killed that pretty quick, though.

Yeah, see that's the other problem with security systems. They are usually not that bullet proof at the low level. The one my grandma had could be disabled by unplugging it from the wall and quickly using some wire cutters on the backup battery system that was just hanging on the wall in the closet directly behind the security system (the closet door was right next to this security system, which is awfully bad design). Once that's clipped the system just shuts down.

1/27/2009 10:56:01 PM

i have one - my wife grew up with one and our house was pre-wired and the monthly fee is somewhat small (at least comparitively) so it's not a huge deal

we set it every night and about 80% of the time we leave the house - it's mainly there because i travel from time to time and it helps my wife sleep better at night - it's hard to put a price on that

1/27/2009 11:10:59 PM

I've replaced the deadbolts on the doors with the captive key kind. Bump proof.

Also 3" steel screws in the hinges and latch plates.

I have a security system and I do have those signs in my yard, but most criminals know they aren't effective if they break in during business hours, when no one is home.

The best thing for me is the cop who lives a few houses down and keeps his car in the driveway. He works odd hours so you never know when he'll be there.

1/27/2009 11:12:41 PM

I subscribe to a multi-tiered system. This is even more important to me as my work hours are odd and there are at least 10 nights a week that I am not home. So I try to do the best to make sure my wife feels safe when she's home. We have an alarm, wired the house for it, but it's also a fire alarm with smoke detectors wired to it, and a rate of rise heat detector in the attic. We also have the Bobby Digital system with 2 boxers who make lots of noise and do pack a good punch. We have designed the house to have open visibility of all sides from the street and neighbor's houses. We have windows that require a ladder or stool to get to. All deadbolts are key only. We have motion lights on all corners of the house, and we have landscape uplighting on the front of the house that is on during dark illuminating the entire front of the house.

And then there's always the firearms located around the house that the wife is very comfortable with and competent in the use of.

But like anything none of these are worth a dang if you don't use them, if you don't lock windows and doors, if you don't arm the alarm system, or have a gun and don't know how to use it.

We also have a number of cops that live in the neighborhood whose cars are parked in the driveway, and one of our neighbors has camera located outside of his house that tape the only road in and out of the neighborhood.

[Edited on January 28, 2009 at 10:29 AM. Reason : ]

1/28/2009 10:28:56 AM

i have one. its connected though a cell connection so cutting a phone line won't solve the calling the cops problem. i have the glass break feature on my picture window & sliding glass downstairs and a panic button hidden within reach of my bed so if someone busted up in here while i was sleeping i could trigger my panic button and then figure out wtf the do next based on what the creeper is doing

i like the panic button because its discrete, silent and it sends the cops. the last thing i want to be doing when im in a stressful situation is to find my cell phone, call 911 and explain what my emergency is and where i am located!

2/2/2009 9:34:50 PM

move away from black people

2/2/2009 9:54:59 PM

ok, this is not chit chat part 2. Your old school access is revoked.

2/3/2009 7:15:34 AM

Quote :

"at least 10 nights a week"

2/4/2009 11:02:15 AM

I was thinking of getting a really vicious dog.

2/4/2009 5:07:07 PM

^^ whoops... should read "at least 10 nights a month" you know

2/5/2009 9:44:30 AM

Quote :

"i have one. its connected though a cell connection so cutting a phone line won't solve the calling the cops problem. i have the glass break feature on my picture window & sliding glass downstairs and a panic button hidden within reach of my bed so if someone busted up in here while i was sleeping i could trigger my panic button and then figure out wtf the do next based on what the creeper is doing i like the panic button because its discrete, silent and it sends the cops. the last thing i want to be doing when im in a stressful situation is to find my cell phone, call 911 and explain what my emergency is and where i am located!"

NCSU Wolfy and others...how much was install, and how much is the monthly fee?

2/13/2009 9:33:27 AM

there is an option for you to put a strobe on the outside of the house when the alarm or silent mode is triggered.

2/13/2009 6:10:50 PM

I have one, my parents have one, my brother has one.

The install for my unit was only $100 or some nominal fee like that.
Monitoring is $15 a month and the fix anything that breaks for free (have had a couple sensors go bad).

One of the sensors going bad triggered a false alarm, and the police were here in under 5 minutes.
I got a call that my alarm was going off, drove home, and the police were already waiting.

I do have the stickers in most of my windows, and they do in fact act as a deterent.

2/21/2009 9:05:52 PM

CPI's been trying to charge me like $35/month for their system :/

2/24/2009 10:20:05 PM

Quote :

"NCSU Wolfy and others...how much was install, and how much is the monthly fee?"

not sure exactly how much i paid for the install.. the house already had a panel. i had the glass break, cell device and panic button installed/purchased-- i think this is a lot more than most would prob install

i think my monthly bill is $30?

i use ADT and im satisfied with them

2/24/2009 11:22:19 PM