Personal safety

[Danestress]

Ok, without revealing your home address (grin) can you tell me how much care you take for your personal safety and what kinds of habits for safety you have?

 

I hear in crime shows/news reports that when there is no sign of forced entry, the police suspect that the victim may have known an assailant or let the person in the house. This makes me uneasy, because my house is frequently not locked, and my windows are open on almost any pleasant day.

 

We actually have a security system, and we do set it sometimes. But when I am home during the day, the kids are in and out, the dog is in and out, a security system is a massive pain.

 

Do you keep your doors locked at all time? Do you sleep with windows open? Do you use a security system? Do you walk alone?

 

Oh, and do you answer the door during the day? I can't decide whether to answer or not. If I don't answer, doesn't it make someone think I am not home? But I resent distractions and also, I feel uneasy answering.

[MariannNOVA]

We have a security system -- pretty much same as you wrote - during the day, it is a pain to keep set, so we basically don't. With all the contractors in and out lately, we haven't used it except at night. We can use it with windows open at night, but tend not to.

 

I think it's good to always be aware -- aware of who is 'around' who shouldn't be around, cars parked that are not familiar, etc. I have no difficulty calling the police for stuff like that.

[Impish]

Hmmm.

 

During the day, the door usually isn't locked. I don't answer for strangers, but will stand and watch them leave.

 

We have a huge dog. She barks her brains out when someone shows up, and most ppl are freaked out by her, so I guess she's our security system, lol

[Parrothead]

Ok, without revealing your home address (grin) can you tell me how much care you take for your personal safety and what kinds of habits for safety you have?

I'm more concerned about personal safety in parking lots or when I go to the big city. The whole keys in hand when one leaves the shops, being aware of ones surroundings, listening to instincts, etc. At home, not so much. I live in a small town, two blocks from the PD and dh is in law enforcement. There is this truck in my drive with blue lights on top of the cab. I'm pretty sure if dh was a plumber we would do things much differently.

 

Do you keep your doors locked at all time?

No. I only lock the doors when dh is working nights.

 

Do you sleep with windows open?

Yes, when it is hot.

 

Do you use a security system?

My dog

 

Do you walk alone?

Yes, I even walk in the dark.

 

Oh, and do you answer the door during the day?

Yes, but I have the dog barking ready to rip out the caller's throat.

 

 

.

[Pretty in Pink]

I lock the doors and windows at night. The doors are usually unlocked during the day when the kids are running in and out to play, but if we are all inside then I do try to keep them locked (to keep little ones in, and to appease dh, who is very cautious about such things and gets aggravated when I leave the doors unlocked during the day).

 

We had a security system once when we lived in a less savory neighborhood. Our past two neighborhoods have been very affluent, upscale neighborhoods. I know that doesn't protect us in all cases, but we feel much safer than in other neighborhoods we have lived in.

 

I am more vigilant in parking lots and such than in my own home, honestly.

[simka2]

I've had a stalker. I've taken some classes. The doors remain locked. On a particularly beautiful day I will open certain windows for a length of time, but that is it. I only allow the kids to go in and out of the privacy fenced back yard and I am usually sitting by the door. If they are out front I am sitting in chair out front where I can see the door. We used to have a very large dog, but he did not make the move with us :glare:. We are looking into moving, because I do not feel safe without a dog. There are windows at the door so I only open if I know the person, ie a kid. I'm not very hospitable to drop ins :confused:.

 

If I am walking alone I have pepper spray, but I haven't been comfortable without a dog.

 

I try to be very aware of my surroundings in parking lots and when going to and from the front door to the car.

 

Dh and I have regular checkin phone calls and texts. Whenever a repair man comes over I am on the phone with dh with a full discription and license plate numbers.

 

I know it sounds extreme, but much of this is habit that I do not really think about.

[elegantlion]

doors are always locked, unless someone is currently going in and out.

 

Windows usually don't stay open overnight. I'm more concerned about buggy creatures than two-legged intruders.

 

Big dog security system. She will bark at anything.

 

I walk alone, but we live in a safe small town. There have been break ins, mostly petty crime. There are lots of walkers in our area. If it's late I will take the dog.

 

I do answer the door during the day, but we have a lock on the front screen door. Insurance salesman (yes!) and church solicitor have been the only knocks lately.

 

ETA: I carry my phone when I walk too.

[ChristusG]

During the day, when DH is at work, I don't answer the door unless the person has informed me that they are coming. If an uninvited person does ring the door bell, I watch them through a slit in the blinds to make sure that they leave my property.

 

I lock all doors and windows at night....also when I'm home during the day.

 

When I used to jog or walk, I would carry mace, my dog would come with me, and I'd make sure not to go at night. If I felt suspicious about a vehicle or person, I wouldn't hesitate to turn around and go back the other way. I'd also have my cell phone with me.

 

When in the car, I automatically lock the door when we get in. At night, if I feel unsure, I will get in the car, lock the doors, and then put the kids in their car seats from the safety of the locked doors. If parking at night at a store, I attempt to park up front. I'm always careful about my surroundings in a parking lot though. I always be sure to look around and know who's around me. I also attempt to not park beside large vans with tinted windows.

 

Paranoid....I don't think so. I've watched the news, know the safety precautions, and try to put them into practice without being too overboard. Just cautious.

[BetterthanIdeserve]

Even though my beagle's howling can drive me crazy at times (and right now she's making me mad by stealing food from the table) she is a great alarm system for us. Plus she's great with the kids. I haven't heard of any crime in our immediate neighborhood, but we're not far from any area that I would have some concerns about. Still, we leave windows open at night. I'm not afraid to answer our doors to strangers, but I do check the door first.

 

I do let the kids play in the backyard by themselves, if the dog is out there with them. I try to stay in the kitchen (with the backdoor) and the kids are not supposed to talk to anyone (except specific neighbors) without talking to me first. They can only play in the front yard if an adult is watching them (sometimes that will be a neighboring parent, but usually for only a few minutes). I'm grateful for a couple of neighbors who are outdoors a lot and really have an eye on what's going on in the neighborhood.

[ondreeuh]

I almost never lock my door when I run errands, just if I'm going to be gone for a few hours. I lock them at night, dh doesn't. I lock my car, dh doesn't lock his OR mine.

 

We do sleep with windows open, but not ones that face the street.

 

No security system.

 

I don't walk alone at night. There are enough sketchy characters on the street that if I walk, I pair up.

 

I have a peephole and I look out the door before I answer it. I do have a "no soliciting" sign, so it's almost always a delivery.

[Rivka]

We live in the inner city. We've had a break-in and an attempted break-in. All of our ground-floor windows and doors have bars or a metal grille covering them, so we can have the first-floor windows open without worry. 2nd floor windows we are a bit cautious about and usually close and lock them when we are not home. 3rd floor windows can stay open.

 

We have a locked metal gate between our front yard and our back area. There's no way out of the back area - there are high fences between our property and the neighbors'. So we will sometimes leave the kitchen door open while we are working in the yard or cooking on a hot day, because there's no access to the outside of the kitchen door from the street.

 

We lock the house while we're inside. We lock the house when we're out. The only time the house door is unlocked is when we're in the front garden. I will open the door during the day if I am expecting someone or can verify who it is through the window. Someone I don't know would probably get "can I help you?" through the barred window.

 

We don't have a security system, but we do have nosy neighbors. When we had our attempted break-in, the first we knew about it was when the police showed up because a neighbor called them. Yay for our neighbors.

 

My kids (6 and 2) can't play in the garden without someone outside with them. They don't have to hold my hand on the sidewalk, but they can't go around the corner out of my sight.

 

I walk alone at night in our neighborhood, but I am very alert to my surroundings. At various times since we've lived here there has been a drug dealer on the corner near my house. I figured out pretty quickly that the last thing a drug dealer in a good neighborhood wants is for a neighborhood resident to have complaints. (In bad neighborhoods, sadly, the police wouldn't care.) The dealers can tell that I am not their clientele and have always left me strictly alone except for maybe a polite nod of greeting.

 

A funny thing that contributes to my sense of security on the street: our neighborhood has several gay bars, including one almost across the street from us. I never would have thought of this, but in practice it means that (1) at night there are always people in the street and (2) those people are not interested in harassing me. So that makes me feel safer.

 

I'm sure that this depiction has some people :blink: but actually I love my neighborhood and feel safe here. The biggest factor is knowing that my neighbors are alert to what's happening on the street and care about me and my family.

[Tammyla]

Doors always locked at night, but during the day if we are in the yard they aren't.

 

Windows are closed and locked on the first floor at night if we're upstairs.

 

I don't walk alone at night.

 

No security system other than deadbolt locks.

 

I only answer the door if I want to. It's just too bad if a sales person gets his/her feelings hurt because my windows are open or they know I'm home. I'm the same way with the phone. (I had to learn to do this.) Personal safety and our privacy is more important.

[Mejane]

We keep our doors locked, including car doors when driving. We have a large dog. I don't go out after dark if I can avoid it. I don't answer the door when home alone if it's not someone I know. My kids know not to give out personal info over the phone or let someone know if they're home alone. I am always aware of what's going on around me when out and about, or if someone appears to be following in a car; I will drive by my house if I think I'm being followed.

 

I was followed in a store once and asked the security guy to escort me out to my car. I think honoring that gut instinct is uber-important, and I've trained my kids to trust it as well.

[Laura Corin]

The doors are not locked unless we go out or go to bed. Windows are sometimes open at night, but we have limiters to stop them opening wide. We only use the alarm system when we go on holiday. This is a low-crime rural area.

 

Laura

[MBM]

We lock our doors at all times including when we're inside the house during the day. Even if I'm out mowing our lawn, I will lock the doors.

 

No sleeping with the windows open because we have a one-floor ranch, and anyone could enter. That's how they often do in our area.

 

Security system uses cellular technology and can be accessed by us online.

 

I do not answer the door for most strangers. Just the other week, a man rang our front door, so I quietly peeped out the peep hole. He was trying to open our exterior storm door which, btw, locks in three places. Then he moved to our back door, rang the bell, and tried to enter again. At this point, I quietly called the police and they escorted him to the police station for questioning. I don't think he was charged with anything, though.

 

We live in one of the safest suburbs in Chicago, but there is still plenty of property crime, unfortunately.

 

 

Edited April 26, 2011 by MBM

[melissel]

Do you keep your doors locked at all time? All but the front door, since we're usually in sight of it, or it's open in nice weather, or someone is coming and going. Do you sleep with windows open? Yes. I really struggle with leaving the kids' windows open at night, but that feels unreasonable, and they get hot, so I force myself to let it go :lol: Do you use a security system? Yes, but it's not hooked up to the monitoring station anymore. I mainly use it to alert us if someone breaks in or a fire starts. Do you walk alone? Yes, if I have to. I try to be aware of my surroundings, but walking alone in relatively populated areas doesn't concern me much. Now, when I took the kids walking through a wooded nature preserve without another soul in sight...I definitely freaked myself out. Too much Criminal Minds, I think! I'm working on that one, haven't decided what I'm going to do about it yet :(

 

Oh, and do you answer the door during the day? I can't decide whether to answer or not. If I don't answer, doesn't it make someone think I am not home? But I resent distractions and also, I feel uneasy answering. Depends on the day, the person, the distraction, etc. Usually yes, sometimes no. The kids get all worked up and loud when the bell rings though, so I can't pretend we're not home!

 

Answer are above. I definitely run to the paranoid side, and I'm trying to be less so. It's not easy!

 

ETA: About sleeping with the windows open, the girls bedrooms are at the front of the house, so very easily visible, and not on the ground level (we're in a bi-level). Plus, our windows are very small to begin with. If the bedrooms were more hidden or at ground level, I'd probably do as Laura does--if the windows stayed open at all, I'd have limiters.

Edited April 26, 2011 by melissel

[KidsHappen]

All doors, windows and car remained locked at night. I don't use a security system but I do have two dogs, the little model which I call the alerter, and the bigger model which I call the attacker. I don't answer the door for strangers and I don't usually go places after dark.

[Jenny in Florida]

Do you keep your doors locked at all time? Do you sleep with windows open? Do you use a security system? Do you walk alone?

 

Oh, and do you answer the door during the day? I can't decide whether to answer or not. If I don't answer, doesn't it make someone think I am not home? But I resent distractions and also, I feel uneasy answering.

 

I keep the doors locked unless my son is outside, in which case usually both the front and back doors are unlocked.

 

We don't use a security system.

 

I do walk the dog by myself, both early in the morning and after dark. It makes my husband nervous. I always carry my cell phone with me.

 

I can't imagine why I wouldn't answer the door during the day?

 

I would love to sleep with the windows open, by the way, but my husband would be too nervous to sleep.

[Jennifer in MI]

We live in a very safe area. But, we take precautions. We lock the doors and first floor windows at night. We do sleep with the bedroom windows open.

 

Doors are open during the day. But, if we all go out back, I'll try to remember to lock the front door.

 

I answer the door if I'm home. Maybe I wouldn't feel as safe about that if I didn't have two teen boys who are bigger than I am! I don't always answer the phone.

 

I run at all hours. Alone. In the early AM before the sun comes up near the lake is my favorite time to be out. I carry a cell phone.

[Dolphin]

Our door is always locked, it is just reflex for me to lock it as I come in the house. Same with the back door.

 

However, in the summer we padlock our 2 gates and let the kids have free range of the back yard, with the dog. I have accidentally locked them in the back yard a few times when I have walked by the door and seen it unlocked. I get lots of pounds on the door with the kids laughing that mom has locked us out again. ( I should say our back yard is all on level, not down stairs and we have tons of windows looking out on it and it is fully fenced.

 

I am just learning to allow our front door to be unlocked after school until dinner as ds is now going out and playing with the neighborhood kids. I figure this is a pretty safe time as about 10 moms keep walking out and there are about 20 kids, and everyone knows who belongs and who doesn't.

 

We sleep with the windows open, but only open to the locked vent position.

 

For security we have a big dog.

[edithcrawley]

Ok, without revealing your home address (grin) can you tell me how much care you take for your personal safety and what kinds of habits for safety you have?

I really don't worry too much about it. I live near a University, and I have never felt unsafe. I make sure I'm aware of my surroundings, but I am not afraid to go from the library to my apartment at 2 am.

 

 

Do you keep your doors locked at all time? Do you sleep with windows open? Do you use a security system? Do you walk alone?

I don't keep my doors locked unless I am taking a nap, a shower, or am asleep. I sleep with the windows closed, but that isn't a safety issue, more of a bug issue. I don't use a security system, and I walk alone 95% of the time. I have no issues with it at all.

 

Oh, and do you answer the door during the day? I can't decide whether to answer or not. If I don't answer, doesn't it make someone think I am not home? But I resent distractions and also, I feel uneasy answering.

I answer. I look out the peephole first though to see who it is, but really, the only people that ever knock on my door are the UPS and FedEx guys, friends of mine, and the occasional missionary.

[Mom23Boys]

I don't lock the doors during the day when I am home. My kids are in and out all day anyway, so it wouldn't even make sense. I do lock the doors and use my security system when not at home/at night.

 

The front door is almost always locked bc we don't use it often. I do answer the door, but I have all my curtains/blinds open so people can see in anyway. If I ever felt uncomfortable, I wouldn't open the door. That has never happened though.

 

Our neighbors on both sides are home most of the time and in and out as well. The neighbors on one side are my IL's.

 

I also have 2 dogs in the yard, so I am always alerted when someone drives or walks up.

[secular_mom]

Ok, without revealing your home address (grin) can you tell me how much care you take for your personal safety and what kinds of habits for safety you have?

 

I hear in crime shows/news reports that when there is no sign of forced entry, the police suspect that the victim may have known an assailant or let the person in the house. This makes me uneasy, because my house is frequently not locked, and my windows are open on almost any pleasant day.

 

We actually have a security system, and we do set it sometimes. But when I am home during the day, the kids are in and out, the dog is in and out, a security system is a massive pain.

 

Do you keep your doors locked at all time? Do you sleep with windows open? Do you use a security system? Do you walk alone?

Yes, we keep our doors locked at all times, unless we are in the front yard or back yard. We keep our windows closed at all times, and don't sleep with them open. We don't have a security system.

 

Oh, and do you answer the door during the day? I can't decide whether to answer or not. If I don't answer, doesn't it make someone think I am not home? But I resent distractions and also, I feel uneasy answering.

I answer the door if I'm expecting someone or expecting a package. I always look to see if it's someone I want to see though, if not (most times it's a salesperson)then I don't answer. They hear that there are kids at home, my kids always run to look out their window (which has reflective tint so in the day time people don't see them in the window, they see their own reflection)and they are very noisy. Sometimes they keep knocking or ringing the bell if they hear the kids, but I refuse to open my door to them-if they are that pushy with a closed and locked door just imagine how they'll be if I open the door. :tongue_smilie:

[Ann.without.an.e]

Hmmm.

 

During the day, the door usually isn't locked. I don't answer for strangers, but will stand and watch them leave.

 

We have a huge dog. She barks her brains out when someone shows up, and most ppl are freaked out by her, so I guess she's our security system, lol

 

 

 

I could have written this post word for word.

[Cera]

We live in a middle class subdivision in a safer than average small city.

 

When we are outside at home the doors are unlocked and generally only the screen doors are closed. The kids are allowed to play in our fenced back yard alone if they leave the back door open (they are 4 and 6). They require supervision to play in the front yard/street. I do walk alone until around 8pm as there are lots of people out every evening and everyone is very friendly/community oriented. I don't walk alone later because I would truly be by myself on the street and our neighborhood is heavily wooded so I don't feel particularly safe.

 

I do open the door when someone rings the bell but I keep the screen door locked.

 

When we are home I keep the doors locked but often have the windows open. If I am going to be somewhere that I would have a hard time hearing things (shower, working upstairs) I close the first floor windows and set the alarm (mainly to keep the kids inside).

 

At night I close and lock all windows and set the alarm (again, mainly because it guarantees the kids don't wander outside without my knowing).

 

When we are gone I lock all windows and set the alarm. I also close the blinds in the living room so that electronics and such aren't visible (I leave the dining room, kitchen and playroom blinds open).

 

Our neighbors house was broken into and they stole some smaller electronics (laptop, ipod) that she had left on her dining room table. When the police came they told her that our area is quite safe when it comes to crimes against people but that they have a lot of complaints of property crimes. The most common thing they see is people pretending to be contractors and soliciting business. Once they have a list of homes they have found empty on multiple occasions (they will try a house a few times) they return and try to gain entry through the back of the house (as it looks like they should be there, the person who broke into our neighbors house was posing as a landscaper).

[ocelotmom]

We rarely lock our doors/windows.

 

We live out in the country on a street that gets little in the way of random traffic - we don't get door-to-door salespeople/missionaries/whatever, and someone casing the house would stand out as abnormal.

 

We have housemates and DH works from home. Therefore, an adult is home 99% of the time. We have neighbors quite close who are also home most of the time - we're not visually isolated, and we know eachother well enough that someone claiming "We just moved in" isn't going to fly.

 

We have two large dogs, one visibly a "bully breed". They bark. A lot.

 

To get into the house, you have to go up a driveway around to the back of the house. The front entrance is inaccessible from the street (fenced yard with no gate in front usually populated by aforementioned dogs). So anyone approaching, whether on foot or by car, is going to be conspicuous. This also means that it's not necessarily easy to determine at a glance whether there's someone home or not, since our cars and many of our daily activities are not visible from the street.

 

The dogs are inside during the night and any time I feel safer having them in the house with me (and they'll still raise a racket at anything out of the ordinary outside).

 

We do have guns in the house,mainly for out-in-the-country reasons (coyote after livestock, things like that). Same can safely be assumed of most of our neighbors.

 

Most of the windows accessible from the main entrance yard are relatively small, and only accessible by ladder. I'm sure someone who wanted to could get in that way, but I don't think anyone could easily and quickly get in and out the kids' bedroom window or anything like that.

 

I consider the main problem in our security to be that the dogs don't have free access to the house and the yard in back of the house with the main entrance - the fenced yard stops short of that, so if the dogs are out in the yard, they'd have to jump the fence to be of any real use. However, this fact is not visible from the street, and we plan to extend the fence to incorporate the main-entrance yard. Also, once someone does get up the driveway, any suspicious actions are not going to be readily visible, but I consider the benefits of not being able to just walk directly up to the house to outweigh the drawbacks.

 

I don't walk alone after dark. Mainly because I have no particular desire to do so as there's nowhere to go :) But partially because it's not a very populated area. I walked alone or with one of the dogs regularly after dark before we moved, and never had an issue.

 

In our old house (in a suburb where breaking and entering was a bit of a problem), we also rarely locked the doors, but we still had an adult home most of the time and the dogs, who had full access to the house and back/side yard at all times. We did have stuff stolen from our front yard on a few occasions, but no problems beyond that.

 

I guess overall we figure that if someone is ruthless and determined enough to break into an (usually) inhabited house despite the presence of large dogs, a standard door/window lock is unlikely to be much of a deterrent anyways.

Edited April 26, 2011 by ocelotmom

[lllll]

...

[kwickimom]

GUNS and DOGS :D

 

Me and DH are getting our Federal firearms liscenses and then we will also be putting in an alarm system. I am not sure that I will arm it during the day.

 

Otherwise we sleep with the windows open but doors locked. I am rural.

[MamaT]

We live up a long driveway on the side of a mountain in a very rural area. I can see someone coming up my driveway long before they get here. I feel very safe here. If someone comes to the door during the day, it is usually the UPS man or someone we know. You can't get to my house by accident. :001_smile:

 

We don't lock our doors and windows during the day - we are in and out a lot. We leave our windows open at night. My dh and I take early morning walks, but it is around our property so no worries.

 

I am much more safety concious when we are out and about - downtown mostly or in parking lots. I lock our doors as soon as we get in the car.

[Hannah C.]

I always carry my cell phone when I go places, including for a walk around my apartment complex. However, if I'm just going to get the mail during the day, I don't always take my phone. (DH would be at the apartment in that case.)

 

Since DD was born, I've taken to locking the front door when DH isn't home. He doesn't really see the point and has found it frustrating to have to unlock his own front door when I'm home, but I feel safer knowing that it's not possible for someone to just waltz in. We lock and deadbolt it at night when he gets home. Our sliding glass door leads onto a patio with a fence surrounding it. There is a bar that keeps the sliding glass door from opening, so there's a bit of extra security besides just the lock.

 

Our front door has a peephole, which I am so very grateful for. The only people we've had come unexpected are UPS/mailman or solicitors (despite the fact that you aren't supposed to solicit in our complex). We do tend to answer the door.

 

We've slept with our bedroom window open before, but I prefer not to do that, or have windows open at night, because of bugs. The window leads out to the patio as well, otherwise I wouldn't feel so safe doing it.

 

I've done the stand outside your house and see whether people can see in your windows at night test. If our blinds are closed, they can only see light, not shadows or figures. The patio fence is more solid than not, which helps. I keep the window blinds in the dining room area closed because I'm rarely over there, and one of the dining room windows looks out onto our front stoop, but I can't see the window from the living room.

 

We keep our car locked, because we live in an apartment complex. The only time we don't lock our car is if we're parking in the driveway of a friend or relative who lives in a very safe neighborhood, or if we're going to leave right away and we're at our own complex.