It could also work the other way--punks see workmen and then move in when no one is home.

I was just reading a really sad news story yesterday about some Habitat for Humanity homes being built in San Francisco. Took a year for volunteers to build these seven homes (in a cluster, I assume). The first tenant was supposed to move in in a week. But someone just came in and stole all the new appliances from all seven homes! Man, that's low!

I respectively request that if you (the generic “you all”) do not have a dog, please do not place one of these stickers on your window/door. While it is “standard practice” not to risk a human life for an animal, I can say that most, if not all Firefighters will make the extra effort to enter and search a burning building/home to rescue someone’s pet. Please do not endanger a Firefighter by placing a fictitious “Pet Rescue” sticker just to increase home security. While the same could be said for “fake” bowls, toys, etc. the “Rescue My Dog” sticker is crossing the line in my opinion.

Pete

Good point Pete, I actually have two cats and two dogs and that is on stickers on my windows.

Cops have training, well most don't really have that much, but they do have insurance and a very nice health plan if injured or killed on the job.

Their ability to have backup on hand, flood a neighborhood with patrol cars, and get help if it goes south covers a lot of sins. It is pretty amazing how many police, sheriffs, highway patrol, military police, you name it, can show up on a 'shots fired', 'officer need assistance', 'officer down' call.

In one case officers from no less than five agencies showed up. Inside of ten minutes they had a small army. Kind of a letdown when the guy walked out and laid down on the ground and all those pretty guns got put away unfired.

Wearing body armor also helps.

My biggest worry clearing the house would be a lack of backup, criminals can get very creative under pressure and hide in places you might not have considered, and, because you never know when cops will show up, what happens if cops come in while you're slicing the pie. Cop sees an armed man sighting down a gun taking aim at a friend and ...

A cop who doesn't make his intentions clear, or a command you didn't hear, a frightened and jumpy rookie who gets the 'order to drop gun' and 'shoot at center of mass of non-compliant suspect holding gun' backwards.

A neighbor, or concerned workman, reports 'a burglar with a gun just went in' lines up poorly with you walking out with a gun and things can go sideways fast.

Easiest way to make a doorway more secure, from B&E and hurricane, is to rearrange the door so it opens out. Hinges will need non-removable pins and/or hinge plates that mate. Replacing the door with a commercial duty metal one is good but simply skinning both sides with plywood and/or sheet metal can make all but bombproof.

Taking the door frame out, planing the framing a quarter inch and installing 3-1/4" by 1/4" aluminum plates top to bottom with 3" screws 6" OC spreads impact loads and gives mounting screws a solid grip. The Door frame is reinstalled with 3" screws by pre-drilling into the aluminum. Latches and deadbolts have holes drilled through the aluminum. Between the stops and aluminum you have a door that can't be kicked or pried open. Even a battering ram takes time to get through because they have to break the structural framing to defeat it.

Windows get high impact film and/or Plexiglas screwed to the casing. Bars are cheap and effective. Cactus and thorn bush plantings under windows can do a lot to discourage intruders.

With all this just make sure that you have a way out, and some way for emergency services to get in, in case of fire or other emergency.

Be clear on this: I wasn't advocating fake fireman stickers.

I just appreciate the side effect of my legitimate fireman stickers.

People who have dogs or other pets should display the stickers.

It is off-topic, but I'm curious. Is it possible to put information on-file with the fire department about things like this?

I'm assuming not, but it seems like it could be useful.

I wonder if attaching a waterproofed binder to the outside of the house labeled "EMERGENCY" or something like that would be useful. I could imagine including # and names of residents (including pets), emergency contact info, any serious medical conditions of residents, that kind of thing. I imagine you could use a small padlock that they could just snip off.

I know this is kind of stupid question, but it seems that the police/fire department don't have emergency contact#s for a residence? At least I can't think of anywhere I've put something on file that they could access?

Hmm.

-john

I spent the last couple years selling and installing security systems (back in college now). I've done hundreds of houses, probably 3/4 of those had been broken into. I have a few thoughts to share with you.

First, thieves don't pick door locks, thats TV. It takes more time and skill than its worth, a crowbar is faster and easier, so don't spend your time worrying about commercial "pick proof" locks. The only reason to pick a lock to is to be able to leave a scene without people knowing you were there, which doesn't matter in a home robbery.
Second, while stronger doors and laminated windows are nice, they are ultimately not terribly effective (especially considering the price you would spend to do this to your whole house). Laminated glass can still be broken easily, and you only need a hole big enough to get your hand through to unlock the window. There were a couple houses that I went to where the thief took a high-lift jack and put it horizontally in the door frame, breaking the frame like match sticks, and spreading the pieces far enough apart to swing the door open.
The best thing you can do is get an alarm system, and don't be cheap. If you can get the alarm to go off before they get into the house, they usually run off. Throwing a couple of door sensors and a motion or two won't do that. Look into shock sensors for doors/windows (them kicking one of your non-entry doors would have set the alarm off before they ever go into the house). Still have a motion or two anyways.
As for having it monitored, honestly, its not that effective in catching criminals. Police take time to respond, especially to alarm calls, simply because they spend so much time going to false alarms. If you do get it monitored, get a cellular uplink unit, and have it as your system's primary communication. Any thief worth anything knows to go and cut the phone lines before he tries to break in, and if you don't have a cell unit, you are paying for monitoring on a system that probably won't be dialing out. The best reason in my mind for having a monitored system, is because it can save you on insurance, and you can get smoke detectors monitored.
Get alarm system stickers regardless, many thieves will turn away just to avoid dealing with a system. And put stuff you care about in a LARGE gun safe, preferably bolted to the floor from the inside.

My local fire department maintains a database of important information by address.

They welcome information that is pertinent to their role in rescue and firefighting. The presence of animals and individuals who may need help getting out is included. Also the presence of hazardous materials, large amounts of oxygen, flammable solvents, ammunition, and other special information. Issues like a person using a power-dependent respirator are noted so they don't pull the power meter before they make sure the person is taken care of.

This sort of information is supposed to pop up when the address is typed in by the dispatcher and show up on the linked computer in the fire truck.

This sort of information is usually voluntarily reported to the fire department or emergency services by the residents. If you have such information I would contact the FD or emergency services administration for your area.

Speedemon, the alarm system was older, came with the house. Will be upgraded. Was monitored, but after an event where the cats set off the alarm, and if a call was made, no one answered so the police should have been sent - and weren't, we stopped that. Makes sense to me tho, either the alarm will scare them or won't.

And no fake save our pets sticker, the one there is real. But the new fake dog will take up residence this week, via bowls and a chew toy.

A good thing to come from this is some of the neighbors are gonna get together and create our own lil crime watch. As there are only 9 houses on this street, and it's a cul-de-sac, it will be little. Still, most of us have military experience in the Airborne, so t'will will be exciting.

More and more I am thinking it was the workmen from across the street. Not sneaker prints on the door, but work boots.

And come Monday, my truck goes in the garage while DW is at work. Let's see a repeat.

I came to a similar conclusion myself and eventually cancelled my monitoring service. The police probably came quickly in this case because he actually called himself and said, "Hey, my door is busted down!" On the other hand, if the dispatcher gets a call from XYZ Home Security to report an alarm, that's a lower priority call.

The thing that I didn't understand for a long time was why my alarm company wanted my neighbor's number. Apparently, "false signals" (i.e. the monitoring service has indication of an alarm but your alarm is not even triggered) is a big problem, too. So, at least if your service can confirm with you or your neighbor that your alarm is indeed going off, that might bump up the priority of your call with the local police dispatcher. At least that's what I've read online somewhere.