Home Invasions: How & Why They Happen

You double lock doors at night in an attempt to prevent a potential break-in and be able to go to bed, close your eyes, and actually sleep without feeling afraid. And that’s the way to do it apart from one thing. Burglaries don’t only happen at night. And then, are you sure your high security locks are resistant enough to protect you?

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to the prevention of break-ins and it’s often helpful to consider such matters from a different perspective. For instance, why home invasions happen and actually, happen often? And how do burglars break in?

Getting into the mind of a burglar and discover how they target homes and how they break in will help you get better protection for your home.

Home invasion facts

According to the formal data of Statistics Canada, it’s hard to exactly define the term home invasion since it’s broad but it mainly includes a break in that is often followed by some kind of confrontation with the homeowner.

Most burglars aim at breaking into homes when they believe they are empty or the homeowners are asleep. But they are often surprised as much as the homeowners. Although violence is not always involved, it’s highly likely.

Therefore, it’s fair to say that a home invasion for a homeowner is a traumatic experience – even if they are absent at the time of the incident – let alone when they come face to face with the burglar. And this experience doesn’t easily go away but creates a permanent feeling of unease and lack of safety in one’s private sphere.

Since most burglars want to break in, steal, and go as fast as possible without confronting the homeowner, they choose hours when most likely the family will be asleep or absent. That’s why most burglaries take place late at night or midday and when families are away from their home.

Why home invasions happen

While most break-ins occur by persons in search of valuables, some occur for different purposes – like settling scores with the homeowners. Some persons force their way into homes to find money and other valuables and if they don’t, they may wait for the homeowners to come back or wake them to assault and make them say where they hide jewelry, money, etc. While most force entries happen for cash, electronics, jewelry and other valuables, some search for drugs and so, seek medicine cabinets.

How burglars break into houses

• Many burglars search for unlocked doors and open windows at the ground floor or even the first floor, usually close to trees which they use as a ladder.
• A small percentage of culprits gets advantage of open garage doors or not well protected side and back doors.
• They may use all kinds of methods – prying, kicking, etc.
• They pose as salesman, pretend they help elderly with the groceries, ring the bell to ask for directions or information or seek assistance – anything to let you open the door for them.
• They also surf the internet seeking for opportunities, for people sharing information about their whereabouts, holidays, etc.
• They check the situation at your home. Does it seem that someone is inside? Is there mail in the mail box?

How do burglars target homes?

Apart from the opportunistic burglaries, culprits target either vulnerable homes or rich homes. As for the latter, they are harder to break in since they are usually better protected. But don’t underestimate the capacities and insistence of some burglars. In many cases, they keep track of the family’s movements, learn everything about their daily schedules and then, they hit. Vulnerable homes are those which lack good security systems and door locks, or those that remain unlocked for nearly the whole day.

Lessons learned here

• Never open the door to a stranger
• Invest in the best possible high security locks
• Install a safe, get a bigger mailbox so that nobody can see how much mail you’ve got. Invest in cabinet locks
• Have a locksmith run an audit around the house and see if there are easy to break-in entry points
• Keep windows and doors locked
• Get more than locks – additional security systems and renew them
• Enjoy social media but never share information about your personal life

Home invasions do happen and always leave some scars. Get the best protection you can – whether in the form of high security door locks or caution to whom you open the door to, and be safe.

The post Blog first appeared on FC Locksmith.