Surviving a Home Invasion

Your home is your castle.  It is the last refuge – your private escape from the world.  But what happens when that last barrier is breached and a stranger forces their way in?

A home invasion is quite simply a robbery that takes place in your residence.  Robberies at any location are extremely dangerous and account for almost half of the homicides committed during a felony crime.  Not only are they very dangerous, it may be much more common than you think.  Nearly one out of five robberies occurs in residences according to FBI crime data.  In contrast, bank robberies make up only about 2% of all robberies.

Recently, the second suspect in one extremely nefarious home invasion was sentenced to death.  In this case, the home invasion did not start at the victims’ home, but while they were at a grocery store on a Sunday afternoon.  The suspect, Jason Komisarjevsky saw two of the victims, Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her 11-year old daughter, Michaela Petit, and followed them home.  Via texts, Jason contacted his accomplice, Steven Hayes, and they planned to return later, primarily to get drinking money, or so they claimed.

At 2 a.m., the suspects returned to the home, entering through an unlocked basement door.  Upon finding William Petit sleeping on a couch, the two beat him with a baseball bat and tied him up in the basement before attacking Jennifer, Michaela and a second daughter, 17-year old Hayley.  Komisarjevsky and Hayes could not find the cash or jewelry that they had hoped, but found a bank statement for an account with several thousand dollars.  The two waited in the home until the banks opened.  Hayes took Jennifer to the bank where she was able to alert the teller to what was going on before returning to the home with Hayes.  The teller called the police and they began setting up a perimeter around the neighborhood. 

News photo of Petit family

Sadly, as the police officers surrounded the area, the suspects escalated the crime further.  The two sexually assaulted Jennifer and Michaela.  Meanwhile, William Petit escaped to a neighbor’s home to get help.  The suspects found William gone and bound the three remaining victims, doused them with gasoline and set the home on fire.  They were arrested moments later as they tried to drive away in the family’s car.  Jennifer and her two daughters all died at the scene.  Eventually, the two suspects were sentenced to death, a sentence that will probably take years before finally being carried out, unfortunately.

Crime scene photo of Petit home

In tragic situations like this, it is hard to go through the details and look for lessons learned.  Analyzing incidents after the fact may feel like a criticism of victims.  While there are valuable crime prevention lessons in this case, it should not take away from the horror of this crime, nor take away the fact that two people alone are to be blamed one hundred percent – Steven Hayes and Jason Komisarjevsky.  However, there are many more evildoers out there, who may target anyone, at any time, and it is important to learn what might be done differently in the future.

·        Awareness.  Being alert to your surroundings and the people around you is one of the most important security or crime prevention tips for almost any situation.  In this case, the suspect watched the victims in the store and followed their car home.  There is an old saying, once is happenstance; twice, coincidence; and three times, enemy action.  If you keep seeing the same person and they seem to be watching you, then you should go to red alert.  Do not dismiss it.  When driving, check the rear view mirror and look for any cars that seem to be following you.  As you get into a neighborhood, it should become even more suspicious and noticeable.  If in doubt, drive around a couple of blocks in an adjoining neighborhood.  Then someone following will become obvious.  And do not think that this never happens.  Even police officers have been followed home from their departments in order to be targeted, sometimes simply because crooks know that they have guns and want the chance to steal them.  If you are being followed, drive to a crowded area or store and call the police.  Provide all the details you can on the suspect vehicle, including license plate and driver description.

·        Lock doors.  Crooks often become crooks because they are not motivated.  The most common way into a home for a burglary is through unlocked or open doors and windows.  It is the easiest way in.  It is also the easiest to fix.  Make it a habit to lock all doors when leaving or before going to bed.  Some professional burglars liked to hit larger, upper-end homes around dinner when everyone was occupied or not paying attention.  Don’t forget to check windows as well and make sure that all lower-level windows are locked.  Periodically, walk around the house and look at possible ways that someone could get in via upper windows also.  Leaving ladders lying around or items such as trellises, trees adjacent to the house or even trashcans could be used to reach upper levels.  Not only do locks deter or delay a crook, the sound caused breaking in could alert you and give you the chance to retreat to a safe room and call police.

·        Never trust the suspect.  Many suspects will try to convince their victims that continued cooperation will keep them safe, but are really just looking for collaboration to make their crime easier.  When a suspect has made threats or is holding a deadly weapon, assume that they are ready and willing to follow through.  No matter what they say or what excuses they use, consider them very dangerous.  In the Connecticut home invasion, Jennifer Hawke-Petit told the bank teller that the suspects only seemed to want money and hadn’t hurt them.  She may have inadvertently downplayed the danger.

·        Always look for a way to turn the tables.  In this case, once at the bank, Jennifer could have told the suspect that she would not get any money out until the rest of the family was brought safely to the bank where they could be released before even withdrawing the money.  If the suspects were truly after money, they may have given in.  If not, then Jennifer could still shift the balance by refusing to leave until police were there and keep the suspects separated.  The suspect at the home may have panicked and tried to escape without raping or killing anyone, knowing the police were on the way (assuming Steven called him).

·        Do not depend on the police.  In movies and on TV, anytime the police are called, they roll up with lights and sirens, signaling that all is well and just in time for the end credits to pop up on the screen.  In reality, law enforcement may have information that is incomplete or sketchy.  As happened in this home invasion, the response might be more of a focus on setting up a perimeter while trying to get more details.  If you are in a dangerous position and the police are not there, remember that they may be trying to gather more information.  Never give up and keep fighting no matter what happens when your life is threatened.

Home invasions are a very dangerous form of robbery, one that can end tragically.  The good news is that some basic security measures will help protect you and your family and minimize your risk and, ultimately, make your home a real castle in a perilous world.

              

Eric Smith, CPP is the leading authority on organizational self-defense.  He has extensive experience in law enforcement as well as security management.  Eric is available for staff education and security awareness training as well as business coaching to help organizations provide safe workplaces.  To learn more visit http://www.businesskarate.com. 

If you would like to reprint this post, please contact Eric at eric@businesskarate.com. 

Personal Security – What’s Your Risk? (Part 2)

               I stood peering over a fence post in my backyard to the darkness beyond.  I listened closely, but couldn’t hear anything – now.  I shivered from the cold as I waited.  A few minutes before, I had been inside, working at my desk, when there was the sound of gunshots right out back.  I had immediately turned off the lights in the room and ran upstairs.  My wife had shut off the lights in our room and was peering out back.  It occurred to me that our walls were not very good cover, only concealment.  My wife called the police while I ran back downstairs and outside.

               Sadly, this wasn’t the first time we’ve heard gunshots, but these were close.  As I looked for any movement in the field behind my home, I felt the temptation to jump the fence and head into the field myself.  I knew, though, that I would be exposed in the ribbon of light crossing the street and that the police would arrive soon and I would be stuck explaining who I was, when they could be looking for whoever fired the shots.

               As I waited, I thought of all the times that my wife or I had needed to call the police and we are the type who prefers to deal with problems ourselves whenever possible.  Once again, I wished that we could move to an area not so prone to criminal activity and thought about how our direct environment has an impact on our lives and safety.

               In the last post, “Sleeping With the Enemy?”, we discussed the first part of personal safety and taking a look at the individual risk that we are all exposed to.  Primarily, that is the people around us and the things that we do, something that I call our lifestyle risks.

               Today, we are going to look at other risk factors that have an impact on our safety.  First we will look at environmental risk.  Environmental risk can include a number of areas, but mainly pertains to the area around us, the crime in our neighborhood and the kind of activity that goes on near our homes.

               Look at your home and your neighborhood.  Start with how you feel about your safety.  If you don’t feel safe, your instincts may be warning you about something that you have picked up on subconsciously.

               Are there vacant lots, empty buildings, or abandoned businesses around you?  Any areas not maintained or that show a lack of caring can attract criminal activity.  If the bad guys feel like a property is not cared for, then they may feel like they can get away with whatever they want there. 

               Look at graffiti as well.  It can be “artwork”, but can also be used to send messages.  A dollar sign may indicate drug dealing.  Some graffiti may be used by gangs to mark their territory.  In general, the less ‘artistic’ the graffiti, the more likely it is being used for some more nefarious purpose.

               The other part of your environment is looking at the actual crime happening around your neighborhood.  You can “CSI” your house.  That is not as hard as it sounds.  Most police departments have crime information, even crime maps that allow you to enter your address and look at exactly what type of crime has happened around you.   Often, you can adjust these online crime maps by distances or time period to get a better picture of crime in your area.

               There are also some generic crime statistics or ratings available for whole cities or towns.  The problem with those types of sites is that they will give you a crime rating for your entire city, not just your section.  So if there is a high crime area on the opposite side of your city, but your area is generally much safer, these city-wide crime rates combine or average everything for one score.  This doesn’t really tell you much about your actual neighborhood.

               Even if your local police don’t have a website with crime stats, you can get a great deal of information by calling.  Most departments have crime analysts or community service officers who can help you understand crime in your section of town.  In fact, community service officers are often available to come out to your home and do a mini security survey for free.  They will look at your landscaping, locks on your doors and windows and the lighting around you and give you a few recommendations on what they see.

               That is an overview of environmental crime concerns.  Let’s take a look at work and the related hazards.  Some aspects are comparable to your environmental assessment, looking at some of the same factors on your drive to work and at your work location.  Is there graffiti in the area, or on the drive there?  Do you pass through high-crime neighborhoods?  What about the area where you actually work?  Again, your local police department can help to get a realistic assessment on crime in the area.

               Different industries or different types of jobs will have different risks as well.  For example, if you work alone, carry cash and are out amongst the community, such as a taxi cab driver, you are at a much higher risk of being robbed.  Other industries, such as healthcare, have higher risk of being the victim of assault.  ER staff members deal with substance and drug abuse, as well as mental health patients, which increase the risk of violence behavior. 

               The other aspect of your workplace is violence from co-workers.  This is something that we see every now and again in the news.  Ex-employees coming back and extracting revenge after a bad termination is one example. 

               So how does your company handle terminations?  Do they let people go with dignity or aggravate the situation?  We’ve all had people who have rubbed us the wrong way and know how we are treated can really affect how we feel or how we respond.  How does your company deal with individuals?  Also, having a risk assessment team can help when looking at workplace threats.  Threats can come in very different forms, such as vague, implied threats up to very direct and specific threats.  The more specific a threat, the more seriously it should be taken, although not all aggressors will make a threat before acting.

               Does your company have strict policies prohibiting harassment in the workplace and threatening behavior?  Are those policies enforced?  Be careful about zero tolerance policies – that does not have to mean maximum punishment in every case. 

               Workplace violence is a complex issue and one that will be covered in future posts to look at different aspects, including domestic violence situations spilling over to work.