Intruder in my back yard

[PappaGun]

I have heard that criminals often return to the same locations...

I have always wondered if this is really true or some kind of urban legend.

I used to own some rentals.

When one of them would get broken in to, the police would always tell the tenants this and it would scare them to death.

Many times they would move out because of this fear.

I never had the same apartment burglarized twice.

[C-dub]

Returning to the same place more than once, it depends on the brazenness of the BG.

The motion sensitive lights are a good idea as long as it doesn't shine onto a neighbor's bedroom window unless they don't mind the deterrent either. Maybe they would even help pay for some of the cost.

Lock on the gate is the first thing. My older GSD got someone that entered my backyard before I put a lock on the gate. There hadn't been a lock on that gate for over 20 years. So, as much as it might have disappointed my dog to not leave the gate unlocked so he might get another bite, I put a lock on the gate. He still gets to bark at anything that moves and that seems to be good enough.

I also agree that outside is WAY too risky in this situation. Inside, all bets are off.

[Excaliber]

I have heard that criminals often return to the same locations...

I have always wondered if this is really true or some kind of urban legend.

I used to own some rentals.

When one of them would get broken in to, the police would always tell the tenants this and it would scare them to death.

Many times they would move out because of this fear.

I never had the same apartment burglarized twice.

During the years when I commanded a city's burglary squad dealing with around 500 burglaries a year, I saw two general circumstances where the same premises was victimized more than once:

1. Situations where the BG's had specific knowledge about the specific premises and what they would find inside.

2. Places with such glaring security weaknesses that they looked like the easiest pickin's in the neighborhood to multiple different burglars who had no prior knowledge of the premises or each other, but could spot an easy mark with the best of them. In some cases I saw the same house burglarized 2 or 3 times in the space of a couple of years, while the houses on either side remained untouched. A quick look at the property and the surrounding ones usually made it obvious why that one was targeted.

Residential burglars who don't have a specific location in mind figure any house in the same neighborhood probably has very similar contents, so any one they can get into, get stuff out of, and get a way from successfully works just fine. Think of their target selection method like electricity - it follows the path of least resistance.

[Glock]

I locked the gate, The bad thing is out meter is in the back yard so we cant lock it during the day or they cannot come read our meter.. but we lock it at night now. I also have a big barn in the back yard.. (this might have been the BG's target) I am installing 2 exterior lights this weekend. (should be a fun project). My backyard will be light up like high noon if it detects motion moving forward! My fiance and I have discussed what I did wrong and made a game plan for next time if that happens.. worked a few senarios out..

[Purplehood]

I locked the gate, The bad thing is out meter is in the back yard so we cant lock it during the day or they cannot come read our meter.. but we lock it at night now. I also have a big barn in the back yard.. (this might have been the BG's target) I am installing 2 exterior lights this weekend. (should be a fun project). My backyard will be light up like high noon if it detects motion moving forward! My fiance and I have discussed what I did wrong and made a game plan for next time if that happens.. worked a few senarios out..

There you go!

[chasfm11]

I locked the gate, The bad thing is out meter is in the back yard so we cant lock it during the day or they cannot come read our meter.. but we lock it at night now. I also have a big barn in the back yard.. (this might have been the BG's target) I am installing 2 exterior lights this weekend. (should be a fun project). My backyard will be light up like high noon if it detects motion moving forward! My fiance and I have discussed what I did wrong and made a game plan for next time if that happens.. worked a few senarios out..

If you haven't already selected your barn lights, High Pressure Sodium (HPS) bulbs give off a lot of light for significantly less electricity than more standard features. Some people don't like them because the light has a noticeably yellow quality but I have one on either end of our 1,500sq foot barn and they definitely do the job. I have them high on the sides of the barn were is hard to mess with them and have them hooked to dusk to dawn eye.

This thread had left me considering adding motion sensing lights around my house. We have fences which would deter most easy opportunity burglars. If the alarm is activated, it flashes all of the outside lights but I'd rather not wait until that point in a BG sequence to light the place up. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Keith B]

Just be cognizant of where you put the lights and PIR motion sensors. I had trouble for several years with one mounted on the corner of the house. It would false trigger whenever the wind was strong, which is most of the time north Texas. I remedied it by getting a wireless sensor and putting it in the middle of the driveway where the wind currents and temperature changes caused by the wind whipping around the corner of the house don't affect it.

[Glock]

High Pressure Sodium (HPS) bulbs, Actually my soon to be father in law recommended those... I will look into that..

[TxKimberMan]

High pressure sodium lights are great for flooding a large area with light, I have a couple on my property. However, if you plan on using a motion sensor, they are not the best choice because the HPS lights take time to warm up and emit their full lumens.

[flechero]

I locked the gate, The bad thing is out meter is in the back yard so we cant lock it during the day or they cannot come read our meter.. but we lock it at night now. I also have a big barn in the back yard.. (this might have been the BG's target) I am installing 2 exterior lights this weekend. (should be a fun project). My backyard will be light up like high noon if it detects motion moving forward! My fiance and I have discussed what I did wrong and made a game plan for next time if that happens.. worked a few senarios out..

Use a combo lock and give the meter reader the combo. It's not the best case scenario but it beats most of the alternatives. And your wife can't lose the key!

[xdfanatic]

I just wanted to add to what Keith B said about his motion lights and wind setting them off(had the same problem). I found the best thing for my house where I have a lot of trees around my property that would set off the motion sensors on the lights was to find lights with motion sensitivity switches. It took me a while to find them at the HD but they do work, and I can even choose how long I want them to stay on after they are triggered. Also to add to the advice everyone else gave I would suggest placing your weapon in the same area with your flashlight and your phone if your can. I have a flashlight that is left on my nightstand permanently where my cellphone charger sits, when I go to bed my cellphone is plugged up and the .45 is placed beside it. That way at the least I can grab the .45 and my flashlight, I am still working on remembering the phone. Stay alert and remember to continue going over your scenarios in order to stay prepared for anything.
Xd

[lonewolf]

with the motion lights, staying inside and calling 911, et al. In going from the light inside to the dark outside your eyes will take a few seconds/minutes to adjust (pupils opening further). In addition, I concur with not using HPS. I worked in a warehouse that used these and they are definitely slow to warm up. Very bright when fully on, but slow to get there....

Glad everyone is OK and hope they catch the BG somewhere and put him away.

[C-dub]

I locked the gate, The bad thing is out meter is in the back yard so we cant lock it during the day or they cannot come read our meter.. but we lock it at night now. I also have a big barn in the back yard.. (this might have been the BG's target) I am installing 2 exterior lights this weekend. (should be a fun project). My backyard will be light up like high noon if it detects motion moving forward! My fiance and I have discussed what I did wrong and made a game plan for next time if that happens.. worked a few senarios out..

Is it possible to for the meter reader to read the meter by any other means? In my previous house there was a back alley and the reader would use a pair of binoculars to read it over the fence. Could they average your bill for you based on your last 12 months' usage? Otherwise, I wonder if it would be possible for you to be notified when the reader would be coming so you would only have to leave the gate unlocked for those one or two days. If you explain that the neighborhood has had problems with burglars they might cooperate with you.

[Divided Attention]

Our meter is read by remote. They don't have to come on our property which is great because of livestock and dogs. I would touch base with your supplier and ask about remote reading, explain you are having issues with trespassing. We did this at our old house - that and the 85 pound boxers convinced them.... coulda been something to do with the hotwire running around the top of the fence to keep the dogs from jumping too.... (they meter guy tried jumping the fence/gate after we locked it because they let our dogs out.) The guy jumping the fence was breaking our gate, so we ran a hot wire. Then they gave us the remote meter :-)

[TexasGal]

Our house is a corner property. When we bought it, we were told it had been burglarized three times. So far, we have not had any issue. It may be because I keep the outside lights on at night (replaced everything with fluorescents), and have a 200 plus pound English Mastiff in the back yard and three big dogs inside. I have horses and am outside regularly late at night to take dogs out, check horses, etc. I always carry and usually take a dog out with me. Having everything well lit sure helps. I prefer to keep things lit because if it is not normally on, I would not know if it wasn't working. Just a thought.