00:00:11.157 –> 00:00:15.557
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Self-Initiative Project Podcast.

00:00:16.057 –> 00:00:17.857
I’m your host, Jim O’Brien.

00:00:18.597 –> 00:00:22.597
Hey, hey, and welcome back to another episode of the Self-Initiative Project Podcast.

00:00:22.937 –> 00:00:26.197
Today, I have my special guest, Wesley, with the Grayman Briefing.

00:00:26.457 –> 00:00:27.717
Wesley, how are you, sir?

00:00:29.317 –> 00:00:35.157
Good, Jim. How are you doing this morning? Yeah. When I was doing a pre-record

00:00:35.157 –> 00:00:40.057
for this, I was reminded myself, this is the earliest I think I’ve ever recorded.

00:00:40.197 –> 00:00:44.877
Not that this time of day is super early, but usually I’m known for recording

00:00:44.877 –> 00:00:48.857
these things in the afternoons or evenings at the earliest.

00:00:49.137 –> 00:00:53.437
And so you now have the record for my earliest recorded podcast.

00:00:55.097 –> 00:00:58.817
I’ve still got my coffee in front of me, too. I do as well.

00:00:58.997 –> 00:01:02.497
Thanks so much for joining us, Wesley. I appreciate it. And we’re going to keep

00:01:02.497 –> 00:01:04.337
your last name out of the public.

00:01:04.457 –> 00:01:09.197
Not that it’s any great secret, but all part of the Gray Man piece, I’m sure of it.

00:01:09.777 –> 00:01:14.557
We’re going to talk about home security, vehicle security.

00:01:14.997 –> 00:01:18.937
But before we get into all of that, I want you to tell us a little bit about,

00:01:19.057 –> 00:01:22.517
you know, as much as you’re comfortable with. But I want our audience to understand

00:01:22.517 –> 00:01:25.637
who you are, where you’re coming from, how you got this started,

00:01:25.837 –> 00:01:28.517
and kind of what your purpose is with Gray Man Brief.

00:01:29.377 –> 00:01:34.617
Yeah, absolutely, buddy. So, uh, obviously I, my business, uh,

00:01:34.677 –> 00:01:38.937
which is super Etsy started out kind of, uh, from a hobby.

00:01:39.057 –> 00:01:42.577
When I was deployed, I made paracord bracelets for some of my team members as

00:01:42.577 –> 00:01:43.917
kind of a morale booster.

00:01:43.917 –> 00:01:46.537
And these bracelets had like you know

00:01:46.537 –> 00:01:49.477
survival kits fishing gear compasses and stuff built

00:01:49.477 –> 00:01:52.397
into them so when i got back stateside i started

00:01:52.397 –> 00:01:55.617
sharing some pictures of one of the bracelets i made myself i

00:01:55.617 –> 00:01:58.597
shared it like on on prepper facebook group sure

00:01:58.597 –> 00:02:01.937
and people started asking me to make them so i

00:02:01.937 –> 00:02:04.637
ended up making a lot and then doing a little

00:02:04.637 –> 00:02:07.557
etsy website and then finally it just kind of blew up and

00:02:07.557 –> 00:02:10.497
so like i say it started from a hobby when i was deployed

00:02:10.497 –> 00:02:13.377
for my team and then it turned into

00:02:13.377 –> 00:02:17.077
a survival gear company which then shifted to me

00:02:17.077 –> 00:02:22.277
writing you know survival guides prepping guides talking about the news and

00:02:22.277 –> 00:02:26.757
then that kind of shifted to the the gray man briefing where we we now share

00:02:26.757 –> 00:02:31.837
intelligence and situational and awareness bulletins and things like that so

00:02:31.837 –> 00:02:35.457
we’re kind of a full-fledged from from gear to intel.

00:02:36.177 –> 00:02:38.877
We’ve got our hands in a lot of stuff right now. Yeah.

00:02:39.297 –> 00:02:43.997
And, you know, it’s great what you’re doing, I think, because, of course, the gear.

00:02:44.137 –> 00:02:47.557
I’ve been looking through your gear on your shop, and there’s a lot of good

00:02:47.557 –> 00:02:51.737
stuff out there that people probably, I’m sure, could take advantage of.

00:02:51.817 –> 00:02:57.937
But the part that I thought was interesting is how you collect up news and data

00:02:57.937 –> 00:03:01.197
and information and disseminate that out to folks.

00:03:01.197 –> 00:03:07.777
Because I think part of being better prepared as having a reliable source of

00:03:07.777 –> 00:03:09.957
information to base decisions off of, right?

00:03:10.037 –> 00:03:15.037
And anything that’s, you know, I’m not a big follower of the mainstream media.

00:03:15.037 –> 00:03:20.337
So if there’s a source of information that I can at least take into my consideration

00:03:20.337 –> 00:03:24.717
set that I know is trustworthy, that’s a valuable asset to have too.

00:03:25.164 –> 00:03:29.004
Yeah, being in the know is, you know, that foreknowledge of,

00:03:29.524 –> 00:03:32.764
you know, when do you need to actually take some action, when you need to bug

00:03:32.764 –> 00:03:37.844
out or when do you need to maybe go fill your tanks up or stock up on supplies.

00:03:38.604 –> 00:03:42.844
And you should really never trust any source of information because everyone,

00:03:42.964 –> 00:03:45.044
no matter what, is going to have some sort of bias to it.

00:03:45.244 –> 00:03:49.744
At Gray Man Brief, we try to separate that. We have the briefing section where

00:03:49.744 –> 00:03:52.284
it’s just the raw facts. We don’t use adjectives.

00:03:52.424 –> 00:03:56.044
We don’t say there’s a large crowd. We say there was 200 to 250,

00:03:56.464 –> 00:04:01.784
you know, and then at the bottom of that briefing, we have what’s called a debrief section where we give,

00:04:01.924 –> 00:04:07.404
you know, our human analytical kind of opinionated kind of what if statement

00:04:07.404 –> 00:04:12.284
or why it matters statement at the end. So we do try to separate those two.

00:04:12.984 –> 00:04:17.264
But yeah, I mean, you’ve got to have multiple sources and try to stay,

00:04:17.684 –> 00:04:20.884
keep your finger on the pulse of what’s happening not only in the world,

00:04:20.924 –> 00:04:22.704
but just in the city you live.

00:04:22.704 –> 00:04:26.664
You know, maybe there’s a hurricane coming or some other issue,

00:04:26.824 –> 00:04:31.064
a water tower has had an issue, and now there’s going to be a water forage or whatever.

00:04:31.784 –> 00:04:35.784
Stay in the know. Yep, staying in the know is half the battle, I would argue.

00:04:36.024 –> 00:04:42.944
So we’re going to talk about home security, what we can do in and around our homes and our vehicles.

00:04:42.944 –> 00:04:46.664
And, of course, I’ve talked on this, both of these subjects in previous podcasts,

00:04:46.924 –> 00:04:51.664
but I think it’s always, and they’ve been actually very popular podcasts, too, I might add.

00:04:51.664 –> 00:04:55.864
But I think it’s always good to continue to have those conversations because

00:04:55.864 –> 00:05:01.664
I’m amazed at how many people still won’t do simple things like locking their

00:05:01.664 –> 00:05:06.624
car doors or, you know, even locking their house doors when they go to bed at night.

00:05:06.804 –> 00:05:09.464
I’m blown away when I learn about things like that.

00:05:10.124 –> 00:05:13.984
So where do you want to start? You want to start with vehicles or you want to start with the home?

00:05:15.496 –> 00:05:19.516
Well, let’s start with the home. We’re always home and then we leave the home and come back.

00:05:19.736 –> 00:05:23.916
So let’s start where everything comes from. Yeah, absolutely. Sounds good.

00:05:25.096 –> 00:05:29.616
So, you know, when I talked about this before, I started out on the street, right?

00:05:29.976 –> 00:05:35.116
Like doing things to help make it seem like someone’s home, taking care of the

00:05:35.116 –> 00:05:39.036
place, whether that’s keeping your garbage can brought up off the street,

00:05:39.236 –> 00:05:43.216
keeping your lawn mowed, bringing the mail in. Where do you start?

00:05:44.416 –> 00:05:47.476
No you’re right that’s kind of uh that’s kind

00:05:47.476 –> 00:05:50.256
of the territoriality which kind of goes back to

00:05:50.256 –> 00:05:53.296
that broken windows theory you want to make make it

00:05:53.296 –> 00:05:56.596
look like for the most part you want to make it look like your house is occupied

00:05:56.596 –> 00:06:01.756
it’s visited recently you know frequently you don’t want to give that appearance

00:06:01.756 –> 00:06:06.676
like who lives there doesn’t really care about what happens there keep the keep

00:06:06.676 –> 00:06:11.596
the the long mode keep the mail brought in like you said it’s just it’s having that,

00:06:12.136 –> 00:06:15.716
territoriality that the people, if I go do something, if I’m a bad guy and I

00:06:15.716 –> 00:06:18.716
go do something in this person’s house, they’re going to realize it immediately.

00:06:18.936 –> 00:06:23.296
It’s not like days or weeks are going to pass by before the police are even aware of what happened.

00:06:23.636 –> 00:06:28.376
So you’re absolutely right. That’s the first thing I’ve got on my target hardening guide.

00:06:28.756 –> 00:06:30.516
We kind of look at it from a crime

00:06:30.516 –> 00:06:35.276
prevention through environmental design aspect, but we put a lot of other.

00:06:36.111 –> 00:06:39.631
Thought processes into it. But absolutely, that’s the first one.

00:06:40.171 –> 00:06:45.211
And then you kind of move into access control. This is kind of how you design

00:06:45.211 –> 00:06:50.191
where your driveway is, where like bushes are, where the sidewalk is.

00:06:50.451 –> 00:06:56.391
You want to make it obvious where your property begins and the public open area

00:06:56.391 –> 00:06:59.531
property ends or however you want to look at it.

00:06:59.731 –> 00:07:05.031
That way, if someone is starting to creep onto your property for with bad intentions,

00:07:05.031 –> 00:07:07.271
it’s obvious they’re on your property.

00:07:07.431 –> 00:07:11.891
It’s not like if a neighbor sees someone walking along kind of a common area,

00:07:12.171 –> 00:07:13.591
they’re not going to report that.

00:07:13.731 –> 00:07:18.051
But if they, if a neighbor sees, you know, a suspicious person walking in the

00:07:18.051 –> 00:07:21.591
area, that’s obviously your property, they’re going to, they’re going to call

00:07:21.591 –> 00:07:23.731
you or they’re going to call the police and say, Hey, there’s someone creeping

00:07:23.731 –> 00:07:25.931
around on my neighbor’s property. Yeah.

00:07:26.591 –> 00:07:30.591
Yeah. And I imagine that’s probably a little easier to do out in,

00:07:30.591 –> 00:07:33.791
you know, in the suburbs than in town.

00:07:33.991 –> 00:07:39.551
Right. Because so many things are blended in so well, or even in what I call

00:07:39.551 –> 00:07:42.051
postage stamp or townhome communities.

00:07:42.051 –> 00:07:46.171
You know, there’s so much of the property that’s could come off as just being

00:07:46.171 –> 00:07:52.931
public access or whatever, like specific to my property and my piece of land,

00:07:52.931 –> 00:07:56.731
if you will. You know, in situations like that, what can I do?

00:07:57.011 –> 00:08:00.631
I mean, you bring up a really good point, like in those areas where it can be

00:08:00.631 –> 00:08:07.171
more difficult to perceive where the line is, so to speak, between my property and the public’s.

00:08:07.271 –> 00:08:11.231
What are some things that I can do in those communities to kind of offset or

00:08:11.231 –> 00:08:15.311
better make it clear where my stuff starts and the public area ends?

00:08:15.901 –> 00:08:21.141
So if you’re in houses, if you’re in places like houses, even if it is in an

00:08:21.141 –> 00:08:26.101
urban area, you always have somewhat of a capability to do the access control.

00:08:26.101 –> 00:08:31.061
But if you’re in a place like condos and apartments where there’s a common area,

00:08:31.181 –> 00:08:35.781
there’s a public vehicular area where there’s really no way to know who’s allowed

00:08:35.781 –> 00:08:37.321
to be on that parking lot, you know.

00:08:38.141 –> 00:08:41.121
You’re still going to boil down to other things, whether it be stoops,

00:08:41.281 –> 00:08:47.321
whether it be breezeways, interior common areas where you can get to know those

00:08:47.321 –> 00:08:48.981
immediate people that live around you.

00:08:48.981 –> 00:08:52.721
Where you know this is an older couple that, you know, they don’t have any family

00:08:52.721 –> 00:08:58.201
in the area or where this is a younger couple that has a bunch of friends coming over all the time.

00:08:58.361 –> 00:09:01.861
Get to know what type of people and who’s expected there.

00:09:02.101 –> 00:09:05.821
You know, that way, if you see something that doesn’t match,

00:09:06.261 –> 00:09:09.441
it kind of gives you a little bit of rise for concern.

00:09:09.841 –> 00:09:15.081
But in a lot of those places like apartments, all you have is that is your doorway in front of you.

00:09:15.281 –> 00:09:18.221
You know, the parking lot shared. so that’s when you focus

00:09:18.221 –> 00:09:21.101
more maybe less on access control and less on

00:09:21.101 –> 00:09:23.741
uh like things that are out of

00:09:23.741 –> 00:09:27.041
your control focus more on that interior security whether

00:09:27.041 –> 00:09:30.301
it be you know that ring doorbell at the front door or whether

00:09:30.301 –> 00:09:33.981
it be just you know making sure your your doors and windows are secure you have

00:09:33.981 –> 00:09:38.381
alarms you you would have a light on or a tv running the background when you’re

00:09:38.381 –> 00:09:42.861
not home yeah you just you just up your game in other areas yeah you know when

00:09:42.861 –> 00:09:47.501
i asked that i i didn’t describe what I had in my head very well.

00:09:47.681 –> 00:09:51.881
You know, I had a buddy that was living in a town home of some sort for a while.

00:09:52.061 –> 00:09:56.341
And, you know, so much of the front of the property and even the backspace is

00:09:56.341 –> 00:10:01.621
so generic. It’s hard to know, you know, aside from being on their front door

00:10:01.621 –> 00:10:05.501
stoop, like you say, it’s hard to know really where those lines are.

00:10:06.089 –> 00:10:10.569
But you’re right. And you make a really great point is when you’re in a complete

00:10:10.569 –> 00:10:16.749
public area like an apartment or condominiums that are built in old hotels or whatever,

00:10:17.029 –> 00:10:23.029
the notion of personal private space almost goes out the window when it comes

00:10:23.029 –> 00:10:25.429
to the main transition spaces.

00:10:25.429 –> 00:10:30.749
Because until you’re at someone’s door, their front door, so to speak,

00:10:30.889 –> 00:10:35.829
their only door in a lot of cases, there’s really no concept of personal.

00:10:36.109 –> 00:10:40.869
So to your point, that’s the time where it really makes most sense to spend

00:10:40.869 –> 00:10:45.989
time getting to know your neighbors on your floor, certainly immediately on

00:10:45.989 –> 00:10:50.789
either side around you and paying attention to them and their habits.

00:10:50.789 –> 00:10:56.489
That way, it’s easier for you to pick up when something’s out of place or more

00:10:56.489 –> 00:11:01.549
specifically, when a person’s out of place, right, or doesn’t seem like they belong there.

00:11:01.649 –> 00:11:05.089
So that’s a really great point. What else should we consider?

00:11:05.882 –> 00:11:11.202
Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, even in those areas like that, a lot of times you have

00:11:11.202 –> 00:11:15.022
assigned parking, and you can learn which cars are typically in those assigned

00:11:15.022 –> 00:11:18.602
parking spots. If you see a car that shouldn’t be in that spot,

00:11:18.742 –> 00:11:20.522
there’s another calls for alarm.

00:11:20.762 –> 00:11:22.762
A lot of them have balconies and patios.

00:11:23.742 –> 00:11:28.522
I guarantee if you put doorbells and things like that, even a camera on your

00:11:28.522 –> 00:11:32.902
balcony or your patio, if someone’s coming to break into some apartments,

00:11:33.102 –> 00:11:35.782
they’re going to bypass the ones that have cameras and stuff.

00:11:35.882 –> 00:11:41.002
So it’s almost, it sounds bad, but you’re almost doing just enough extra work

00:11:41.002 –> 00:11:45.682
to be able to deter someone from your apartment to your neighbor’s apartment.

00:11:45.882 –> 00:11:49.122
I mean, as bad as that sounds, you just, you can’t let it happen to you.

00:11:49.262 –> 00:11:52.902
And if everyone in your general area is doing that as well, everyone’s going

00:11:52.902 –> 00:11:56.262
to skip that whole apartment complex, you know, which is what you want.

00:11:56.362 –> 00:12:00.242
You want to deter this sort of activity away from your area.

00:12:00.242 –> 00:12:05.762
But as we go through this, most of what I’m saying is more about those suburban

00:12:05.762 –> 00:12:11.362
or those rural areas houses, just because there’s only you’re limited to so

00:12:11.362 –> 00:12:14.422
much, you know, in an apartment or very, very urban area.

00:12:14.422 –> 00:12:20.042
No, I’m glad we’re talking about this because, you know, in the spirit of transparency,

00:12:20.042 –> 00:12:22.362
when I talked about home security before,

00:12:22.382 –> 00:12:31.182
I literally was going about it from the standpoint of an actual house on a yard off the street, right?

00:12:31.182 –> 00:12:35.542
And so I had not spent a lot of time or given a lot of thought to apartment

00:12:35.542 –> 00:12:38.942
communities and condos and townhomes and those sorts of things,

00:12:38.962 –> 00:12:45.422
because that adds a whole new layer of challenges just because there isn’t so

00:12:45.422 –> 00:12:51.622
much private space necessarily leading up to the structure itself. And to your point.

00:12:52.100 –> 00:12:58.140
And that’s where deterrents of different sorts, whether it’s extra lighting on your balcony.

00:12:59.080 –> 00:13:02.520
You know, security stickers on the windows and doors, you know,

00:13:02.680 –> 00:13:07.560
whatever it looks like, that’s when those things can really help from a deterrent standpoint.

00:13:08.220 –> 00:13:14.300
And to your point, sad but true, the bad guys are always going to pick the easier

00:13:14.300 –> 00:13:17.000
target, right? That’s true of property or people.

00:13:17.160 –> 00:13:20.580
They always are looking for the easy win, right?

00:13:20.580 –> 00:13:27.620
And so the place that looks like it’s kept and looks like it’s secure is probably

00:13:27.620 –> 00:13:32.680
going to get passed over for the property that is not that way,

00:13:32.720 –> 00:13:34.700
or at least doesn’t seem that way, right?

00:13:35.491 –> 00:13:40.011
Yep, yep. And, you know, in those areas, too, you have a lot of witnesses,

00:13:40.031 –> 00:13:41.131
you have a lot of neighbors.

00:13:42.311 –> 00:13:45.851
If you set aside domestic-related B&Es and things like that,

00:13:46.631 –> 00:13:51.191
your B&Es to apartments and stuff like that is a whole different type.

00:13:51.191 –> 00:13:55.631
You know, it’s not something where this bad guy is like, that person that lives

00:13:55.631 –> 00:14:00.031
in that apartment has a lot of money and a lot of electronics I want to steal.

00:14:00.271 –> 00:14:04.891
You know, they typically focus on more secluded areas or areas where there’s

00:14:04.891 –> 00:14:07.271
not a lot of people that’s going to hear them kicking a door in,

00:14:07.551 –> 00:14:10.811
going to see them running where there may not be cameras.

00:14:11.031 –> 00:14:16.851
So you pick random little houses that there’s a less chance of having cameras,

00:14:17.011 –> 00:14:19.711
you know, apartment complex and stuff like that. They have their own,

00:14:19.711 –> 00:14:21.491
you know, camera systems.

00:14:21.971 –> 00:14:25.951
So you are looking at a different set of crime in apartments,

00:14:25.951 –> 00:14:29.351
and a lot of that, you know, might just actually be in the parking lot when

00:14:29.351 –> 00:14:32.911
you’re getting in and out of your car, which we’ll focus on that when we get to cars.

00:14:33.191 –> 00:14:36.731
I guess we’ll move on to permanent barricades, if that’s cool with you.

00:14:36.971 –> 00:14:39.931
Yeah, and just a couple of points on that note.

00:14:40.271 –> 00:14:44.871
I, you know, you’re spot on. Just for the audience, edification,

00:14:45.191 –> 00:14:46.551
B&E is breaking and entering.

00:14:47.111 –> 00:14:51.731
And the other point to make out, too, and Wesley, keep me honest here is,

00:14:51.891 –> 00:14:56.111
you know, when things like B&Es happen, it’s not like a random act.

00:14:56.371 –> 00:15:00.871
I mean, not saying that they don’t happen from time to time,

00:15:00.911 –> 00:15:05.591
but usually these things have been well planned out or at least partially planned out.

00:15:05.711 –> 00:15:12.031
And they’ve observed you and or your place for some period of time before making

00:15:12.031 –> 00:15:16.771
the decision to hit it. And it’s because they’re looking for all the things

00:15:16.771 –> 00:15:20.611
to be ideal to their, you know, to their advantage.

00:15:20.851 –> 00:15:24.091
Right. And if they’re not, they’ll move on to the next one. But these things

00:15:24.091 –> 00:15:28.371
don’t happen necessarily random. They’re more planned out, more thought through.

00:15:28.651 –> 00:15:31.911
They’re they’re casing the places, they say. Is that fair?

00:15:32.592 –> 00:15:39.452
Well, maybe in some cases. Again, most V&Es are typically going to be domestic

00:15:39.452 –> 00:15:42.952
related, you know, an ex or somebody breaking into a house.

00:15:43.092 –> 00:15:48.132
But if you set aside that whole 50% of V&Es, yeah, you do have a portion that’s going to case.

00:15:48.132 –> 00:15:51.972
But I think in most cases where someone’s breaking into, you know,

00:15:52.532 –> 00:15:56.092
normal houses valued between, you know, $100,000 to $400,000,

00:15:56.712 –> 00:16:01.972
usually that’s going to be on a spree of D&Es where they’re going to break into

00:16:01.972 –> 00:16:08.052
two or three houses in a set period of time and then be gone from that area for weeks or months.

00:16:09.692 –> 00:16:12.692
So it’s not always that they’re sitting out casing your house.

00:16:12.832 –> 00:16:17.012
It’s more like a moment of opportunity. Someone drops them off in the area.

00:16:18.092 –> 00:16:23.072
They hit a couple of houses that look unoccupied, look dark,

00:16:23.652 –> 00:16:27.472
look like they don’t have a sign sitting out front that says alarm system.

00:16:27.992 –> 00:16:31.972
They’ll hit two or three houses in the dead of night, and then they’ll get in

00:16:31.972 –> 00:16:34.192
their car that’s parked around the corner and be gone.

00:16:35.072 –> 00:16:39.012
That’s typically what I’ve seen, at least in my law enforcement.

00:16:39.372 –> 00:16:42.772
Of course, every city, every state may be a little bit different. Yeah.

00:16:44.812 –> 00:16:48.132
I would say maybe 50% are domestic-related, and then maybe…

00:16:49.283 –> 00:16:54.543
30, 40% of our crimes of opportunity where, well, maybe a little bit more than

00:16:54.543 –> 00:16:57.403
that, where it’s not like they’re just walking by and they see,

00:16:57.883 –> 00:17:00.943
oh, let’s go break into that house, but more like they get dropped off in an

00:17:00.943 –> 00:17:04.783
area they intend to break into some houses, and then they hit a few.

00:17:04.783 –> 00:17:11.263
And then probably, like you say, 15-20% might be ones where they’ve seen something go on there.

00:17:11.383 –> 00:17:15.583
They know this person, they follow this person home because they have a very

00:17:15.583 –> 00:17:20.583
expensive car, or they drove by the neighborhood a couple times and look and

00:17:20.583 –> 00:17:23.983
see when people are home or when they’re leaving sort of deal. Yeah. Yeah.

00:17:24.443 –> 00:17:27.403
No, you bring up a good point. Sprees are another thing. I mean,

00:17:27.583 –> 00:17:32.523
you know, I can remember last summer, you know, I don’t know how many times

00:17:32.523 –> 00:17:37.203
something has to happen for it to be officially labeled as a spree.

00:17:37.203 –> 00:17:42.103
But I’ll say there was a spree of vehicle break-ins here in my neighborhood

00:17:42.103 –> 00:17:49.023
or, you know, just on the perimeter of my neighborhood and surrounding communities, I guess, too.

00:17:49.243 –> 00:17:53.283
And I think it was a bunch of kids going through looking for unlocked vehicles,

00:17:53.503 –> 00:17:55.863
which is usually the case when it comes to cars.

00:17:56.063 –> 00:18:00.863
But anyway, yeah, the spree thing is definitely something that happens as well.

00:18:00.983 –> 00:18:05.103
So you wanted to move on to hardening of the perimeter next?

00:18:05.923 –> 00:18:10.103
Yeah. So basically we’re looking at things like fencing and bollards,

00:18:10.263 –> 00:18:15.803
which are those like concrete poles and an actual natural perimeter barricades.

00:18:15.983 –> 00:18:19.083
So if you’re looking at fencing, for one, fencing is great.

00:18:19.303 –> 00:18:24.583
It keeps people out. You know, it’s obvious if someone sees this suspect inside

00:18:24.583 –> 00:18:26.343
your fence, that’s suspicious.

00:18:27.423 –> 00:18:31.943
And so it sets up that for sure this is my property if you cross into it you’re

00:18:31.943 –> 00:18:36.063
going to look out of place because a lot of it what we want we want to recognize them but,

00:18:36.545 –> 00:18:40.005
But we also want our neighbors to recognize something suspicious going on because

00:18:40.005 –> 00:18:42.025
a lot of times they’re the ones who call.

00:18:42.185 –> 00:18:45.185
They’re the ones who either call us or the police to let us know there’s someone

00:18:45.185 –> 00:18:47.685
snooping around in your back shed or something.

00:18:47.985 –> 00:18:51.645
So when you look at fencing, think about the idea.

00:18:51.965 –> 00:18:55.765
Yeah, a large privacy wooden fence will keep out a lot of people.

00:18:55.845 –> 00:18:59.465
But if someone wants something bad enough, once they get inside that fenced

00:18:59.465 –> 00:19:03.805
area, which anyone could pretty much jump about any fence unless you’re having

00:19:03.805 –> 00:19:06.325
some sort of barbed wire on top, which is unrealistic.

00:19:06.545 –> 00:19:10.545
Once they get in that fenced area, they’ve got all that privacy themselves.

00:19:10.865 –> 00:19:14.525
So now neighbors can’t really see them behind that privacy fence.

00:19:14.725 –> 00:19:18.465
So think about that idea when you’re choosing your fencing. Do you want chain

00:19:18.465 –> 00:19:21.985
link? Do you want that wood stick build? Do you want wrought iron?

00:19:22.265 –> 00:19:27.485
Because they can all offer that line of perimeter defense, but some of them

00:19:27.485 –> 00:19:31.865
can conceal the bad guy, which we may not want. Just something to consider.

00:19:32.505 –> 00:19:36.905
And then, like I said, trees, curbs, bollards, and things like that.

00:19:37.185 –> 00:19:41.465
A lot of these come into play if you’re really talking about major,

00:19:41.465 –> 00:19:46.105
you know, kind of end-of-the-world sort of security and defensive measures where

00:19:46.105 –> 00:19:48.265
you’re afraid of marauders and things like that.

00:19:49.545 –> 00:19:53.125
But yeah, I just wanted to point out that the fencing concept of how,

00:19:53.345 –> 00:19:58.265
you know, it says that player, but also can also offer concealment for the bad

00:19:58.265 –> 00:20:02.505
guy. Yeah, you have to kind of take your take your picks, right?

00:20:02.705 –> 00:20:06.445
The pros and cons of types of fencing. And I think it’s safe to say that there’s

00:20:06.445 –> 00:20:10.705
a lot of privacy fencing in in communities, right?

00:20:10.965 –> 00:20:14.805
Just not wanting prying eyes in your backyard, etc.

00:20:15.165 –> 00:20:20.145
But if you do have that, and someone happens to be inside your perimeter,

00:20:20.365 –> 00:20:24.165
so to speak, the neighbors may not be able to pick up on that as quickly or

00:20:24.165 –> 00:20:27.405
easily with privacy fencing versus some other types.

00:20:27.405 –> 00:20:32.665
And when I think of, you know, I don’t know that for residential spaces,

00:20:33.025 –> 00:20:37.145
bollards or concrete, you know, pillars make a lot of sense, but…

00:20:37.778 –> 00:20:41.958
You know, in addition to fencing types and being mindful of the type of fencing

00:20:41.958 –> 00:20:48.098
you put up and where you put it up on your property, you can also use greenery, shrubs, bushes.

00:20:48.398 –> 00:20:55.758
And there are types of shrubs and bushes that help thwart or discourage folks

00:20:55.758 –> 00:20:56.958
from hiding out behind them.

00:20:56.958 –> 00:21:00.918
Because to your point about fencing, you know, if a neighbor sees someone inside

00:21:00.918 –> 00:21:06.718
your corned off property, that’s a pretty good sign that someone might be where

00:21:06.718 –> 00:21:07.978
they’re not supposed to be.

00:21:08.078 –> 00:21:13.418
By that same token, if you get home or if your neighbor sees someone between

00:21:13.418 –> 00:21:17.298
your building and the shrubs on the front of your house, that’s probably a pretty

00:21:17.298 –> 00:21:19.918
good indicator that they’re out of place as well.

00:21:19.918 –> 00:21:23.818
But there are some shrubs and bush types, whatever you call them,

00:21:23.938 –> 00:21:30.078
that help discourage people from trying to hang out behind them like hollies

00:21:30.078 –> 00:21:33.338
or things with thorns, you know, those types of plants.

00:21:33.338 –> 00:21:38.198
And then as I’ve told folks over the years is you want to make sure you keep

00:21:38.198 –> 00:21:42.398
that shrubbery, those bushes trimmed up too because A,

00:21:42.618 –> 00:21:48.738
it makes things look nice and it makes things look like they’re kept in someone’s

00:21:48.738 –> 00:21:50.718
home or at least around regularly.

00:21:50.718 –> 00:21:54.618
But the other thing that you’re trying to do is keep those shrubs and bushes

00:21:54.618 –> 00:21:57.238
back up off the house by a foot or so.

00:21:57.738 –> 00:22:01.798
A, so things around your property can breathe better, maybe a little bit more

00:22:01.798 –> 00:22:06.838
light gets in behind there, but it also makes it more difficult for people to hide out.

00:22:06.838 –> 00:22:11.178
You think, well, there’s more space, so it’s easier for them to get in there.

00:22:11.478 –> 00:22:17.458
But really what you’re trying to do is create an area that is easier for you and others to see into.

00:22:18.238 –> 00:22:21.558
Plus, you’re keeping all your growth off your house anyway, which is what you

00:22:21.558 –> 00:22:24.378
need to be doing. So plan. Yeah, man, you were.

00:22:24.878 –> 00:22:29.618
You got it, man. You segwayed right into the other, the CEPTED,

00:22:29.758 –> 00:22:35.218
the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, where these trees are, how to cut them down.

00:22:35.938 –> 00:22:40.538
Another concept is how close those trees are to your house, your building.

00:22:40.958 –> 00:22:44.618
Trees, the actual tree itself should be 10 feet from your house.

00:22:45.098 –> 00:22:47.978
Overhanging limbs should be six feet from the buildings because you’re also

00:22:47.978 –> 00:22:51.498
looking at climbing aids, anything that can help people get to that second story.

00:22:51.498 –> 00:22:53.138
Yeah, for the ninjas out there.

00:22:53.298 –> 00:22:56.878
The trees, the overhang, you want to have those trimmed upwards seven feet.

00:22:57.118 –> 00:23:01.518
So that way, you know, you don’t have limbs hanging down that are offering concealment.

00:23:01.938 –> 00:23:05.238
Bushes, like you said, you want them trimmed down on average two feet,

00:23:05.398 –> 00:23:07.978
but at least six inches from the bottom of the windowsill.

00:23:08.178 –> 00:23:11.038
Yeah. Because that’s what they do. They look for these bushes that you have

00:23:11.038 –> 00:23:14.538
lined around your house, and that offers them concealment so they can get to

00:23:14.538 –> 00:23:17.338
a window, break into a window without anyone seeing them.

00:23:17.598 –> 00:23:21.158
So keep those bushes trimmed down. And you had it on point too,

00:23:21.278 –> 00:23:25.938
like Holly, you know, look at, look at a hostile plant, look at things that

00:23:25.938 –> 00:23:30.398
have thorns that are going to keep them from wanting to get between that bush in your house.

00:23:30.758 –> 00:23:34.138
Consider crushing run or gravel around your, around your house,

00:23:34.158 –> 00:23:37.058
because when people walk on those rocks, you can hear them.

00:23:37.178 –> 00:23:40.898
You know, if you’re in your bedroom laying down asleep and you start hearing

00:23:40.898 –> 00:23:43.878
footsteps on your crushing run gravel right outside your window,

00:23:44.378 –> 00:23:48.998
that, that raises your, hey, someone’s out there. Yeah, that’s a good point.

00:23:49.818 –> 00:23:54.798
Yeah, I mean, that’s case and argument to consider things like gravel or,

00:23:54.798 –> 00:24:00.238
you know, ground up granite, gravel, whatever, lava and or slate.

00:24:00.898 –> 00:24:05.638
Like my parents have just recently replaced all of their bark or whatever they

00:24:05.638 –> 00:24:09.518
had around the perimeter with, I forget what it’s officially called,

00:24:09.578 –> 00:24:12.418
but it basically looks up, looks like crushed up slate.

00:24:12.558 –> 00:24:16.518
But you’re right. You can’t possibly get close to the house without making noise.

00:24:16.518 –> 00:24:19.138
It’s impossible. So that’s a really great point.

00:24:19.810 –> 00:24:22.730
I mean, if we could have a moat with a river and alligators going around our

00:24:22.730 –> 00:24:26.250
house, that’s awesome. But these are other little steps we can do, I guess.

00:24:26.490 –> 00:24:31.170
Right. The second best approach to building out your perimeter.

00:24:31.830 –> 00:24:35.510
Yeah, it’s good to know about the trees, too, keeping the trees trimmed back.

00:24:35.510 –> 00:24:39.090
I know in the past I’ve had trees right up against my house,

00:24:39.090 –> 00:24:40.470
and I’ve since removed them.

00:24:40.570 –> 00:24:43.730
But, yeah, that’s something that folks don’t always consider.

00:24:43.890 –> 00:24:46.170
I mean, I know I haven’t in the past necessarily.

00:24:47.110 –> 00:24:52.730
What’s next on the list? let’s talk about signage for one your your your street

00:24:52.730 –> 00:24:57.810
numbers your street address if your house is one two three appleberry road you

00:24:57.810 –> 00:25:00.810
want to make sure one two three is very visible on your house,

00:25:01.390 –> 00:25:05.170
mainly because yeah you want to make sure you get your mail but if you have

00:25:05.170 –> 00:25:08.510
to call the police or ambulance or fire you want them to be able to find your

00:25:08.510 –> 00:25:12.070
house so make sure you got it you know if you’re on a corner corner lot make

00:25:12.070 –> 00:25:14.830
sure both sides of your house have have your street address on them.

00:25:14.930 –> 00:25:19.050
Make sure your mailbox, both sides of your mailbox have the number on them.

00:25:19.290 –> 00:25:23.310
As far as security and stuff goes, even if you don’t have a security system,

00:25:23.430 –> 00:25:26.130
alarm system, put a sign out front that says you do.

00:25:26.350 –> 00:25:30.250
If for some reason you can’t afford one, you can buy signs online.

00:25:30.650 –> 00:25:32.230
That in itself is a good deterrent.

00:25:32.670 –> 00:25:36.310
Even signs like beware of dog or no trespassing.

00:25:36.530 –> 00:25:40.930
Something to show that the person who lives here, they have things that will

00:25:40.930 –> 00:25:42.370
keep me from getting in the house.

00:25:42.590 –> 00:25:46.250
They care about what’s happening at their house. I don’t want to get bit by a dog.

00:25:46.450 –> 00:25:50.750
I don’t want my face on camera, things like that. Yeah, absolutely.

00:25:51.110 –> 00:25:55.410
Even fines that say you have cameras. Yeah, it’s better if you do have cameras,

00:25:55.430 –> 00:26:00.050
but just the fact you’ve got fines up that says you have cameras turns people away.

00:26:00.190 –> 00:26:04.890
And if you’re way out in a rural area where it’s hard to cover all the entrances

00:26:04.890 –> 00:26:07.710
to your property, consider the purple paint law.

00:26:07.710 –> 00:26:13.190
I think it’s something in all 50 states, but if not, the majority of states

00:26:13.190 –> 00:26:17.370
have a purple paint law, which usually lets you put a strip of paint,

00:26:17.730 –> 00:26:21.410
a purple paint, on trees, on posts. It’s usually…

00:26:21.827 –> 00:26:24.487
Uh, it’s gotta be like every hundred feet along your perimeter,

00:26:24.487 –> 00:26:29.347
but for one, it lets people know whether it be hunters or people trying to trespass for other reasons.

00:26:29.607 –> 00:26:32.767
It lets people know this is your property. You care about it.

00:26:32.947 –> 00:26:36.847
You know, if, if they get caught out there, they’re going to be in additional trouble.

00:26:37.027 –> 00:26:41.407
It raises the criminal charge of the trespassing charge to a higher level.

00:26:41.547 –> 00:26:46.927
If someone crosses across that purple, those purple paint painted trees and post.

00:26:47.987 –> 00:26:51.387
So yeah, just another thing to consider there. I had never heard this.

00:26:51.467 –> 00:26:58.587
And so you put purple paint at a point that you consider like the absolute closest

00:26:58.587 –> 00:27:01.107
in anybody should be on the property.

00:27:01.327 –> 00:27:05.067
Is that the idea behind it? It should be the perimeter.

00:27:05.507 –> 00:27:10.327
So it should be the very first point where it leaves the public property or

00:27:10.327 –> 00:27:13.887
whether it be the road or someone else’s property, and then it becomes yours.

00:27:14.067 –> 00:27:17.887
So it goes on the outer perimeter, and it’s a way to say people were,

00:27:18.287 –> 00:27:23.647
especially people who have a lot of acreage, it’s kind of costly to put signs up every few feet.

00:27:24.127 –> 00:27:27.987
So it’s a way the government, the state’s made up where if you just put these

00:27:27.987 –> 00:27:31.647
purple stripes, we count that as you having a sign that says no trespassing.

00:27:32.447 –> 00:27:35.347
Basically, it’s the same thing as a sign that says no trespassing.

00:27:35.487 –> 00:27:39.667
It raises the criminal charge to a higher degree, and it makes it cheaper for

00:27:39.667 –> 00:27:42.087
you to be able to put signage all around your property.

00:27:42.347 –> 00:27:46.067
And it’s usually about three to five feet up from the ground level.

00:27:46.187 –> 00:27:49.947
It’s got to be, and it’s usually an eight-inch stripe. So it’s like.

00:27:50.490 –> 00:27:54.210
Yeah, it’s basically one paintbrush going down about eight inches on a tree.

00:27:54.450 –> 00:27:58.790
Yep, yep. No, it makes sense. I had never heard of that, but that’s interesting.

00:27:58.990 –> 00:28:04.170
It’s like you say, it’s an inexpensive way of marking the bounds of your property,

00:28:04.170 –> 00:28:08.290
and it’s the same thing as saying, hey, this is private property, stay out.

00:28:08.390 –> 00:28:12.910
And it’s essentially the equivalent of a cheap way of saying no trespassing

00:28:12.910 –> 00:28:17.410
instead of nailing signs into the trees. It’s a cheap, safer,

00:28:17.410 –> 00:28:21.370
very clear-cut way of saying this is private property, stay out of here.

00:28:21.630 –> 00:28:26.010
That’s great. Probably not so practical for the neighborhoods,

00:28:26.010 –> 00:28:31.130
but to your point on big pieces of land, farmland or hunting property,

00:28:31.130 –> 00:28:34.710
I could see it being very useful. Makes a lot of sense.

00:28:35.310 –> 00:28:40.810
Absolutely. And just your listeners, type in purple-pink wall and then the name of your state.

00:28:41.130 –> 00:28:45.930
Like I say, I think pretty much every state has this in effect.

00:28:46.170 –> 00:28:48.430
So just look it up what it is in your state.

00:28:49.110 –> 00:28:52.110
Wow. Yeah, that’s really good to know about for sure.

00:28:52.590 –> 00:28:55.690
Well, let’s shoot through a couple more of these. So we’re not,

00:28:55.830 –> 00:28:59.070
because I know we wanted to talk a little bit about vehicles, correct? Yeah.

00:28:59.590 –> 00:29:03.730
So just real quick, obviously lighting is important, whether it be motion lighting,

00:29:03.870 –> 00:29:06.230
things like that. Make sure you’ve got lighting around your property.

00:29:06.770 –> 00:29:10.110
Motion lighting is awesome. I think these days people realize,

00:29:10.410 –> 00:29:13.850
yeah, I think, you know, a couple of decades ago, motion lighting was way more

00:29:13.850 –> 00:29:16.530
effective because as before, it was such a common thing.

00:29:16.530 –> 00:29:20.170
So when a bad guy is walking along your backyard and a light comes on,

00:29:20.290 –> 00:29:22.250
they’re like, Oh, they’re awake. Yeah.

00:29:22.470 –> 00:29:25.890
I think now it’s just kind of, it’s just kind of a thing where it’s like,

00:29:26.518 –> 00:29:30.378
It brings that extra awareness to the bad guy. Like, oh, he’s got motion lights.

00:29:30.518 –> 00:29:32.818
He’s paying attention to what’s happening here.

00:29:33.318 –> 00:29:37.238
Doorbell cams, camera detection, like motion detection cameras.

00:29:37.538 –> 00:29:40.038
Put them around your property, your front door, your back door,

00:29:40.298 –> 00:29:43.438
your driveway, so you can look if someone’s breaking into your cars.

00:29:43.858 –> 00:29:47.078
Different types of early alert systems. Maybe you have a long driveway.

00:29:48.018 –> 00:29:51.698
There’s alarms you can put up, like maybe post them to your mailbox or something.

00:29:51.698 –> 00:29:56.678
So when someone crosses across the path of your driveway, you get an alert inside the house.

00:29:57.305 –> 00:30:02.085
Yeah, those pathway chimes, driveway chimes, they work really well.

00:30:02.465 –> 00:30:09.445
My buddy lives out in a country area, let’s say, and his driveway is actually a road.

00:30:10.145 –> 00:30:13.705
Most people don’t know it, but it’s on Google Maps is a road.

00:30:13.965 –> 00:30:19.965
So he’s had some traffic come through the property thinking that they could

00:30:19.965 –> 00:30:23.405
get out the other side, right? because it shows up on GPS when,

00:30:23.525 –> 00:30:26.965
in fact, it’s just his driveway that splits his driveway.

00:30:27.525 –> 00:30:32.605
So he’s kind of in a unique situation. But he did put up chimes,

00:30:32.685 –> 00:30:33.965
I know, because I helped him do it.

00:30:34.005 –> 00:30:38.045
He did put up chimes at the front of the driveway and then back on the other

00:30:38.045 –> 00:30:41.565
side so he could hear when something crossed that.

00:30:41.685 –> 00:30:44.965
Now, the disadvantage of the chimes is if you’re out in the country,

00:30:45.165 –> 00:30:49.285
a deer or some other animal that could get in front of that could trip it.

00:30:49.285 –> 00:30:53.765
But it really just depends on, you know, your situation, where you live,

00:30:53.945 –> 00:30:57.745
how long your driveway is, as to whether or not those chimes make sense.

00:30:57.905 –> 00:31:03.525
But they do work really well, and you will hear them when something crosses that line for sure.

00:31:04.045 –> 00:31:09.265
They do, and the battery systems on them are excellent. They last for years,

00:31:09.505 –> 00:31:10.745
you know, before you have to replace them.

00:31:10.965 –> 00:31:15.765
Yeah. I think they operate on MERS radio frequencies, so the range is pretty

00:31:15.765 –> 00:31:19.285
good depending on, you know, trees and stuff. If you can get it well over a

00:31:19.285 –> 00:31:24.225
mile, just depending on the terrain, we’ve got them at our property as well.

00:31:24.325 –> 00:31:27.745
But like you say, we’re always getting faultful arms, so we’re always adjusting them.

00:31:27.905 –> 00:31:32.625
I think we’ve about got them adjusted now, angled, and enough off the ground

00:31:32.625 –> 00:31:35.485
where we’re avoiding deers, or deer, I should say.

00:31:36.249 –> 00:31:39.169
But, yeah, those are awesome. Yeah, they are. They really are,

00:31:39.269 –> 00:31:44.829
especially when you’ve got those larger pieces of property and or super long driveways.

00:31:45.049 –> 00:31:49.449
It definitely gives you an early warning sign. And the other nice thing about

00:31:49.449 –> 00:31:52.629
them is, too, is when you’re expecting folks, you know when they show up.

00:31:52.769 –> 00:31:57.269
You know when they’ve gotten there. So that’s the other kind of side benefit of having them as well.

00:31:57.869 –> 00:32:01.329
Absolutely. You finish your bathroom trip because you heard the alarm go off.

00:32:01.469 –> 00:32:03.629
Hang on. They’re here. They’re pulling up. Right.

00:32:04.109 –> 00:32:06.349
They’re at the front door. They are great. Thank you.

00:32:06.686 –> 00:32:10.386
Yeah. And the lighting is great, too. And it’s gotten so much better.

00:32:10.686 –> 00:32:14.326
You know, everything’s going the way of LED now. So they’re brighter.

00:32:14.546 –> 00:32:20.366
They don’t burn as hot as the old school incandescent floodlights used to.

00:32:20.506 –> 00:32:24.766
You know, those 100 watt floodlights burn super hot sometimes.

00:32:24.766 –> 00:32:26.846
And the LED takes all that away.

00:32:27.006 –> 00:32:32.306
You know, less energy consumption, virtually no heat or very little heat.

00:32:32.526 –> 00:32:36.226
And they’re bright as all get out. I just put a new one up over the front of

00:32:36.226 –> 00:32:39.086
my garage recently, brand new LED.

00:32:39.446 –> 00:32:42.746
You can aim and adjust the lights where you want them.

00:32:43.186 –> 00:32:46.486
And I’m pretty sure if you’re within 20 feet of those lights,

00:32:46.506 –> 00:32:48.906
you’re going to burn the back of your retinas out with them.

00:32:49.086 –> 00:32:52.326
So there’s a lot of great options on the market for sure.

00:32:52.486 –> 00:32:55.786
And it’s great to have that lighting up really and

00:32:55.786 –> 00:32:58.986
truly anywhere where there’s an entrance exit

00:32:58.986 –> 00:33:02.106
to your prop to your house your home

00:33:02.106 –> 00:33:05.026
but anywhere that’s that’s dark

00:33:05.026 –> 00:33:08.186
that you think needs some light they’re they’re great

00:33:08.186 –> 00:33:11.386
to string up and and relatively inexpensive and

00:33:11.386 –> 00:33:15.726
not that hard to put up yeah that’s the one thing lighting is very inexpensive

00:33:15.726 –> 00:33:20.186
so there’s not a lot of excuse not to get proper lighting around your around

00:33:20.186 –> 00:33:24.606
your house your curtilage yeah and if you know and it’s easy enough to call

00:33:24.606 –> 00:33:29.446
an electrician to have some additional house wiring run if you happen not to have any.

00:33:29.606 –> 00:33:35.266
But I find most houses seem to be pretty much wired up to at least have floodlights

00:33:35.266 –> 00:33:36.886
on the corners, if nothing else.

00:33:37.046 –> 00:33:38.866
And nothing says you can’t go

00:33:38.866 –> 00:33:44.286
and get some solar powered spotlights to put around the property as well.

00:33:44.646 –> 00:33:48.626
I don’t find they work as great, but something’s better than nothing.

00:33:48.866 –> 00:33:53.526
Lighting can mean a lot of deterrent for the bad guys, for sure.

00:33:54.046 –> 00:33:57.166
Yeah, we use, I think it’s called Mr. Beams. They’re just, you know,

00:33:57.306 –> 00:34:01.346
D-battery operated motion lights and you can.

00:34:02.194 –> 00:34:06.114
Screw them into a tree or the side of your house. And those things last for

00:34:06.114 –> 00:34:07.294
years on those D batteries.

00:34:07.334 –> 00:34:10.434
As long as you’re making sure there’s no foliage in front of them that keeps

00:34:10.434 –> 00:34:13.354
triggering it or something, as long as you’re not getting false triggers,

00:34:13.814 –> 00:34:16.694
those are great ways to light your whole, your whole perimeter.

00:34:17.974 –> 00:34:22.314
So let’s, let’s, let’s sum this up. So basically in addition to all that we’ve

00:34:22.314 –> 00:34:26.234
said, keep your doors locked, even during the day, keep your doors locked.

00:34:26.334 –> 00:34:28.034
Yeah. Just the windows locked.

00:34:28.454 –> 00:34:32.074
Yeah. Make it a practice where if you put your window up, When you put it back

00:34:32.074 –> 00:34:33.374
down, you’re locking it every time.

00:34:33.554 –> 00:34:37.154
Don’t do the sort of thing where it’s getting too cold in here.

00:34:37.194 –> 00:34:38.754
Let me put the window down. I’ll lock it tonight.

00:34:39.154 –> 00:34:42.394
Don’t do that either. If you close your window, lock it immediately.

00:34:42.554 –> 00:34:45.814
Make sure all your windows stay locked, especially your peripheral windows.

00:34:46.454 –> 00:34:50.034
Have a couple of locks on your main entry doors, your point of entries.

00:34:50.274 –> 00:34:54.534
You get bolts that throw deep using strike plates with screws of at least three

00:34:54.534 –> 00:34:56.834
inches or three inches is kind of the ideal.

00:34:57.454 –> 00:35:03.934
So it can go into that where there’s 2x4s or a 4×4 for your frame make sure

00:35:03.934 –> 00:35:08.274
it’s going all the way through that have a peephole or a window or something you can look out,

00:35:08.928 –> 00:35:13.008
It’s just people go in through windows and doors, so make sure you’ve got some

00:35:13.008 –> 00:35:17.408
sort of security mindset where you’re locking those.

00:35:17.848 –> 00:35:22.268
And then let’s talk real quickly about the home invasion. Is that cool with you? Yeah, yeah, sure.

00:35:23.028 –> 00:35:27.688
Have a plan. Have a plan right now. If you have a gun in your house,

00:35:27.848 –> 00:35:30.728
know where it is. Always try to keep it in the same spot.

00:35:30.888 –> 00:35:34.288
If you’ve got multiple weapons, keep one on the first level,

00:35:34.368 –> 00:35:37.708
one on the second level, places where you can get to them quickly.

00:35:37.708 –> 00:35:41.508
And a plan of action where, you know, if, say, you’re, you know,

00:35:41.788 –> 00:35:45.708
it doesn’t matter what gender, but let’s say you’re the man of the house and

00:35:45.708 –> 00:35:50.328
your goal is wife, when someone breaks in and I yell or whatever,

00:35:50.788 –> 00:35:53.708
you and the two kids, you go upstairs, go to the master closet,

00:35:54.288 –> 00:35:56.528
lock the bedroom door, wait in there for me.

00:35:56.888 –> 00:36:00.808
I’ll tell you it’s me coming in. And then, you know, the person of the house,

00:36:00.928 –> 00:36:03.648
whoever it be, they go retrieve that weapon.

00:36:03.848 –> 00:36:07.548
They go up to the second story and they wait and secure the stairs until they

00:36:07.548 –> 00:36:10.988
can’t secure them anymore, you have that fallback back to your closet.

00:36:11.768 –> 00:36:14.888
Or if you need to be, take action. If your life’s in danger,

00:36:15.188 –> 00:36:17.848
your family’s life’s in danger, take action and stop it.

00:36:18.268 –> 00:36:22.608
Have that plan of action so you’re all not just running around in the living room.

00:36:22.788 –> 00:36:30.308
Get your family up to safety as far away as you can from the entry points and assign roles.

00:36:30.848 –> 00:36:35.608
Your job is to call 911. Your job is to go get the baby out of this room.

00:36:35.608 –> 00:36:38.068
And your job is just to get to the closet.

00:36:38.528 –> 00:36:42.708
Have pre-planned roles and run drills. Same way with drills.

00:36:42.988 –> 00:36:47.088
We should be running fire safety drills. We should be running home invasion drills.

00:36:47.308 –> 00:36:51.168
Just have that plan of action of who’s doing what. So when it happens,

00:36:51.468 –> 00:36:55.248
even if it ended up being the mailman dropped the box and it broke the front

00:36:55.248 –> 00:36:59.868
storm door by accident, maybe it was a UPS delivering something 9 o’clock at

00:36:59.868 –> 00:37:04.728
night, still have that plan of action just in case the worst happens.

00:37:05.462 –> 00:37:09.822
Yeah, I couldn’t agree more with home invasions. You know, the chances of them

00:37:09.822 –> 00:37:11.682
happening are fairly rare.

00:37:11.962 –> 00:37:14.662
And, you know, I say this all the time in the overall scheme of things,

00:37:14.822 –> 00:37:17.982
we’re fortunate in that most bad things rarely happen.

00:37:18.262 –> 00:37:23.622
But home invasions are particularly sticky because they’re usually planned out.

00:37:23.762 –> 00:37:29.882
They’re usually driven by knowing that there’s drugs or cash in the house.

00:37:30.042 –> 00:37:33.142
You know, someone comes home late at night with the till from the restaurant

00:37:33.142 –> 00:37:38.402
or whatever it might be. And the stickiest part about home invasions is there’s

00:37:38.402 –> 00:37:44.382
usually more than one individual involved. And so they can become very dangerous very quick.

00:37:44.562 –> 00:37:50.202
You know, anyone that’s brazen enough, bold enough to break into a home when

00:37:50.202 –> 00:37:55.002
they know people are present, that’s a whole new level of,

00:37:55.222 –> 00:37:57.782
you know, for lack of better word, I don’t think they’re brave,

00:37:58.002 –> 00:38:00.702
but that’s a whole new level of boldness.

00:38:00.862 –> 00:38:04.542
Right. And so they’re extremely. Absolutely. Very dangerous.

00:38:05.542 –> 00:38:10.062
Especially, like you say, they know their home. The most of the ones I’ve seen,

00:38:10.142 –> 00:38:13.762
it’s because, you know, the people were parked in the garage and there was no

00:38:13.762 –> 00:38:15.242
cars outside in the house.

00:38:15.482 –> 00:38:19.402
It looked, you know, empty, but everyone was in one room watching TV sort of deal.

00:38:19.722 –> 00:38:23.862
Right. So a lot of times they don’t know, like they don’t want that extra information.

00:38:24.097 –> 00:38:30.777
Yeah you know that what’s the word uh well it’s you know i’m saying they don’t want that extra.

00:38:31.297 –> 00:38:33.977
The extra threat of having people at home that they’ve got

00:38:33.977 –> 00:38:37.537
to deal with they they they typically want an empty house but

00:38:37.537 –> 00:38:41.637
yeah like you say if if there’s cars parked out front and they know they’re

00:38:41.637 –> 00:38:46.037
breaking into a house at that point like it’s almost like we’re probably going

00:38:46.037 –> 00:38:49.497
to die like there’s one thing if they break in and then they didn’t realize

00:38:49.497 –> 00:38:54.777
you were home then maybe you have a chance where you’re not there to kill you.

00:38:55.157 –> 00:38:59.937
But I think it’s a lot scarier where they break in knowing your home.

00:39:00.137 –> 00:39:01.177
Yeah, sure. Absolutely.

00:39:01.477 –> 00:39:04.837
And so, you know, you bring up other good points to, you know,

00:39:04.977 –> 00:39:09.477
you running through that example of what the family’s going to do and that family

00:39:09.477 –> 00:39:13.917
members have a, each have a role and they know what their role is and they execute

00:39:13.917 –> 00:39:15.217
that and then running drills.

00:39:15.377 –> 00:39:18.617
And I’ve said this before, and we’ve even had a podcast on it,

00:39:18.717 –> 00:39:21.097
you know, the importance of thinking through scenarios.

00:39:21.477 –> 00:39:25.357
What if you need to be thinking about a home invasion?

00:39:25.557 –> 00:39:28.257
And again, they’re rare and may never happen, right?

00:39:28.397 –> 00:39:34.037
But what if, what if, and think about what you would do, where are your weapons staged?

00:39:34.437 –> 00:39:38.257
Are they on your person? Ideally, if not, where are they? You know,

00:39:38.377 –> 00:39:40.177
if you got kids home, they’re probably locked up.

00:39:40.297 –> 00:39:43.917
Can you get to it? Do you know where it is? Do you have the concept of a safe room?

00:39:44.077 –> 00:39:46.897
Whatever it is, but the important pieces are is that you’re

00:39:46.897 –> 00:39:49.757
thinking through these things ahead of time before they

00:39:49.757 –> 00:39:53.197
ever happen should they happen and then

00:39:53.197 –> 00:39:56.077
you know if you do have a family everybody in the family

00:39:56.077 –> 00:39:59.717
knows what their role is and where they should be going and what they should

00:39:59.717 –> 00:40:04.497
be doing so important and that’s true not just in home invasions like you should

00:40:04.497 –> 00:40:08.557
be thinking through scenarios even out in public what happens at the gas station

00:40:08.557 –> 00:40:13.557
if you know what happens at the grocery store parking lot if scenarios are so important.

00:40:13.737 –> 00:40:18.437
So home invasion is just one more that you need to be thinking through before it ever happens.

00:40:18.577 –> 00:40:22.717
And then you need to have some sort of game plan in place and then make sure

00:40:22.717 –> 00:40:25.877
the family knows what that game plan is. So important.

00:40:26.609 –> 00:40:30.869
I will make a couple of notes. I touched on one. Think about the idea of parking

00:40:30.869 –> 00:40:34.289
your cars in the garage because if you’re parking your cars in the garage,

00:40:34.469 –> 00:40:38.249
it’s going to make it look like your house is unoccupied.

00:40:38.649 –> 00:40:43.229
Yes, it increases your vehicle security or you’re less likely to be a victim

00:40:43.229 –> 00:40:47.169
of someone breaking into your cars, but it takes away that concept that there’s

00:40:47.169 –> 00:40:48.909
people home, and that’s what we want.

00:40:50.549 –> 00:40:54.049
So my suggestion is maybe keep your cars parked outside the garage.

00:40:54.049 –> 00:40:57.729
But in addition to that, that means you’ve got to consider the security of your

00:40:57.729 –> 00:41:00.809
car as it’s parked in your driveway or wherever it may be.

00:41:01.169 –> 00:41:03.849
Make sure you’re locking your cars, locking throughout the night,

00:41:03.969 –> 00:41:08.109
throughout the day, before you go to bed, when you go down to lock your front door or whatever.

00:41:08.609 –> 00:41:10.149
Grab your key fob and lock your

00:41:10.149 –> 00:41:14.589
vehicles. Bring your key fob up to your bedroom, wherever that may be.

00:41:14.589 –> 00:41:17.689
Keep it away from the exterior walls because

00:41:17.689 –> 00:41:20.489
now we’re living in a time where two people can

00:41:20.489 –> 00:41:23.789
actually use a passive if you have like a passive key entry system

00:41:23.789 –> 00:41:26.729
which is when basically you put your key fob in your pocket and

00:41:26.729 –> 00:41:29.649
as you walk up to your car your car door unlocks if

00:41:29.649 –> 00:41:32.709
you have one of those sort of key fobs people can clone those

00:41:32.709 –> 00:41:35.549
and they can clone them from outside your house by walking near your

00:41:35.549 –> 00:41:38.189
bedroom wall outside and they

00:41:38.189 –> 00:41:41.369
can copy that code send it to the guy standing beside

00:41:41.369 –> 00:41:44.129
the car allowing them to open it so that’s just

00:41:44.129 –> 00:41:46.989
another concept but yeah keep your key fob with you in your room

00:41:46.989 –> 00:41:51.409
just don’t keep it along the exterior wall and if it’s in your room a you know

00:41:51.409 –> 00:41:54.829
you you’ve got it there before you go to sleep and you’re like hey did i lock

00:41:54.829 –> 00:41:58.229
my car door well no big deal let me reach over here it’s on the dresser and

00:41:58.229 –> 00:42:01.889
lock it also it’s another good concept if someone’s breaking into your house

00:42:01.889 –> 00:42:06.669
something’s happening grab that key fob and hit the the alarm button set your alarm off yeah because,

00:42:07.353 –> 00:42:09.873
That’s going to set the alarm off. Neighbors are going to start looking.

00:42:10.113 –> 00:42:12.173
If there’s a bad guy there, he’s going to run.

00:42:12.973 –> 00:42:15.853
Also, your garage door opener, if you keep one of those in your car.

00:42:16.533 –> 00:42:21.153
Hide it or put it in the center console and lock the console up at night because

00:42:21.153 –> 00:42:25.493
that gives people, if they break the window to your car, which is probably not

00:42:25.493 –> 00:42:26.613
going to have an alarm on it,

00:42:26.873 –> 00:42:30.473
then they have access to your garage and then get in your house without setting

00:42:30.473 –> 00:42:31.853
the alarm off and things like that.

00:42:31.973 –> 00:42:36.233
So just think about how your vehicle is coming to play with home security as well.

00:42:36.710 –> 00:42:40.670
Yeah, absolutely. And I had said this recently in a podcast,

00:42:40.670 –> 00:42:45.930
I had done about 24 hours of ride along with local law enforcement.

00:42:46.030 –> 00:42:51.870
And I think it’s safe to say, I don’t remember offhand, but I think every single

00:42:51.870 –> 00:42:57.470
call that we took where a vehicle was involved, it was unlocked every single time.

00:42:57.470 –> 00:43:01.490
And I think, as I mentioned earlier, even this rash of vehicle,

00:43:01.730 –> 00:43:05.050
quote unquote, break-ins here really weren’t break-ins.

00:43:05.190 –> 00:43:10.070
I think it was folks going around to see, you know, of the cars in driveways,

00:43:10.270 –> 00:43:13.670
which ones are unlocked. Because that’s easier, quote unquote,

00:43:13.930 –> 00:43:17.090
break-in than having to break the glass and do it that way.

00:43:17.250 –> 00:43:21.870
Noise and potential getting cut, you know, whatever. It’s a lot easier to open

00:43:21.870 –> 00:43:26.370
up the door of an unlocked car. I mean, to your point, lock your car doors,

00:43:26.530 –> 00:43:27.870
people, even when you’re home.

00:43:28.070 –> 00:43:33.210
I can remember taking one call, arriving on the scene, and sure enough,

00:43:33.390 –> 00:43:38.130
every car in this individual’s driveway was unlocked because they just didn’t,

00:43:38.270 –> 00:43:38.970
you know, they’re at home.

00:43:39.070 –> 00:43:42.510
They don’t need to unlock it. It’s inconvenient to have to get the keys and

00:43:42.510 –> 00:43:44.150
go unlock the car when you’re home.

00:43:44.190 –> 00:43:47.070
So just leave it unlocked. Don’t. Lock your cars.

00:43:47.830 –> 00:43:50.690
Lock your car doors as soon as you get out of them.

00:43:50.890 –> 00:43:54.830
Lock your car doors as soon as you get into them. Even even when you’re inside

00:43:54.830 –> 00:43:59.990
the car, keeping car doors locked is so key to being safer for you.

00:44:00.170 –> 00:44:03.510
And especially if you’ve got kids in the backseat or wherever they are,

00:44:03.590 –> 00:44:09.010
you know, you want to lock your car doors pretty much any time you’re anywhere,

00:44:09.210 –> 00:44:11.450
whether it’s home, the grocery store, parking lot.

00:44:11.590 –> 00:44:14.870
And even when you’re driving, I told the story recently.

00:44:15.842 –> 00:44:23.002
Years ago, years ago, my mom was driving downtown Atlanta and had a dude off

00:44:23.002 –> 00:44:26.222
the curb open up her passenger car door,

00:44:26.522 –> 00:44:30.762
get in, sit down in the front passenger seat and shut the door behind him,

00:44:30.822 –> 00:44:35.222
all because he thought that he was getting in his buddy’s car.

00:44:35.602 –> 00:44:41.282
And luckily for my mom, he had no ill intent and was overly apologetic.

00:44:41.282 –> 00:44:46.482
He just said, look, my buddy’s picking me up, has the exact same car. I thought you were him.

00:44:46.642 –> 00:44:51.202
I’m so sorry. But what do you think my mom did from that point forward forever?

00:44:51.462 –> 00:44:57.242
She locks the doors on the cars, right? So talk about an ounce of prevention

00:44:57.242 –> 00:45:00.842
is a pound of cure, right? Or however that is goes.

00:45:01.642 –> 00:45:04.942
Yeah. Locking your vehicle doors will save you a lot of hassle.

00:45:05.122 –> 00:45:07.642
And just like the house doors, you should get in that habit.

00:45:07.642 –> 00:45:10.462
And it’s not that inconvenient to have to unlock your doors.

00:45:10.642 –> 00:45:13.842
It’s just not, especially if you’re interested in keeping your family safe.

00:45:14.483 –> 00:45:16.963
Dude, I feel like we should close with that because that is,

00:45:17.043 –> 00:45:19.703
I would say, the most important thing, what you’ve just said,

00:45:20.003 –> 00:45:22.643
keeping doors locked, especially your car doors.

00:45:22.803 –> 00:45:26.303
Like if you’re at a gas pump filling up, lock your door when you’re standing

00:45:26.303 –> 00:45:31.223
beside your car because someone could sneak in the other, the passenger side, and be in the back.

00:45:31.343 –> 00:45:35.223
You know, there’s just, there’s so, it’s so easy to lock your doors.

00:45:35.843 –> 00:45:38.603
Just people lock your doors, your cars, your houses.

00:45:39.503 –> 00:45:42.983
That’s the number one way, unless you’re exiting or entering,

00:45:43.283 –> 00:45:46.743
just lock your doors. and use the key fob too because you don’t want to lock

00:45:46.743 –> 00:45:49.603
yourself out of the car. You don’t want to be using the door button.

00:45:49.963 –> 00:45:52.763
Yeah, if you don’t want to bring in your mail, cut your grass,

00:45:53.063 –> 00:45:56.763
put up shrubs to keep people away from your house.

00:45:56.823 –> 00:45:59.843
If you don’t want to put up lighting, if you don’t want to pay for security

00:45:59.843 –> 00:46:04.283
system, do nothing else but lock your doors on your cars and your house and you’ll be good.

00:46:06.483 –> 00:46:10.563
That’s the takeaway. Well, Wesley, I appreciate you coming on and talking to us.

00:46:10.963 –> 00:46:14.623
We’ve got a couple other podcasts we can refer people to but I think this has

00:46:14.623 –> 00:46:18.223
been another good one. Just as a reminder, we’ve talked about some good points

00:46:18.223 –> 00:46:25.763
like living on large pieces of property and even apartment complexes and similar.

00:46:26.043 –> 00:46:30.423
So another good chat. I appreciate you coming on. How can people find you?

00:46:32.223 –> 00:46:41.883
So you can find us online at superse.us. Superse is S-U-P-E-R-E-S-S-E.

00:46:41.983 –> 00:46:48.163
It’s like the word super. and then E-S-S-E and look us up you know we’re on

00:46:48.163 –> 00:46:52.403
Instagram we’re on most everywhere we’ve wrote a guide on target hardening you

00:46:52.403 –> 00:46:56.923
can download on our website sign up for the great man briefing if you want to stay in the know with us,

00:46:57.943 –> 00:47:04.043
but if nothing else lock your doors alright Wesley thanks so much for listening,

00:47:04.503 –> 00:47:06.123
yep I enjoyed it take care.