Friday, June 2, 2024:
Special Editorial By Bret Jones, Senior Editor
We Have Lived In This Neighborhood For Years With Absolutely No Problems.
One Day I Came Home And Saw Police Everywhere at the House Down the Street. My wife freaked out and said that she would not sleep in our house again until we invested in a home alarm system. Since we have kids, and I travel a lot for business, I agreed that an alarm made sense.
As Someone That Over Researches Everything, I Set Out To Find The Best Deal On A Home Security System. Most websites recommended getting these new age “Smart Home Kits” that connect to your mobile phone. After getting lost in all the “Tech Talk” and reading a thousand reviews, I decided to go with one of the highest rated brands (not necessary to name that here).
I Thought I Got A Pretty Good Deal. While they had a “Free” option, the system cost me about $1,000 because I needed to add additional contacts and I wanted surveillance cameras. I also received a discount because I signed up for the $40 per month subscription which they said would notify the local authorities in case of an unwanted entry. Believe it or not, I was able to set the system up by myself. It took me the better part of a day, but the support was good, and I finally got everything up and running. We rested well that night...
Over The Next Month, We Had A Couple Of False Alarms.
One happened in the middle of the night, When something happened with one of the door contacts. I can’t honestly say that I have ever felt less safe than I did when I thought that there was someone inside of my house.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT’S NOT A FALSE ALARM?
It was a normal Wednesday. I left early for work that day because I had a meeting to attend. My wife also had a meeting that day, So she got the kids off to school, locked up and armed the smart system. She left around the usual time of about 8:30 AM.
I had just started a meeting (around 10:00 AM) when my phone started vibrating. I took a quick glance and it was a notification from my smart home security app, saying the alarm had been triggered.
I thought to myself,
“Ugh not again...these false alarms are driving me crazy!”
*Tap* Cancel, *Tap* Disarm, I put my phone back in my pocket and got back to my meeting… About 20 minutes later my phone started vibrating again...
“What Now?!”
An incoming call from… Mike (our neighbor)? Again, not thinking anything about it, I declined the call and sent him the automatic message: “In a meeting, I’ll call you back” *Tap* Send…
About 10 seconds pass and I receive a message from Mike: “Call Me ASAP! It’s Urgent!” I waited for another minute and excused myself from the conference room to call Mike back.
Mike answers: “Ok, Don’t Freak Out! But I’m pretty sure your house was just robbed. I saw a guy with a hoodie and a backpack walking out of your back door. I already called the cops.”
In a panic, I told my boss that I needed to leave and rushed back home. When I arrived home, Mike was standing outside.
The cops showed up about 20 minutes after I got there…
One Of Them Explained:
“These Guys Have Been Doing This All Over Town."
"They Knock On The Door And If No One Answers, They Just Kick In The Door. Looking at your door (which now has a busted jamb), it probably took them about 10 seconds to get inside .
These guys know that people are gone during the day . T hey kick in the door and are in and out of the house in about 5 minutes. Even if you have an alarm, they are long gone by the time we get here. ”
He went on to explain, “A lot of people around here have alarms. About 90% of all alarms however are false alarms . So, the city has forced alarm companies to verify that an alarm is real before we can be dispatched to even come out.
That means that it typically takes about 5 minutes before we even get notified . Once we are called, how fast we can get here depends on what else is going on at the time. If there is a shooting or an accident, It will take us a lot longer to get here.
On a good day, it might take us about 20 minutes to respond. On a bad day, it could take 45 to 60 minutes. It's not because we don’t care it's just because there is a lot going on.”
They stole more than $2,000 in cash, our laptops, some credit cards, my wife’s grandparent’s jewelry and MY GUN!
SO HERE I WAS, WALKING THROUGH MY HOUSE, WHICH WAS A COMPLETE DISASTER. DRAWERS WERE OPEN, THINGS WERE THROWN EVERYWHERE. I FELT COMPLETELY HELPLESS AND ANGRY...
All I kept thinking was, what would have happened if my wife and kids were home. I thought I was safe. It's a “GOOD” neighborhood.
I HAVE AN ALARM SYSTEM. I HAD A GUN.
None of it mattered. If I am not there, none of it matters...
As The Cops Were About To Leave, One Of Them Approached Me
“Look Sir, Want A Little Piece Of Advice?"
"If You Really Want To Protect Your House, You Need To Protect Your Doors. Just like this one, about 90% of the break-ins we see are through a door and most are kicked in or pried open ."
"If You Want To Stop Most Intruders, Stop Them From Coming In The Door and they will go somewhere else. Regardless of how “ Smart ” your house is or how " Big " your gun is, if an intruder is inside, you’ve already lost the battle .”
THEN HE TOLD ME ABOUT A PRODUCT CALLED
DOOR ARMOR
He Told Me That He Had Seen Door Armor Tested , Was Very Impressed And Uses It On His Home.
He also said that I could use it to fix my door for much less than calling a carpenter to repair it AND that it would stop the intruders from getting back in, if they came back.
Then he informed me that once a house has been burglarized it is 4X more likely to be burglarized again because the thieves know what you have.
He went on to tell me that Door Armor costs about $100 and that I could install it myself. I thanked him and told him that I would look into it.
Ironically, I was scheduled to be out of town on business the following week and I couldn’t stop thinking about what would have happened if my wife and kids were home when someone broke in, while I was away.
While At The Hotel, I Did A Little Research And Ordered Door Armor
For All Of The Doors On My House.
I WAS WORRIED ABOUT HOW IT WOULD LOOK BUT I MUST ADMIT, THAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS PRETTY NICE.
The kits showed up a couple of days later complete with hardware and I was able to install each kit in about 30 minutes using only a drill. After installing Door Armor, my wife and kids agreed to come home.
A few days later I invited an old high school buddy over for a couple of cold beers. I told him about our break-in and the false alarms and about my wife refusing to sleep in the house. I shared the information with him I learned from the police and how I decided to install Door Armor.
It’s funny, most people that come to the house don’t even notice that it’s on our doors. I had to take him back to our door and show him what Door Armor was because He didn’t see it when He walked in.
I recommend Door Armor to anyone looking to truly protect themselves, their families and their home.
Check out their site they have some great videos. One of them even has the police testing their product with a battering ram.
Door Armor Is Nothing Short Of Amazing!
