HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A man who was coming home early from work one day in November arrived to find his entire house ransacked.
“As soon as I opened the door, the carpet was messed up and everything was in shambles,” said Nick, who opted not to show his face on camera or provide a last name.
The crooks were in and out in less than 30 minutes, stealing 13 guns, Nick said.…
“Every door was open,” Nick said. “The back door was pried open. Then I went to check my safe and sure enough, it was gone.”
The 13 guns had been tucked in the safe.
Nick had owned them ever since he was a teenager.
And the crooks managed to take the entire 400-pound safe, which damaged Nick’s floors in the process. (Bold are mine)
13 guns stolen from Broward man’s home
Time is the biggest ally of a crook. You give him time and he will manage to defeat your security, specially if it is not layered. The article suggests that the crooks may had had insider’s knowledge which does not help either.
Good news: Modern security is getting cheaper. WiFi cameras and alarm services are getting more and more affordable which help add layers pf security and make your house less palatable to attack. Remember, we are not make things impossible for the burglars but we are making other less safe houses, a better choice than ours.
We are appealing to their laziness and thirst to stay away from jail.
At one time I had a book entitled “how to keep your home safe from burglars” (or something along those lines) written by a retired professional burglar.
One point made in that book I remember well, which is that a safe that weighs less than 800 pounds has to be securely anchored to the house or it will be carried away.
A separate consideration is that a safe that weighs only 400 pounds can probably be pried open in a few minutes.
This is one reason I like modular security containers like Zanotti Armor. While not a true safe, they can be put together in a place where it’s impossible to get them out while assembled.
This is frustrating because the guy did have a safe, but he didn’t secure it enough.
400 lbs is what a large refrigerator weighs. That can be moved with a handtruck or appliance dolly.
Those need to be anchored to the floor. Either with concrete anchors in the slab or lag bolts into the joists and studs (bottom and back of safe). Nothing is perfect but having to pry a safe off the floor is an addition time consuming step, and trying to pry it open while it’s standing up is harder.
My safes weigh at least 1,500 lbs each and I set mine into the slab with 1/2×2 inch drop in expanding concrete anchors.
Just make sure you don’t have in-floor radiant heating in your basement or garage before sinking those anchors…. Not that I’m speaking from personal experience.
At one point I was working for a place that had to have “government approved storage facilities”. And the thing that was drummed into our heads over and over again is that every safe/storage facility that was provided could be defeated.
In one case, the storage facility contained some electronics. There was a tilt switch inside the safe as well as a detect open switch. If the tilt switch went off or the open switch happened, the electronics dumped all their internal contents in a “secure” method.
The goal was not to keep them out of the safe, it was to keep them out long enough for the electronics to wipe themselves.
As was pointed out to me, a secured filing cabinet could be defeated much more quickly by moving it and tipping it over, then attacking the bottom. Makes a mess of whatever is inside but if you have the time, you can do it.
On the other hand, I do remember the day I came home as a teenager, more than a little bit upset at being bullied on the bus. The side door was stuck so I just gave it a strong push with my shoulder and stormed up to my room.
Parents came home a few hours later and were very upset. Seems I had ripped the deadbolt out of the door frame and sort of shattered the 100+ year old door frame and such. And didn’t notice.
You can’t depend on any single stop point. It all has to work together. Alarms, cameras, storage devices, attachment points. All of it works as a system.
Layers are important.
1 automated lighting to simulate occupancy
2 landscape lighting to eliminate dark spots
3 camera system with signage
4 alarm system with signage
5 900 pound safe, bolted to the floor
6 UA 571-C (If only…)