Fox News: “How To Avoid A Home Invasion” — How About We Prepare Instead?

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO — Three armed burglaries in one weekend has placed residents in Colorado Springs on edge.  FOX 21 did an exclusive where reporter Macy Egeland spoke to Lt. Catherine Buckley at the Colorado Springs Police Department on tips to avoiding a home invasion before it even starts.  Overall, the tips included some very common sense approaches such as using a side window to observe who’s at the front door, never opening the door for an unexpected guest or stranger, and installing a security system so that you can observe directly who’s at your door.

All of these are great ideas.  However, what happens when “niceties” disappear and it’s straight home invasion?  Well, Lt. Buckley recommends complying with the demands of your attackers because it’s commonly thought that compliance will decrease likelihood of violence being inflicted.

Stop right there.  There is no guarantee about anything.  Once someone or a group are inside your home, there is no knowing their direct motive.  You can wait and automatically comply and hope it’s just simple burglary.  You can hope.  But there’s no way of knowing until the ordeal is through and by that time, you may have lived long enough to regret that decision.  Sometimes fighting, even when faced with superior numbers, is preferably to simply complying.  Your call, though.

Other notable suggestions include:

• Using dogs as a deterrant
• Escaping at first available opportunity
• Installing a camera system for monitoring

Again, there are a lot of really great thoughts that go into trying to prepare people to defend themselves in their homes.  Reality, it’s best to stay armed while you’re at home and be ready to effectively communicate with others living in your domicile.

If you are going to fight, charging out to greet the attackers is not nearly as sleuth as setting up a well-balanced, impromptu ambush where the odds are in your favor.  It’s actually a lot easier to defend ground than to take it.

With that, we’ll add another suggestion and say this: If the world of firearms and your world come together, having one in the home –and being trained to use it properly– is, on countless occasions, a a great way to be prepared in the face of danger.

It’s also a good idea to ensure your entire family (or those living with you under the same roof) know a basic “plan of action”.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does need to stop household residents from unwittingly falling prey to your attackers before any successful defense can be set up.