Home Invasion Criminals Can Be Extremely Violent!

A home invasion is a totally different crime than a home burglary & these two different crimes are perpetrated by two totally different types of criminals. Most burglars prefer to work alone & they normally target homes that are unoccupied.

Most home burglars are nonviolent & if discovered in the commission of their crime their first instinct is to bolt from the residents. Although most burglars’ general make up is nonviolent, they may resort to violence if they are cornered or if their escape is interfered with. A house invasion is nominally carried out by two or more individuals & according to an FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin; the homes they target are usually occupied by woman, elderly people or drug dealers.

The same law enforcement bulletin also states that criminals are turning to home invasions as an alternative to armed robbery. The report states that holding up banks & convenience stores have become increasingly more difficult for criminals because of video surveillance, silent alarms & other technically advanced anti crime devices.

Unlike those criminals who carry out home burglaries, home invasion criminals are known to become violent & in some cases extremely violent. Most of these criminals are successful in forcing their way into people’s homes & this is mainly due to two reasons:

1. Home owners letting down their guard by opening their doors to these criminals allowing them to easily force their way in.

2. A lack of or no physical security measures taken at all to stop these criminals from easily gaining entry inside the home.

The main entry point for these criminals is through the front door of the home as many people after hearing the door bell or a knock at the door do not think twice about opening the door to see who is there. For those who ask who is there prior to opening the door, most of these criminals have a scam in place & in many cases the scam works & the person inside the home drops their guard & opens the door.

Some of the scams these criminals use include impersonating a delivery person informing those answering the door that they have a package or a flower delivery. Informing the individual that they just backed into their parked car will make many individuals inside the home open the door quite quickly. It is unfortunate that people become so worried about what damage may be done to their vehicle, that any worries of their personal safety no longer comes into play.

Home invasions are on the rise with many of these unlawful intrusions resulting in those inside the home been badly beaten, raped & in some situations murdered. Due to this fact home owners & their families need to become extremely vigilant along with implementing the appropriate security measures to keep these intruders from entering their home.

The same security measures that need to be taken to keep burglars from entering your home, is what is needed to keep criminals of home invasions out. With the right physical & electronic security measures in place, this should provide those inside the home with the time they need to contact the police.

The best way to know if additional security measures need to be taken is to have a clear understanding of the security threat that you & your neighbors face each day. The best way to find out what the precise security problems are in your neighborhood is to start obtaining the monthly burglary & home invasion reports for your area.

These reports can be obtained from your local law enforcement agency or from a neighborhood watch group in your area. Many of these neighborhood watch groups post these reports on their websites. The one in my area has been posting these monthly reports on line since 2002.

Related Articles: Return To Home Page From Home Invasion Page