Would You Consider Protection?

duchy

pollyanna24 wrote: »

I think it's a tough one though. As much as I would want to get involved, if I saw something like this, what else could I do besides call the Police?

More often than not, I'm at home alone with my two small daughters, I couldn't go running out and either have the attackers attack me or run into my house and attack my daughters.

You could open the window and shout -often that's enough. if you were walking home with your two small daughters and were attacked,,,,, What would you hope *your* neighbours would do ?

DKLS

Unless you are trained in how to use the weapons, I would suggest that they give the user a false sense of security and can easily be taken from you and used against you. Having said that my wife has a baseball bat under her side of the bed and there is a mic stand by the front door for when I am working away. However she has had some Krav maga and Mav training so is a tad more competent than most.

I would however recommend a large bitey dog, my old boy did a cracking job of catching a burglar by the throat. As he was dragged off by the cops, I heard him say "effing dog didn't bark, should have gone next door they only have a cocker spaniel"

[Deleted User]

If anyone is puzzled why people don't help, read my posts about Darley & Latanes research in these threads.

koan_2

jack_pott wrote: »

If anyone is puzzled why people don't help, read my posts about Darley & Latanes research in these threads.

the link doesn't seem to be working?

Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.

GoldenShadow

koan wrote: »

You could do what some people do and get a guard dog or two. At the moment if your dog attacks or kills a burglar you can't be prosecuted, though this may change.

You can't usually insure these types of dogs with most standard pet insurances companies, though. Huge risks of aggression and harm to the 'wrong' people if genuinely trained to guard. Dogs are pets to me, not weapons or shields.

hazyjo

When I was burgled, I was straight upstairs to check the house and to see if anyone was there (was worried about my cat), but did get a neighbour to stand downstairs. He wanted to go up, but I was having none of it.

I'm not very confrontational, but if I woke to find someone in my house, I think I'd scream blue murder for them to get out. My mouth would engage before my brain.

And yes, we do keep 'things' next to the bed.

I also stuck up for some girl on a train once when her bully-BF was giving her grief over something or other. It was very late. People (inc me) had been drinking. Thankfully a few others said stuff too. If he'd have done anything to her, I reckon he'd have hit the deck in seconds (by anyone else on that train).

I used to risk a smack from my dad to defend my sister if I thought she was in the right. I like to think I'd stand up to anyone if I thought someone was at risk. More fool me, I'm sure - but we can't help the way we're made.

Jx

valk_scot

I am a bellower, I've got a voice like a foghorn when I get angry. I got angry the evening that I saw a bunch of yobs throwing bricks and such at my elderly neighbour's door, she's in her eighties and I had this horrible vision of her having a heart attack from fear. I shouted for my teenage son to phone the police and to stay in the house with his sister and then went charging out yelling like a fishwife. The yobs scattered like I'd thrown a grenade in their midst and one of them fell over a wall, which was most satisfactory. He was sitting there blubbing that he'd cut his head while his one mate brave enough to stay with him kept trying to say "It wisnie us Missus!" and then the police car arrived. My son had told them his middle aged mother had gone out to duff up a dozen teenage lads, apparently, and the police had made haste to rescue me. My son could also identify all but one of the culprits, that's what comes of living in a town with only one secondary school. My neighbour? She was fast asleep in the back bedroom of her house the entire time.


I do think that (up to the point it actually gets dangerous) folk should stick up for each other and not allow the scrotes of this world to get away with anything they feel like. There has to be a bit of instant social disapproval rather than the current Not My Problem society we live in.


On the question of weapons inside the home, I do have many things in the house that could be used as weapons including a sledgehammer that I use in the garden. I would go for one if I were cornered as a last resort but no way would I even think about picking up my sledgehammer or kitchen knife and attacking a burglar that was just there for a bit of thievery rather than GBH. Things are just things and anyway by escalating the violence you're more likely to get hurt badly yourself. And if I'd picked up a weapon before I ran out to confront these teenagers I'd have put myself very much in the wrong. What next...taking pot shots at people from the bedroom window because they were walking down the pavement opposite the house and I didn't like the look of them? That's what happens in the US and I for one don't want our country to end up like that.

hazyjo

There was a group of four or so young boys on the corner of my road the other month (days/week or so after the burglaries), two doors up from my house (it was dark). I quite nicely said to them 'are you waiting for someone?' They said no, so I said 'you might want to move somewhere else then as we've had a spate of burglaries in this road and the police are driving past every hour'.

I'm barely over 5' and not exactly threatening looking! They did look at me like they weren't sure whether to thank me or mouth off at me (they muttered some thanks, fortunately). A couple had hoods up, I really didn't know what they were like, although they did look very young.

BF told me I should've come and got him, but then I knew I could handle it better, and I didn't want to look intimidated by going home first and wanted to say it myself, spur of the moment, as I walked past on my way home from work.

And yes it shook the hell out of me (which is why the BF didn't lecture me too much - he knew I was shaken) but I brushed it off. Sometimes you have to empower yourself to feel safe. I didn't want him going out there all guns blazing and making ourselves a target (honestly, we live in such a lovely friendly quiet street!).

Haven't seen them since.

Jx

VitaK

A confrontation can easily turn into a match were one wields a baseball bat and the burglar wields a screwdriver. No matter what you wield, you aren't safe.

We have a key laying around so we can block access to the area we are in. It will not stop the burglary, but it will keep us safe while we call the police.

ifstar

Quite frightening the sort of things that people are mentioning under the bed including knives (which is incredibly stupid). As several people have pointed out, if you are not used to confrontational situations then there is a very good chance you would freeze up and not actually make use of whatever weapon you have to hand however the person breaking in might see the weapon and up their level of violence.


The best thing you can do is shout and scream to get out and call the police. A far better thing to have than a weapon is one of the panic alarms that emit a really loud noise. The majority of people who break into houses would run when startled.