Home Invasions & Criminal Attacks: Why the Police Can’t Save You

When it comes to defending your home, nobody can do a better job of protecting it, and more importantly the people who live within its walls, than you. Unfortunately, we live in a society that has grown increasingly reliant on the government to protect them in every little aspect of their lives; believing that when trouble hits, some random government agency is going to be there to help.

Most people have chosen to outsource their safety and security, instead of taking the very real and necessary steps to ensure their own wellbeing. Sadly, this attitude is the reason so many criminals feel safe and secure when committing their crimes. They know that the chances of being stopped by the average citizen are pretty low, and the likelihood of law enforcement arriving before they finish their crime is even smaller.

How big of a Problem are Home Invasions?

According to the FBI, over 1.5 million homes are burglarized each and every year. When it comes to being a victim of crime, home invasions are one of the most likely events a person will face. Yet, most Americans don’t take even the most basic of precautions to protect themselves, their homes, or their loved ones.

This is why criminals love these types of crimes; they know they can get away with it.

While much of the information you read about criminal behavior usually comes from some egg-head college professor, people who don’t understand the first thing about how real criminals think and behave, my knowledge comes directly from firsthand experience. I grew up around these people, spent years dealing with them, and I know exactly how they tick.

The fact is, most criminals are incredibly good at what they do. While you’re at work trying to pay the bills, these people hard at work getting better at their profession: CRIME.

24 hours a day, 7 days a week, they’re figuring out ways to enrich themselves off of your hard work and sacrifice.

Face the Facts: Law enforcement cannot stop Home Invasions

I’m going to tell you a secret;  a secret that every criminal knows, and one that law enforcement really doesn’t like to talk about. When it comes to stopping home invasions, law enforcement agencies are helpless, and when it comes to being able to protect yourself from these criminals you are on your own!

Home invasions and burglaries are crimes that lawbreakers love to commit. They know that by the time the police respond, they’ll be long gone before anyone in law enforcement ever has a chance of reaching them.

You cannot put your safety in the hands of the police.

In some areas of the country, the average response time for a police officer to respond to an emergency call is over 30 minutes. But even if you take a best-case scenario, one where law enforcement responds within 5 – 10 minutes, the chances of them being able to act before things do go bad are slim to none. You’re on your own!

Law enforcement has no legal obligation to protect you.

Think I’m exaggerating? The fact is, law enforcement has no legal requirement to keep you safe. In fact, back in 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that police officers do not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm. In this ruling the Supreme Court opinion strengthened an earlier decision, Warren v. District of Columbia, where the District of Columbia Appeals Court ruled that the police do not have to provide services to citizens.

You are the only person who can protect what’s yours!

I’ve spent decades teaching people about the art of self-defense, and researching criminal behavior. Much of my knowledge comes from firsthand experience, growing up around some of the nastiest people you can imagine.

To truly be able to protect yourself, your family, and your home, you must be able to take matters into your own hands. You need to develop a self-defense mindset, and you need to start thinking about how to protect yourself from home invasions and crime.

Protecting yourself from Home Invasion

In order to protect yourself from these types of crimes, especially home invasions, you need to take your security and self-defense seriously. Long before a criminal has decided to break into your home, he has mentally prepared himself for everything he needs to do to successfully commit that crime, including taking innocent lives.

With that in mind, you need to ask yourself how prepared you are to deal with someone who is ready to do whatever it takes to get away with his crime. These people are more than likely armed, good at what they do, and ready for violence. They will not hesitate to hurt someone in your home.

• You need to be ready to act: If you’ve never used a firearm, or if the last time you were at the range was when you first purchased your gun, you need to consider taking a training course that deals with real-life self-defense situations. Firing at a paper target is not the same thing as firing at an attacker in a life or death situation.
• You need to take home security seriously. The foundation of any good home security plan is laying out multiple layers of deterrence. This includes things like high visibility security measures like fences, security alarm signs, and guard dogs – meant to scare off potential intruders.
• You need to Beef it Up! Start to add internal security features like strengthened doorways, windows, and extra protection at all points of entry.
• Build a Safe Room. I’m not a big fan of something known as sheltering in place, unless that shelter is a fortified safe room meant to withstand an armed attack. Next to owning and knowing how to use a firearm, a safe room in one of the most important layers of defense in home security. A good safe room should be able to withstand an armed attack, and should be built in a way that allows you to escape out a back door or escape hatch should things go wrong.

Further Reading and Resources to Prevent Home Invasions

• Weak Points in Your Home Security: Securing your Garage Doors – Criminals know it, but not many homeowners realize how easy it is to break into a home through a traditional garage door.
• Things you can do right now to prevent a home invasion – Easy tips and resources for securing your home.
• The Ultimate Situational Survival Guide: Self-Reliance Strategies for a Dangerous World – I dedicate an entire section of my book to surviving things like violent attacks, active shooter situations, and home invasions. I did this because these types of crimes are among the most likely threats a person will face in their lifetime.