On today's installment of going down the rabbit hole let's talk about security. Now before some of you get all excited...... No we are not just going to be talking about guns..... Anyone ever get the idea I am trying to sort of avoid the whole 'gun thing' in my postings?
Again this is a subject we can go down the hole and get completely lost in. As in other subjects people have what they think is the most important part or the part you need to focus on the most. Remember, we are trying to cover as many issues as we can in our planning. This means we will try to put in a solid foundation and you can personalize your planning from this foundation.
This is a very wide subject to try and tackle on one posting. What do we focus on? Physical, cyber or any other type of security? Right now let's focus on the physical.
Why? Because if we are not physically secure the rest of it really does not matter.
Let's try and keep things easy here. Think of your physical security as concentric circles going outward from you. Each layer gives you depth to your security and defense in depth is a good thing. Take a look at your front door......... How does someone get to your front door? Do they start at the street, walk across a yard or sidewalk and end up at your door? Each point of this trip is somewhere you can take measures to increase your security. The further out your rings start the better it is for you and your loved ones.
If your neighborhood looks like this............
And full of folks like these...... we need to focus on you moving first of all!!!!
Be a good neighbor. Yes you have to be a good neighbor. We all have the one or two people who live by us who are 'that neighbor', if you do not know who they are guess what????? Get to know who lives around you. Maybe even get on friendly terms with some of your neighbors?
Of course this seems harder and harder each year, that is for a different post. Try to learn who is supposed to be in the area and who is not.
Just do not take this getting to know your neighbors to this point!!! This makes you 'That neighbor'. What this does is gives you the first ring in your security. We are not "friendly" with all of the neighborhood. Most folks come home, go inside and you do not see them again till they drive away again. We are on friendly terms with several of the neighbors. We wave, say 'hi' and on occasion have conversations with them for a few minutes. This paid off last Christmas when someone was going through one of our cars and the neighbor scared them off. The neighbor knows who is around our home and realized the person was not someone they had seen before.
Your circles start with where you live, community this is the outer ring for most of us. Coming one in is our neighborhood and the people who live around us. The next ring is the physical layout from the street to your door.
Hundreds of articles have been written on proper lighting to deter thieves but the easiest way to help a thief decide to go somewhere else is to take away their concealment. If they are going to break into your home not being seen from the street as they do it is a plus to the bad guys.
This diagram is a good place to start. You want to be able to see out of your home but also to allow people to see toward your home. This makes it hard for bad guys to sneak up on you and also let's the neighbors see them if they are at your door. Here is a good example. Nicely kept yard, allows you fields of view and allows others to see what is going on. Now can we all do this? No, each of our situations are different.
Maybe your next ring is a fence? The fence does not have to go all the way around your home. In some cases having a fence all the way around your property might help rather than hinder the bad guys.
Fencing like this is simply another obstacle for someone to have to get past but still allows you to see what is out there.
Even one as simple as this adds a layer to your circles.
A fence like this is good but keep in mind this also stops anyone from being able to see what is going on and you can not see past the fence either............. Maybe not something we want wrapped around our entire property or entry way?
With any of these layers, circles or rings of security you have to keep in mind a determined person will find a way through them. Even at the White House people have managed to get inside by hopping the fences. Each layer is first and foremost to deter the bad guys. Why pick the neighborhood you know people are watching, people who will say something or call the police? Why pick the house everyone can see you at? Why pick the home with the gate when the one next door doesn't have one?
If you need cement walls around your home with glass imbedded along the top or razorwire crowning the wall............ we need to talk! It might be time to move!!!!
Short of barricading your door, we need to make sure we have sturdy doors on the outside of our home. There is a difference between doors designed for the inside of your home and the outside. Outside doors are thicker and harder to just kick in. Ideally we would want a front door we can see out of and is locked with a deadbolt.
Even with the deadbolt we want to make sure and use metal reinforcements on the door and long screws to slow down someone's ability to just kick the door open.
Going back to thinking about someone walking up to your door, have you thought of anything which you could change to make concentric circles of security around your home? Go outside and take a good look at your home or apartment. Look at your home through the eyes of a 'bad guy'. Where would they sneak in at? What do they have to get over, around or through to get to your front door? Anything else you add brings another layer to your physical security. All of which hopefully will encourage someone to look elsewhere for easy pickings.
The home security system let's you know someone is trying to get in or has gotten in. The sign out front of your home might be enough to have someone look elsewhere.
Security cameras can also discourage people and are great for having evidence of what happen after the fact.
Motion lights coming on take the darkness and the ability to go unseen away.
Even ankle sharks can send 'bad guys' away when they get to yapping. Remember the bad guys do not anyone to know they are there and anything which can cause them to get caught might deter them in the first place.
If we go back to the scenario we were working with for this planning session..... Something has happened, your family has made it home safely and you have decided to stay home. Of all the things you can count on to work during a bad situation, the physical layout of your home and Fiddo might be the only things working. Law Enforcement might be overwhelmed and the power might be out. For most of us this takes away the things we normally count on as parts of our rings for security. Layer your planning, have some depth to your defenses and remember a determined opponent will get past any passive obstacle you might put in their way.
Ok this trip down the rabbit hole is getting long....... Let's back out for awhile and I will let you stop thinking about a bad day. Go back to your regularly scheduled day and have some fun!!!
Just make sure you can really sing before you run outside and annoy the neighbors!!!
As Always,
Stay Safe!
