Re: This is California. In July.
Have any of you people ever tested having a stranger (that the dog doesn't know) enter your house while you're out, and bringing a packet of dog biscuits?
For sure, I doubt most dogs understand the difference between a stranger and a burglar, especially if you've spent their lifetime pulling them back from sniffing visitors, telling them off for barking, locking them away from strangers, etc. And they only need to be distracted enough for someone to tie their lead to tie and some sofa leg out of their way. Hey, I bet if someone approached you on the street while you were taking them out for a walk, you'd let them mollycoddle the dog so long as they were inquiring about the breed, etc. Bang, the dog knows who that person is and "owner" approves.
Ask a random animal shelter quite how long it takes most dogs to realise that you're "friendly enough" because you have some food, unless the animal is outright dangerous to everyone (owners included). Have none of you ever hired a dog-sitter to feed them while you're on holiday, etc? The majority of animals adjust extremely quickly and are easily led into "social hacks".
Again, all the fancy "it would never happen to me" ideas foiled within seconds by someone with a bit of balls (they're burgling anyway, they have that) and a doggie treat in their top-pocket (which provides a distraction / escape route in case a dog suddenly appears that they didn't know about).
I'd posit that any professional burglar would be more likely to have a dog biscuit on them than a crowbar. Crowbars attract attention, are hard to hide, get you nicked even if you haven't broken in. A dog biscuit quells attention, might save your arse, and you can't get nicked for.
Unlike some, I have researched. Police have zero interest in CCTV footage unless it's absolute full-on HD faces, which is unusual with any burglar who's done it more than once. I used to spend portions of my career obtaining it for them. Number of convictions: One. Of a teacher that restrained a child kicking the shit out of his classmate, the parents did the teacher for assault and cost him his career. They hate CCTV. It takes them hours to retrieve, longer to analyse, often ends up with nothing (you don't burgle your own neighbourhood where the cops all know you by sight) and rarely can be used for prosecution.
Entry into any premises is also incredibly easy. It's being brave enough to do it. Door locks are not unbreakable (everything from lock-picks to bump keys, but to be honest, just a large screwdriver and knowing how to use it will break most places) and if they are, you just don't use the door. Most of the footage I retrieved was for people who took less than 10 seconds to enter a property (the exception is kids, who generally take a lot longer and are happy to stand there for 10 minutes if they see even the slightest progress).
Unless you live in a flat in a high-rise with no other feasible method of entry, the door is only one of a million options. Two different burglaries in my area in the past year, both times by jumping the garden fence (takes seconds, almost no risk if you look around / pretend you're delivering a parcel until you know nobody is looking), both times by going round the back, both times by wrenching open a rear window in seconds. One of them, there were people in both neighbouring houses all day and NOBODY heard a thing while it happened and didn't know until the homeowners returned and raised the alarm.
Your house insurance just states that it has to be forced entry for a reason. They know you CANNOT secure anywhere. They just want you to not have left the doors wide open. They also know that almost all burglaries involve forced entry. I bet all those people thought they had an unbreakable lock too, until it's lying on the floor still attached to the PVC patio door.
Same with cars, sure you can radio-jack some now but most thefts wouldn't bother. They just destroy the doors, because who cares? It's not their car. The industry standard is about 1 minute to enter a car without smashing a window, and then it's classed as "secure". Your back window, patio door or even brick wall similarly wouldn't take a minute to break through if someone wanted to even if they don't want the sound of breaking glass. Hell, I've seen entire double-walls taken down in less time, and thinking you've secured your house because the door is impenetrable just makes me look at the fragile glass window right next to it.
Trying to STOP the crime is stupid. Not to mention dangerous. And expensive. And pointless. What you need to do is detect the crime. You spot the bloke coming up the drive on a camera. You have the doorbell ring your smartphone in work. You have the dogs bark at something if you're in bed. You can't STOP him from there, if he has even a minute alone. But you might be quick enough to catch him in the act, by calling the police or in-person.
You know the police made it to my house in 1m30s when a neighbour reported an intruder? It was me, but they didn't know that. That's what they prioritise, because that's how you catch them and prosecute them. It takes hours to even do fingerprints, etc. and most of the time they don't have the time to do that either. Nobody's been caught for the two burglaries mentioned above, or most of the forced entries I witnessed when it was part of my job.
What matters is not "stopping" them, you can't. You can hinder them at best. And hope that you are aware early, so that the hindrances put them off and/or prove to be their downfall and they get caught in the act. People have been burgled before now without even waking up. It's not uncommon at all.
Like all things, the weakest link in the chain is where attacks occur. If you double-bolt, British standard, 5-bar lock with London bar, chain and bolt? Yeah, they just smash a window. Or lever the frame. Or jump round the back.
It's about time and early detection, not spending a thousand pounds making a door secure when it's one bit of glass away from theft anyway. Most police forces barely even respond to reports of an already-committed burglary. They send round CSO's or even just civilians who work for them to gather a statement, and that's it. They can take HOURS to arrive, and if you think they always do forensics, you're wrong. Unless you can report "in progress" (which is a valid 999 call, by the way, reporting a burglary that's already happened isn't considered so), they can't do much at all.
And all the big strong doors in the world don't tell you an attack is in progress if you're at work and have no idea until you get back at 6pm.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
