In 1982, 1,823 state prisoners were surveyed, and 74 percent of the respondents agreed that "one reason burglars avoid houses when people are at home is that they fear being shot"

Question

There are also burglars who don't invade an occupied home just because they don't want to be discovered. What can people do with this information?

Answer 1

It is nothing new for citizens to worry about their homes being burglarized while they are at work, out for the evening, or on vacation. Citizens generally take precautions to hide the fact that nobody is home. Burglars also know the usual tricks that residents do, such as no newspaper sitting on the driveway, lights on at night, and a TV or radio playing. Burglars work in a variety of methods. Some plan the burglary after doing a little intelligence work and some go out cold and just look for opportunities. Another popular method is to ring a doorbell and make up a fake story if the door is answered. Sometimes the method is to ask the resident if they would like the house painted or palm trees trimmed. Sometimes it is a sales pitch for a magazine or painting the curb. For those burglars who are bold enough to knock on doors, they are usually successful in going into the back yard and breaking in through a back window or door. Since there are bold burglars working our streets day and night, the ideal situation includes all the usual tricks, plus motion lights in the back, a dog, and alarms on all windows and doors. It can't hurt to also have a sign by the front door saying "This house is protected by Smith and Wesson."