Open Door at my house

[magillapd]

So the other day I came home after being out for an hour. I walked up the the front door and froze. I noticed that my front door was ajar. I felt the handle and the door was still locked. I looked at the door jam and everything was intact. There was no foot marks or any damage to the door. I grabbed ahold of my G19 that was in my IWB holster and I pushed open the door slowly.

No one else was home, the dogs were in the back yard. The only one in the house was the cat, and she was staring at me from the back of the loveseat. I went inside the house and pushed the door closed quietly behind me. I drew and cleared the house just incase.

It turns out that the door didn't latch shut, maybe the house shifting. I decided that if the door had shown signs of forced entry I was just going to call the police and let them clear the house.

I told my wife about it and she said, oh I forgot to tell you about that . She had noticed it a few days eariler.

I have a CCTV system on the house, and have a camera pointed at the door. So I sat down and reviewed some video. I found the day that it first happened. Wife had left to go swiming at her mothers and the door didn't shut behind her. The wind blew the door somewhat open. Then the cat peeked her head out and wandered out on the porch. The cat never left the porch thankfully, but I had to laugh. She went back inside and then kept peeking her head out, as to say this door should be shut and I'll protect this house until the people come home!

A few hours later my wife's aunt came over and when she saw the door open, she didn't even pause. She just walked right in and shut the door. She never gave it a thought. I showed my wife and we both had a serious discussion with her aunt about the dangers of walking into a house that has an unsecured front door . She should have called the police as she doesn't carry nor does she even know what way to point a gun

[ryanr1299]

I'm maybe a little OCD about checking and re-checking doors when leaving the house or going to bed for the night. I know how frustrating it can be when you share the house with people who aren't so "careful." And they think we're the crazy ones :)

[couzin]

Be glad it didn't set off an alarm. Our door to the garage popped open one night - I slept through the warning beeps (other side of the house), finally heard the siren and went and shut it off. About two minutes later there was a cop car in the alley shining a spot on the back and two other cops flashlighting the front and banging on the door. Needless to say - really embarrassed The alarm company did not have my new number, so when it went to 'not a working number" - they sent the troops.

[paulhailes]

I'm maybe a little OCD about checking and re-checking doors when leaving the house or going to bed for the night. I know how frustrating it can be when you share the house with people who aren't so "careful." And they think we're the crazy ones :)

I get a little annoyed when I come home and the door is unlocked or just the lock on the doorknob is locked. I keep telling my sister in-law to lock the deadbolt, cause thats at least a little harder to get past then the lock on the doorknob. She has this idea that because she is home no one will break in, I tried explaining that a girl home alone could be a more enticing target than an empty house. Anyways I am with you on the locking the door thing.

[cbunt1]

I'm maybe a little OCD about checking and re-checking doors when leaving the house or going to bed for the night. I know how fru application strating it can be when you share the house with people who aren't so "careful." And they think we're the crazy ones :)

I get a little annoyed when I come home and the door is unlocked or just the lock on the doorknob is locked. I keep telling my sister in-law to lock the deadbolt, cause thats at least a little harder to get past then the lock on the doorknob. She has this idea that because she is home no one will break in, I tried explaining that a girl home alone could be a more enticing target than an empty house. Anyways I am with you on the locking the door thing.

I shouldn't admit to such things, but while a friend of mine was rooming with me for a short while many years ago, I couldn't seem to break him from the habit of leaving the front door unlocked. That is until I set off a handfull of black-cats while he was asleep on the couch with the front door unlocked (again).....

Not advisin', just sayin'

[AEA]

I grabbed ahold of my G19 that was in my IWB holster and I pushed open the door slowly.
I went inside the house and pushed the door closed quietly behind me. I drew and cleared the house just incase.

This was a BIG mistake! DO NOT try to clear a house! Police are trained in this action and take precautions for multiple assailants. Imagine you finding someone and while your attention and gun is holding him, his partner shoots or knifes you in the back!

Door open, back off and call the Police. That is what they are for.

[speedsix]

...nobody knows his house like he does...if he so chooses, there's no reason he shouldn't clear his own home...it's his right...it's his choice...police are NOT for clearing houses...or protecting us...they're for enforcing the law...the British have taken the mindset that citizens can't protect themselves or their property...look where it got them...

...it may not be YOUR choice...I respect that...but it's not WRONG for him to have chosen to...just different from you....my experiences with police responses to residence burglary or open doors have been less than satisfactory...I KNOW some of us could/would do a better job...someone else's home???? depends...

[flechero]

It turns out that the door didn't latch shut, maybe the house shifting.

For that same reason, I installed a dead bolt on my door. In my case, I woke up to the sound of wind howling down my hallway. Talk about an alarming way to wake up at 3am!

[Excaliber]

...nobody knows his house like he does...if he so chooses, there's no reason he shouldn't clear his own home...it's his right...it's his choice...police are NOT for clearing houses...or protecting us...they're for enforcing the law...the British have taken the mindset that citizens can't protect themselves or their property...look where it got them...

...it may not be YOUR choice...I respect that...but it's not WRONG for him to have chosen to...just different from you....my experiences with police responses to residence burglary or open doors have been less than satisfactory...I KNOW some of us could/would do a better job...someone else's home???? depends...

While it's not "wrong" to clear one's own house after finding an open door (it's your place after all), it is an extremely risky undertaking. If there are one or more intruders inside, the searcher is at an extreme tactical disadvantage and can be easily ambushed and taken out - permanently.

After some bad experiences, my agency's procedure for house clearing was two officers outside on diagonally opposite corners, and a minimum of two for the inside search unless there were exigent circumstances - gunshots, screams, etc. where immediate entry was needed to save lives.

I've cleared way more houses than I could count. I've seen bad guys be really creative in how and where they concealed themselves, and some really unpleasant things they did to people who entered while they were there.

If I were to come home to an open door, my tactic would be to back off, take up an unobtrusive observation position, and call for the guys my taxes are paying for to do what they are paid to do.

That's just my decision based on my experiences. Others may make other choices, or find themselves in circumstances where thinly spread law enforcement officers are tied up on other calls and are not available when needed.

There is no one solution that fits all cases, but I think minimizing unnecessary risk should be a consideration in any well thought out plan.

[The Annoyed Man]

I recently got a call from our alarm company not long after I had left home. Our alarm had gone off, and did we want them to send the PD? Heck YES, send the PD! I'll meet them there.

I got there a minute or two before the PD showed up. The front door was closed, and I was—just for a brief moment—tempted to enter the house and check things out........but I thought to myself exactly what Excaliber said: What if there are two of them? I stayed outside and waited for the cops. One officer showed up, and since there were no more immediately forthcoming, he and I entered and cleared the house together. But there was no way was I going in there alone.

[AlaskanInTexas]

I get a little annoyed when I come home and the door is unlocked or just the lock on the doorknob is locked.

When I get home from work and the back door is unlocked, I sneak up on my wife and stand there until she notices me. After she stops screaming and changes her pants, and after I finish putting tissue in my bleeding nose, we have a discussion about the need to keep the doors locked. Doesn't seem to work, but it is very entertaining.

[Excaliber]

I get a little annoyed when I come home and the door is unlocked or just the lock on the doorknob is locked.

When I get home from work and the back door is unlocked, I sneak up on my wife and stand there until she notices me. After she stops screaming and changes her pants, and after I finish putting tissue in my bleeding nose, we have a discussion about the need to keep the doors locked. Doesn't seem to work, but it is very entertaining.

Next time try donning a football helmet before taking up your position.

I'll bet that makes it significantly more entertaining.

[Pawpaw]

I get a little annoyed when I come home and the door is unlocked or just the lock on the doorknob is locked.

When I get home from work and the back door is unlocked, I sneak up on my wife and stand there until she notices me. After she stops screaming and changes her pants, and after I finish putting tissue in my bleeding nose, we have a discussion about the need to keep the doors locked. Doesn't seem to work, but it is very entertaining.

Next time try donning a football helmet before taking up your position.

I'll bet that makes it significantly more entertaining.

Hockey mask?

[speedsix]

...nobody knows his house like he does...if he so chooses, there's no reason he shouldn't clear his own home...it's his right...it's his choice...police are NOT for clearing houses...or protecting us...they're for enforcing the law...the British have taken the mindset that citizens can't protect themselves or their property...look where it got them...

...it may not be YOUR choice...I respect that...but it's not WRONG for him to have chosen to...just different from you....my experiences with police responses to residence burglary or open doors have been less than satisfactory...I KNOW some of us could/would do a better job...someone else's home???? depends...

While it's not "wrong" to clear one's own house after finding an open door (it's your place after all), it is an extremely risky undertaking. If there are one or more intruders inside, the searcher is at an extreme tactical disadvantage and can be easily ambushed and taken out - permanently.

After some bad experiences, my agency's procedure for house clearing was two officers outside on diagonally opposite corners, and a minimum of two for the inside search unless there were exigent circumstances - gunshots, screams, etc. where immediate entry was needed to save lives.

I've cleared way more houses than I could count. I've seen bad guys be really creative in how and where they concealed themselves, and some really unpleasant things they did to people who entered while they were there.

If I were to come home to an open door, my tactic would be to back off, take up an unobtrusive observation position, and call for the guys my taxes are paying for to do what they are paid to do.

That's just my decision based on my experiences. Others may make other choices, or find themselves in circumstances where thinly spread law enforcement officers are tied up on other calls and are not available when needed.

There is no one solution that fits all cases, but I think minimizing unnecessary risk should be a consideration in any well thought out plan.

...

...sounds like your people were well-staffed...I've had to clear dozens of businesses and residences...arrested and cuffed up to 4 burglars...with no help at all...I've never had two show up since I've been in Texas...and had three refuse to go in because "it didn't look like anyone'd been inside...one with a broken window...well, that one was about 10 years ago...maybe the bad experiences have improved things...

[AlaskanInTexas]

I get a little annoyed when I come home and the door is unlocked or just the lock on the doorknob is locked.

When I get home from work and the back door is unlocked, I sneak up on my wife and stand there until she notices me. After she stops screaming and changes her pants, and after I finish putting tissue in my bleeding nose, we have a discussion about the need to keep the doors locked. Doesn't seem to work, but it is very entertaining.

Next time try donning a football helmet before taking up your position.

I'll bet that makes it significantly more entertaining.

Hockey mask?

Might as well throw on a cup too.