Home Security Defense Strategy: How to Prepare for an Intruder

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Home Security Defense Strategy: How to Prepare for an Intruder

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    Your home is your safe space. You make memories and spend time with family there. It’s where you lay your head down at night to rest. You should be able to associate your home with safety and comfort. The last thing you want to think about is someone invading your home. 

    If you’re looking for ways to be prepared in case of a break-in, a great place to start is a home security defense strategy, also known as “hardening” your home.

    Looking at the Data for Crimes Against Property in the U.S.

    Fortunately, crimes against property are down in America. According to the Pew Research Center, property crime rates fell 55% between 1993 and 2019. We could point to potential reasons for falling property crime rates, like increased home security and more advanced law enforcement technology. However, there aren’t any exact causes of these lower rates.

    However, theft of personal property still happens. In 2019 there were an estimated 6.9 million reports of property victimization in the United States. While there isn’t a sure way to stop an intruder, there are a few tactics you can use to protect your home better and defend your family. Keep reading to learn more about how to develop your home defense strategy and avoid theft of your personal property.

    When do Property Crimes Occur?

    You and your family’s presence is the most significant deterrent to intruders Burglars and thieves generally go for homes that appear to be unoccupied, which is why most home burglaries occur between 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. This is when people are at work or school, making their homes vulnerable to intruders. 

    While these statistics may ease your worry of harm, it’s understandable to want to have some form or plan to keep yourself and your family safe. 

    Considerations Before making a Home Security Defense Plan

    When creating a home defense plan, you need a strong understanding of your priorities: getting yourself and your family to safety. It isn’t your job to take down the bad guy or defend your turf. Your responsibility is to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

    If you have a firearm that you use for home defense, it should be your last line of defense once all other efforts have failed. Even if you are a licensed concealed firearm carrier or have additional personal defense training, your first goal should be to get your family to a safe area.

    Preventing House Burglary and Hardening Your Home against Intruders

    The best place to start with a home defense strategy is the barrier around your home. Here are five ways you can develop an early warning system and make your home less desirable for trespassers: 

    Develop an Early Warning System

    1. Get to know your neighbors.

    Thankfully, asking your neighbor to keep an eye on your home while you’re away is always free. Most likely, your neighbor will want the area you both live in to be as safe as possible too.

    You may live in a space that participates in a neighborhood watch program, which is an organized volunteer base that reports suspicious activity. Remember, if you ask your neighbors to look after your home, you need to be ready to return the favor.

    2. Add motion detector lights to your front and back porch. 

    Motion sensor flood lights can add a layer of security to a home that can give the illusion that you’ve turned on the lights. While they don’t physically stop intruders, they can take away the cover of darkness, which may be enough to make them look elsewhere.

    Purchasing motion sensor flood lights for the front of your home is an easy and affordable first step to take as you develop an early warning system for your home defense setup.

      Enhanced Early Warning System Options

      3. Install a steel security door and keypad lock.

      A decorative steel security door with a keypad door lock can add a layer of security to your home by making it harder to break in through your front door.

      Having both a keypad door lock and a steel door could impede the speed by which future intruders are able to break in or completely deter them altogether, thus enhancing your early warning system’s effectiveness and helping you and your family stay safe.

      4. Install a wireless security system in your home.

      Smart wireless security technology makes it easier than ever to get an affordable security system that can help you be more alert of intruders. Many of these systems include getting set up with home security cameras or night vision cameras and connect directly to your smartphone, giving you access to what is happening in your house. 

      5. Use a traditional alarm system.

      Alarms can help deter burglars as well, such as simple and easy-to-install window security film. This type of alarm system can help provide security against home burglary if you have concerns about window accessibility and security.

      In one survey of individuals convicted of burglary, 60 percent of respondents said they would look for an alarm and move on if one was present.

        How to Create Your Home Security Defense Plan

        A home security defense plan is vital once the external security measures have failed and someone is in the house. An essential part of creating a plan is communication between family members. Everyone needs to know their role when a bad guy is in the house. Explain the plan just like you would a natural disaster plan. Here are some keys to establishing your safety plan:

        • Create established paths for everyone to take out of the house and to a safe room.
          Having set paths for everyone to take in case of an emergency is a smart first step to creating a defense plan. You want to either get everyone out of the house or to a safe room. Create a map of the house and draw routes or do a walkthrough of the routes if that helps.
        • Establish everyone’s roles.
          Make sure everyone knows what they need to do and what their responsibilities are in a break-in.
        • Contact emergency services. It’s essential to call 911 or use an emergency text service as soon as possible to alert authorities of the situation.
        • Be able to secure your safe room door.
          While an interior door isn’t as sturdy as your exterior door, securing your safe room door can give you some breathing room and emergency services as much time as possible to stop the intruder. Use bookshelves, chests, boxes or anything else that can slow down an intruder.
        • Decentralize your gun storage with secure methods and prepare your firearm to stop the intruder.
          Once all other lines of defense have fallen. You have to be ready to stop the intruder from harming yourself or your family. A decentralized firearm storage method will help make sure you have a firearm in your safe room and will make it more difficult for the intruder to locate guns in your home.

        Once you have a plan in place, practice it. Even if you practice once or twice a year, it will give everyone some hands-on learning.

        If you need a storage option to have your firearm ready at a moment’s notice, check out our selection of concealment wall art and concealment flags. Have a question about our products? Fill out a contact form to get in touch with a team member today.

        For more information on what type of gun you should use for home defense, check out our blog on the best firearms for home defense.

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        Hanging instructions for the Patriot Wall Shelf

        Factors to consider befor you start

        Installing a Patriot wall shelf can be a very simple project but there are several factors that you need to understand. our shelves have been designed to work with standard pine 2X4 construction that was 16" on center. Because they were designed around the 16" on center pine 2X4 framed walls that is the process for our instructions. Installing the shelves on amy other type of wall is done at your risk. Liberty Home Concealment does not advise you to attempt installing your shelf onto amy other type of wall.

        Understanding what is beneath your walls

        Anytime you are doing work or attaching something to a wall it is wise to have a solid grasp of what lies beneath the surface of your walls. If you are not comfortable with the task of hanging a shelf on your wall perhaps it would be wise to hire a licensed, bonded, and insured contractor to install the shelf on the wall for you. There are many factors that you should consider prior to beginning yur shelf installation. SAFETY is the first and top priority.

        Safety First

        As a consurmer of Liberty Home Concealment, it is a safe assumption that you are a gun owner. Liberty Home Concealment sincerely hopes that you have a great grasp of the concept of SAFETY FIRST. The installation of our shelves requires several steps and we highly recommend that you have a friend help you with the installation. This is very important as the size and moving parts of the shelves can make the installation very cumbersome and potentially dangerous for a single person to accomplish by themselves. So please, we urge you to get some help. Secondly, proper tools that are in good serviceable condition are a must. Please use your tools in a manner consistent with the manufacturers intended use. Using proper tools can make the installation quick, simple and enjoyable. But most importantly, SAFE. So, save yourself the trouble and use the proper tools.

        CAUTION!!

        Failure to follow and comply with these instructions could result in INJURY and even DEATH!

        Tools that should be considered for a safe proper installation

        Stud finder, Tape measure, Pencil, Level, Electric screw driver, and Safety glasses.

        Step 1

        Confirm your desired wall has adequate support by finding the studs with the stud finder. Also, remove the foam insert until later instruction. Mark your stud locations and transfer those measurement onto your shelf. Drill pilot holes through shelf in marked locations. We recommend using a 1/8" or 3/16" bit for the pilot hole. A hole too big will allow the screw to pull right through the back of the shelf. That would be bad. And unnecessary. Please use the proper drill bit. Depending on your wall you should be able to locate at least two studs to anchor your shelf into for maximum strength. Some walls may even allow for three studs to be anchored into. The shelf MUST use at LEAST (2) pine 2X4 studs and the shelf bracket's to fully support the finished loaded weight.

        Step 2

        With the help of a friend, and using a level and your original measurements hold the shelf in its desired location and transfer the pilot hole locations to the wall. You should be using a minimum of two studs for this step. Each stud receiving (3) screw locations. Two internally, and the other two in the brackets on top. For now, only focus on marking the internal locations. Mark the four internal screw holes. Make sure to hold your shelf nice and level for this step or yur final installation will be crooked.

        Step 3

        With the help of a friend, hold the shelf into its' mounting location. Line up the holes in the shelf with the marks in your wall and your wall anchors, and install the six long wood screws into the wall. Four into two different studs, and two into the wall anchors.

        Step 4

        Installing the shelf brackets to the TOP of your shelf. At this point your shelf is attatched to the wall but it is not ready for any weight. Please DO NOT ADD ANY WEIGHT until you have firmly mounted and anchored your brackets into the top. Have your friend help you support the weight of the shelf until you can get the brackets tightly mounted to the desired location on your wall studs. Again, use two studs. Do not add weight to your shelf either inside, or on top, until both brackets are fully installed. Using the supplied 3/4" screws attach brackets to the top of the shelf and 2 of the longer screws for the stud attachment.

        Step 5

        Unlocking your shelf. Use your magnetic key to locate and unlock the bottom of the shelf. Do this while the shelf is open so you can see what is going on. You may even want ot make two small marks on the bottom of the shelf if it helps you to locate the pickup. It will take a little practice to find the location of the magnetic pick up but you will find it. Make sure you aren't inadvertently trying to unlock the gas damper. Once the location of the lock pickup is located, the magnet will hold itself in place. However, the shelf will not fully disengage the locks until you release the pressure on the locks by lifting the shelf slightly upward with a simple squeeze of your hands. Once you hear the audible clicks of the locks disengaging you can slowly open the shelf allowing the gas damper to lower the shelf to its resting stop.

        Concealment Picture Frame Installation Instructions

        Consider What is Beneath Your Walls

        Anytime you are doing work or attaching something to a wall it is wise to have a solid grasp of what lies beneath the surface of your walls. If you are not comfortable with the task of cutting a hole in a wall perhaps it would be wise to hire a licensed, bonded, and insured contractor to install this item in the wall for you. There are many factors that you should consider prior to beginning your shelf installation. SAFETY is the first and top priority. CAUTION!! Failure to follow and comply with these instructions could result in INJURY or even DEATH!!

        Recommended Tools

        These tools are not required to install your Liberty Home Concealment picture freame however they will help with the installation process. Stud Finder, tape measure, level, pencil, jigsaw, circular saw, keyhole saw, Sawzall, drill/driver, inspection mirror, flashlight and a second set of hands to help with marking your wall before cutting. These products were designed to work with "standard" 2X4 construction that was framed on 16" centers.

        Step 1

        Acquire all the tools to complete the job. Do not forget about proper personal protective gear.

        Step 2

        Confirm that your wall space is empty!! Failure to do so could result in serious injury or even death!

        Step 3

        Clean your work area around your desired install location. Cover any furniture with a tarp, drop cloth, or painter's plastic to aid in quick easy cleanup.

        Step 4

        Use a stud finder to locate the space between two studs. Confirm that you have 14.5" between the two stud edges before marking and cutting your walls.

        Step 5

        The back box of your picture frame is the size you need to make your hole. Hold picture frame tight against the wall and use your level to ensure frame is sitting level against the wall. On smaller sized picture frames such as 5"X7" and 8"X10" you will fasten to both studs. While holding the picture frame tight against the wall while checking for level and trace around the outside perimeter of the picture frames back box.

        Step 6

        Before cutting the entire wall opening Liberty Home Concealment recommends that you cut a small hole within the area that wil become the full-size hole. This is done to check and confirm your wall is truly clear of obstructions inside the wall such as electrical wiring plumbing. It's much easier to patch a small hole vs repairing a large hole because you got ahead of yourself. Do not skip this step!!

        Step 7

        Once you are sure that there are no obstacles inside your cut area, cut the full rectangle that you have marked previously. Remove drywall cutout away from the wall.

        Step 8

        Slide your new insert/picture frame into the hole you just cut.

        Step 9

        Use the supplied screws to fasten to the stud or studs that run up the sides of the rear of the box. On smaller frames box will only fasten to the stud you biased your hole towards.

        Picture Installation

        1. Lay frame face down on soft surface such as a towel or blanket. 2. Hold firmly and slide picture frame in to the open position. 3. Remove four metal picture retainer clips, if clips are tight use a flat bladed screw driver to wiggle free. 4. Remove wood backer noard and lay picture onto glass. Making sure of proper orientation. 5. Reinstall backer board and 4 retaining clips. 6. Slide picture frame closed and enjoy!

        Wall maunting instructions for Freedom Series Coat Rack

        Recommendation

        Liberty Home Concealmemt does not recommend the use of hollow wall anchors to mount larger items on your walls. While anchors may provide sufficient holding capability, Liberty Home Concealment recommends attaching directly to the studs located inside your wall to ensure the most secure level of attachment.

        Step 1

        Choose the desired location of the item you are wanting to mount your coat rack.

        Step 2

        Once you have your ideal location use a stud finder to locate 2 studs in your wall that will support your coat rack. Mark the location of each stud's center with a pencil. Use a nail to confirm stud has been located.

        Step 3

        Hold product against wall and use level to make sure it is even. Use a friend to help hold level while transferring stud location marks to inside of product to be mounted. Tip: Remember the adage "Measure twice cut once." That same rule applies when making holes in your walls.

        Step 4

        Check that product is plumb and level before securing. Once proper placement is achieve fasten first screw through product and into stud. Re check for level and attach second screw into next stud.

        Step 5

        Step back and admire your handy work. Now get started filling your piece of concealment furniture with all the items you are wanting to keep stored securely out of sight. ENJOY!!

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