Home Invaders Face The Death Penalty

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There is no shortage of news reports clear across the country on home invasions. States like New Hampshire are responding by including home invasion as a qualifier for the death penalty.

Couple pistol-whipped during Tulsa home invasion

Oklahoma: “A husband and wife were pistol-whipped early Saturday during a home invasion robbery. Three males in their teens wearing masks and gloves broke into the home at about 1 a.m. and demanded money. “When the victims told them they did not have any money, they were pistol whipped.” The robbers left with a big-screen television, a cell phone and cash.”

LI couple victims of terrifying home invasion

New York: “A Long Island family was the victim of a terrifying home invasion, which had echoes of the horrific Connecticut home invasion-turned-triple murder. Two intruders, one carrying a gun, forced their way into the family’s home. The couple was bound and blindfolded with tape.”

Man killed in phoenix home invasion

Arizona: “A man has been killed in a Phoenix home invasion. When officers arrived, they found a man, in his 30s, dead inside the home from an apparent gunshot wound. His mother and nephew were also in the home but were not hurt. An unknown man forced his way into the home and shot the victim while inside. He then fled the neighborhood in a vehicle.”

Home invasion bill expands death penalty

New Hampshire: “A bill that would expand the state’s death penalty to include individuals convicted of “heinous” crimes like the 2009 home invasion that left a mother, 42, dead and her daughter severely injured.”The governor has always been supportive of the death penalty in particularly heinous crimes.”The governor feels people have a right to feel safe in their own homes, and expanding the death penalty bill to apply to these cases could act as a deterrent.”

Regardless of the politics of this issue, I’ve never felt a “penalty” or the law is a deterrent against a crime of violence. Violent crimes are committed because the perpetrators are mentally ill or predators by nature. Consequence is of little concern to these types. A deterrent is a home security system, signage and home security cameras.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing home invasions on the Gordon Elliot Show.

Reducing The Devastation Of A House Fire

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If a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it, does it make a sound? Of course it does. If your smoke detectors go off and you’re not home will your house burn down? Maybe.

Houses burn down when a fire apparatus doesn’t get to the home soon enough to put the fire out.

The most important aspect of any fire is protecting life and limb. The stuff inside and the structure itself doesn’t matter when it comes to human life. But when people lose all their stuff in a fire, it is still very hard, and to some, devastating.

If you lose all your mementos, clothes, photos and all the items that make life comfortable, it can take 1-2 years or more to adjust and get back on your feet.

Fortunately, today’s home security systems can also be equipped with fire alarms that prompt a dispatcher to call the fire department ASAP.

Messenger Post reports “Carol Miller, an emergency dispatch operator at ADT’s Henrietta facility, was notified that the fire alarm in a customer’s home had been activated. She immediately called the local fire department, which responded to the fire and was able to contain the damage to the kitchen.”

The homeowner was quoted saying “I don’t see how they could have done a better job because Carol Miller and the dispatchers saved everything,” “My life as I know it would have been completely done… I can’t wrap my mind around what would have happened. My whole house would’ve burned down.”

Burglars steal your stuff in small increments. They go after high value electronics or jewelry. Fire steals everything including lives. Consider a home security system that incorporates smoke detectors that alert a dispatcher, thereby increasing fire apparatus response time.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing Home Security on NBC Boston.

Cape Coral, Florida Citizens Credited For Crime Drop

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In Cape Coral Florida, WZVN reports “Statistics in Cape Coral Florida show a major decrease in crime for 2010 and police say the biggest drop was in burglaries. They also say the citizens of Cape Coral played a big part in the crime rate reduction. “

That it is music to my ears.

“Newly released numbers from 2010 show that property crimes are down in Cape Coral and burglary is down 14-percent. And according to the police department’s own stats, burglary isn’t the only crime that’s shown a decrease. In 2009, there were just over 7,000 reported crimes in all. In 2010 there were just over 6,100 – an 11-percent decrease.”

The police department credits the citizens of Cape Coral for part of the decline because more neighbors are looking out for each other.

We know homes with security alarms and home security cameras are certainly more secure than homes that aren’t properly equipped. But, what good is all the security in the world if the neighborhood you live in is a combat zone? Quality of life suffers while you are in your fortress. But there are comprehensive solutions to a safer and more secure community. One of the most effective strategies available to any community is a neighborhood watch.

A neighborhood watch (also called a crime watch or neighborhood crime watch) is an organized group of citizens devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood. In the United States, it builds on the concept of a town watch from Colonial America.

A neighborhood watch may be organized as its own group or may simply be a function of a neighborhood association or other community association.

Neighborhood watches are not vigilante organizations. When suspecting criminal activities, members are encouraged to contact authorities and not to intervene.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston.

Stolen Laptop Contained Prostate Cancer Research Data

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News9 in Oklahoma reports “An Oklahoma couple is urging thieves to return a stolen computer they say has the power to save millions of lives. The couple stopped at Panera to grab a meal before heading back to the lab. When they finished, they found their car windows broken and the laptop gone. Unfortunately, most of the data was never backed up, a mistake Shin said could be a major setback in the fight against cancer.”

OMG!!! Frankly, sometimes it is the smartest people that lack the most common sense!!!

In 2003, an estimated 1.5 million laptops were stolen worldwide. Today, that number has climbed to 2.6 million. That’s a 70% increase in just a few years. That’s one stolen laptop every 12 seconds.

Protecting a laptop from theft begins with backup up the data on it. While backing up data isn’t protecting the laptop from theft, but in the end, that is really all that matters. Laptops today are as little as $300.00 and the data on it could be worth millions. And in this case, it is worth lives.

I use a laptop and there isn’t any data on it other than movies. The laptop is used to access my PC where my data is stored and backed up.

Either way for $5.00 a month you can get unlimited backup that syncs your data in the cloud. In addition, backup your data on local drives. I use the Western Digital MyBook drives and have all my data backed up twice and automatically synced with Goodsync.

My data isn’t cancer research, but if I lost all of it, I’d want to die.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing self defense on Fox Boston.

Is It A Home Invasion Or A Burglary?

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There has been lots of media attention on home invasions due to their frequency and the brutality that accompanies them.

A home invasion is much like a bank robbery when the robbers use force to get what they want. Robbery as defined in Wikipedia is the crime of seizing property through violence or intimidation. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear. Robbery differs from simple theft, a break-in or burglary on its use of violence and intimidation.

Burglary on the other hand generally involves criminals who prefer the home is without occupants. They may impulsively enter a neighborhood and seek out homes that are dark, no car in the driveway, mail piled up and the doors and windows are left unsecured.

Often they will case a certain home and determine the specifics of when the resident is gone. Often they will make an effort to get a phone number of the home by getting the family name from a placard on the side of the house or from information in the mailbox.

In both situations proper security can reduce risk. In my home the home security system is always on. This means whether home or not, any unlawful intrusion is met with a piecing alarm and an automatic call to the police.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing  home invasions on the Gordon Elliot Show.

Planning To Travel Safely And Securely

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Whenever you travel, “know before you go”.

“When you travel abroad, the odds are you will have a safe and incident-free trip. Travelers can, however, become victims of crime and violence, or experience unexpected difficulties. No one is better able to tell you this than the U.S. consular officers who work in more than 250 U.S. embassies and consulates around the globe. Every day of the year, U.S. embassies and consulates receive calls from American citizens in distress.”

I like Mexico. But Mexico has made the news over and over due to their “Narco Wars”. 10’s of thousands have been murdered and kidnapped in many of the border towns all the way down to Acapulco. So where do I vacation? Mexico. It’s an easy trip, its economically smart, it’s usually warm and sunny, the food’s good, the people are great, and there’s always a good story to tell. I do my homework and understand where the risks are and aren’t.

Despite the Travel Warning from U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs, I recently planned a trip to Acapulco. Specifically, Acapulco isn’t considered a high risk destination for Americans; the issues are primarily with Mexican on Mexican violence. And then an email alert came in “27 deaths, including 14 decapitated, rock Acapulco” “The image of this beach mecca has taken a new hit from Mexico’s drug violence, with 27 people killed in less than a day, including 14 men whose bodies were found with their heads chopped off at a shopping center.”

In a panic, I canceled that trip. Thank you for being so cool Delta Airlines! I didn’t cancel because of the threat of being decapitated; I canceled because the “energy” and thought of pure evil within an eyeshot would simply take the fun out of a vacation.

#1 Always visit Bureau of Consular Affairs at Travel.State.Gov. This is one of the best sites on the Internet for travel security awareness.

#2 Register with the US Embassy or Consulate and inform them and relatives of your exact travel plans. If your destination becomes unstable, the embassy will make you aware of the current climate. Know your options for medical care.

#3 Get your shots, including Hepatitis A and B and Tetanus/diphtheria vaccinations. Malaria and other intestinal virus can ruin a trip or even kill you.

#4 Get medical travel insurance. This doesn’t need to be complicated. Call your existing insurance company and see what your options are.

#5 Get trip insurance. With travel being so crazy hectic, manmade and natural disasters and people lives so complicated, there is a good chance you will need to cancel your trip.

#6 Ensure peace of mind when you travel with a home security system that you can monitor remotely.

Video is available through ADT Pulse which provides customers with anywhere, anytime access to their home via smart phones or personal computers, including an iPhone application to:

• Arm and disarm their home security system.

• Get notified of alarms and selected events via email and text messages as well as video clips.

• View their home through cameras and watch secure real-time video or stored video clips of events from monitored areas of the home.

• Access lights and appliances or set schedules to automate them.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing  Home Security on NBC Boston.

Craigslist Scams Are A Persistent Threat

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Craigslist is a staple of my internet experience, even though I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love it because lots of people use it faithfully and the deals and the ability to recycle opposed to buy new or throw away. I hate it because people who use it are often unreliable and the persistent security issues.

There are no shortage of scammers and low life thugs who use Craigslist as a platform to dupe and hurt people. Just this week in Boston, Fox News reports “Mother and son used Craigslist to scam people into renting fake apartment”

“Police say a mother and son scammed people out of $4,000 by trying to rent out an apartment that was not theirs. Police believe they took out a Craigslist ad and took deposits for an apartment they were living in for a short time.  Medford police say they have received at least 4 reports from people saying they fell for the scam.  It was not until the first victim’s moving truck arrived that the scam was realized.”

In the same week Bob Sullivan from MSNBC reports “Craigslist ‘robberies by appointment’ turn violent”

“The sleepy suburban neighborhood in Bogota, N.J., looked safe when Michael pulled up to meet the man who had offered to buy his MacBook after seeing an ad on Craigslist. And everything seemed perfectly normal when the buyer walked up to his car and began counting out cash. But then a second man appeared seemingly out of nowhere and shoved a shotgun in Michael’s face.”

Craigslist should be used with caution. People have been robbed, burglarized, scammed and in some cases their homes were invaded and some people have been killed. With Craigslist, be very careful who you contact and who contacts you. You never know who the person is or what their motivation may be.

ID pre meeting. Get their name and cell phone number ahead of time. And call them back to verify. Tell them your brother the cop will be there so they shouldn’t be alarmed when they pull up and see a police cruiser.

Never meet in private. Meet at a public location that involves lots of other people. The more eyeballs the better.

Trust your gut, and don’t discount any troubling feelings you might have about your meeting. If anything seems wrong, then it IS wrong. Cancel if necessary.

Enlist a friend whenever possible. There is strength in numbers. Predators thrive on isolation. By paring up, you reduce the chances of being attacked.

Look street smart. Don’t wear expensive jewelry or provocative clothes. Scarves and loose fitting clothing give attackers something to grab. Wear shoes you can run and kick in

Unaware creates risk. Unfortunately there is risk in meeting someone you don’t know.  Being guarded can keep you from getting into a vulnerable situation.

Stay in communication. Make it known to your spouse or a friend where you are going and when you will be back. Have them on your cell phone while you are meeting.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing  scammers and thieves on The Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch

The Decades Top 6 Stupid Criminals

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The decade was filled with stupid criminals.  Here is a list of the top six stupid criminals.

Lawn Mower Getaway: AOL reports Sheriff’s deputies in Florida were searching a house for stolen property when they got a tip that one of the suspects was trying to make his escape nearby, according to TampaBay.com. Officers reportedly found him not far from his home attempting to flee on a ride-on mower.

Black Marker Burglars: The key to a successful robbery is not getting caught. These two clowns decided to use permanent marker as makeup.

I’ve Been Looking For That! Guy gets pulled over for a minor traffic violation and cops find pot in the car. Also in the trunk, cops discovered a bong inside a plastic shopping bag. Excited, the criminal thanked law enforcement officials for finding the water pipe, which he purchased for $150 and assumed a roommate, had stolen when he couldn’t find it.

MySpace Burglar: Kid breaks into a home and logs into the family’s home PC to his MySpace page. When he realized he was seen in the home he fled, forgetting to LOG OUT!!!!!!!!!

Stupid Facebook Status: Thief siphons $200,000 from a bank. Lives it up in Mexico, brags all day on Facebook, friends a Department of Justice Official, now he is rotting in a Mexican jail That’s dumb.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston.

Home Invasion Victim Shot With His Own Gun

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Years ago, I appeared on the Maury Povich show to discuss weaponry. The producers called me to discuss a show they had in mind where the shows subjects were those facing jail time or in jail because they killed their attackers.

In each case, it was their word against a dead mans. Some of the subjects were victims of domestic violence where others were victims of home invasions or stalking. The producers asked me what the subjects could have done differently so they wouldn’t be facing jail time. My response was “use non-lethal weapons” opposed to lethal such as guns or knives.

While I believed this was (and still is) a sensible alternative, I was booed and ridiculed. Even Maury thought my suggestion was poor. I further suggested placing non-lethal weapons like pepper spray strategically throughout the home as a layer of defense. Again, I was ridiculed. It’s not that I’m anti-gun, it was, and is an alternative. Another option.

I know that you don’t bring a knife to a gunfight. I understand non-lethal doesn’t always work. I get that people love their guns. I also know that when you kill someone it’s your word against a dead mans and facing life in prison is an option even when you shoot and kill an intruder in your own home.

Plus, there is always the chance that the same weapon can be used against you.

The New York Times reports that a “New York man suffered a bullet wound to his leg after being shot with his own gun during a struggle with an intruder when a man entered his home through an unlocked door around 9:30 a.m. The homeowner grabbed a .22-caliber rifle and confronted the intruder. Police say the two men got into a struggle, during which the gun went off, striking the homeowner in the lower leg. The intruder stole property from the home and fled.”

Call me crazy, but first, have a home security system that helps prevent the home invader from getting in. And while I’m sure there are plenty of stories that involve the homeowner shooting a killing the home invader, there are as many where the homeowner was shot with his own gun. What do you think?

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing Home Invasions on Maury Povich.

10 Tips to Post Holiday Home Security

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For Christmas, one of my neighbors got a 60 inch LCD screen TV. I saw the same TV at Costco for $2000.00. Another neighbor got a Mac Book Pro. I saw this online for $2000.00. Another neighbor got a Nikon Digital SLR camera, and I saw this at Amazon for almost $900.00. These are neighbors I’ve never spoken to, ever. I know this because the boxes were prominently displayed in their trash like trophies one would put on a mantel in their living room.

Trash day is coming and burglars may case your neighborhood looking for boxes where electronics such as computers, flat panel TVs, game consoles and other re-saleable items are. Then, while you are at work, they just break into your home and take it.

It’s pretty obvious whose home and who is not when the lights are off or there is no car in the driveway. All a burglar has to do is ring a door bell to see of you are actually home. If no one answers they jiggle the door knob to see if it’s locked or not.  If it’s locked they will head to the back door and jiggle that.

Many times they will walk right in because people are often irresponsible and leave the doors unlocked because they believe “it can’t happen to me”. If the doors are locked they may try a few street level or basement windows. Brazen burglars will not waste any time and may break glass or use a crowbar and forcibly enter the residence.

For post holiday security, use these home security suggestions:

  1. Lock your doors and windows
  2. Install a monitored alarm system. Consider ADT Pulse.
  3. Give your home that lived in look
  4. Leave the TV on LOUD while you are gone
  5. Install timers on your lights both indoor and outdoor
  6. Close the shades to prevent peeping inside
  7. Use defensive signage
  8. Store item boxes for at least 90 days because if you have a defective product you will need the box for a return
  9. After 90 days tear up the box so it’s undistinguishable then recycle or put it in a black trash bag
  10. Update your home inventory. This is a good time to catalog/document/video tape what you own. Contact your insurer to discuss what they need to properly insure your new gifts.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston.