A man posed as a UPS driver to gain entry into a home in London.
Before the homeowner could close the door, the ‘ups driver’ and his three accomplices stormed the house.
They slashed the father’s head with a knife and shot his 11 year old son.
They both survived.
The wife and… pic.twitter.com/8visopPFKC
— Amiri King (@AmiriKing) December 13, 2023
We are seeing more and more of these types of attacks.
Having a front door camera is good, but that’s not enough.
Situational awareness and layers of security is important.
Give it five or ten minutes between the delivery and opening the door.
Watch to see that the delivery driver has driven away.
Make sure he was in the proper delivery truck.
A little patience and some forethought will go a long way in keeping you safe.
Problem is your suggestions fall on deaf and dumb ears in the supreme nanny country- england is a vast gun free zone. What few guns you can legally own, shotguns mostly, are locked away. Some locked up at the F’in po- po station. Criminals know this and the british subject go blissfully along thinkin it won’t happen to them. They are amazed when they get treated like the brits treated the world centuries ago. Here in Realsville, We the People are aware and awake and prepared to meet stupidity with nice stupid prizes…
All of that is solid info and planning. I abide by almost all of it myself (the camera issue is a blind spot that I’m working to rectify). There is one point merits some extra consideration though: “Make sure he was in the proper delivery truck.”
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Not sure if it is prevalent in your area, but all of the major providers around here are subbing out to every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a drivers license and access to a set of wheels. Doubly so with holiday volumes. As such, there are a plethora of “non-standard” delivery vehicles around right now. In my neighborhood alone I’ve seen packages delivered in:
– 12′ U-Haul truck
– 16′ Penske truck
– 25 year old Honda Passport (at least this one had a UPS magnet on the side)
– New-ish Ford Focus
– Big ol’ bread van rented from one of the local van/truck rental places
– Plain white Econoline panel van
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Compounding the problem, none of the drivers I saw had been issued any uniforms, they were all in “civilian” clothes. Whether or not they had any ID badges or anything, I could not tell from my vantage point. That said, the uniform issue might be a moot point since I can buy them on eBay.
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I imagine both of those things can provide cover to ne’er do wells that are observant of their target areas.
In my area, UPS adds a second person to the trucks during the holiday season. The driver drives and pulls packages, but the unfamiliar runner actually delivers to the door. “My” driver refuses to use a second, so I’m lucky in that I see the same guy all the time (I get frequent deliveries).
Amazon, however, is completely the opposite. The drivers don’t know their routes until it is time to load out, so I see a new face almost every time I get a delivery. And sometimes it is a couple in a POV, he drives and she gets out with a delivery, typically at night. I view the Ring camera through an Alexa Show before I even leave the desk to go to the door and even then I’m in no hurry.
Easy to tell with Amazon these days. If there’s a note stuck to the package asking one to tip the delivery person, it was Amazon.
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And, no, I’m not kidding. Been a while since I saw Mrs B torqued off that badly. (Both the dog and I were grateful it wasn’t us.)