Hurricane Looting - How to Protect Your House?

You make a good point @WildRose, And where I can see @Gary_H referencing his perspective in this thought exercise is as like in and around New Orleans / Katrina circa 2005. Much happened, much has been said, I wager still things which will always be left unsaid. These ‘little’ hiccups in the fabric of our civil society are just a fractional level above the individual protecting their family in the face of intent, opportunity, and jeopardy.

Even though we may be speaking of the only 3.3 kW portable generator in the neighborhood, I couldn’t imagine installing my 17kw Genset inside the confines of my building, without adding another 20 thousand dollars plus, as an addition of to the house above and beyond associated electrical, the unit, concrete pad to mount it, and exhaust plumbing to clear the roof.

An exceptional quandary.

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@WildRose I would respectfully disagree with you. My “Home” is bounded by my “property”, in unusual circumstances like those in Hawaii where you are entitled to the home but not the property things are different. In FL I do not think the Seminole’s have that same privilege. If I am standing in my front yard am I not able to defend my home? In AZ and TX where I gather you hail from, there is much case law to define home, property, residence and abode. A “house” is a “dwelling” a “home” is a “property” with all rights and responsibilities.

Cheers,

Craig6

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I would humbly say to all first,remember after the incident comes the trial. The trial is not in the throws of the moment,but afterwards- when there are chairs,lawyers and quarterbacks to assess not just what you did,but what the implications are for “society” as a whole.
Regardless of how you define your house or house plus yard. I suspect the issues would not revolve around theft in this case,but around a legal definition possibly of “life threatening.” At least the way the issue was presented.

Any way you slice this puppy it is messy,but that’s the problem. If someone were attacking you directly "self defense " is somewhat easier to identify. However if it is merely “life threatening” a myriad of practical questions come up. I can think of at least three ways to keep food without electricity in a flooded/contaminated environment. So was it really necessary to kill over the generator? That then becomes a why did you have to kill them issue. While there is castle doctrine etc, that almost always involves breaking in and fear of life,—going out,and stopping a theft involves many option choices,not found if someone just kicked in your bedroom door,and is coming at you.

It may not be comfortable,but I would think @wildrose gave the best advice. The rub is ok why do I have a weapon. The answer is simple to preserve your life, before (immediacy) it is taken away. As to people putting you in "life threatening "situations,that requires additional preparation and thought.
As to the absence of the police,minutes late,hours late,days late,or weeks late doesn’t really enter into it. Late is late. The question will always be what options did you have? Who knows- if it is just about blood and not the law,that dangling electric line is good,if it is about life(everyone’s including the bad guys with no judgement) this society frowns on murder for the sake of murder. Even homicide is assessed if it was justifiable or not?
The ccw box doesn’t have a ton of room in it to begin with,the 2a fight is everywhere. Judgement is critical,watch our for armchairs quarterbacks,and after the fact assessments

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Just a question, but is the generator chained, locked, secured by multiple means to hamper it from being stolen or is it just sitting behind a fence next to your home? If the generator doesn’t have any means of being secured itself, then a concrete pad with it’s own cage/fencing locked to the pad covering or housing the generator may help prevent the scenario posted for the next storm. Good luck and stay safe.

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@Tom_Grieve, people are getting to know you in the Community! :smiley:

I wonder if the emergency situation caused by the hurricane makes a difference at all?

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Still here and still have power! :+1:

My generator is a portable 7.5kW unit that I deploy outdoors inside a 6’ fence behind a locked gate. For anyone to get to my generator they would have first had to get past the Police or National Guard that controls access to the bridges connecting us to the mainland after a hurricane. Then they would have had to get thru the 6’ fence. If they have done that, then they are most likely pretty desperate and dangerous. I personally don’t see myself engaging any more than cracking the door and yelling at them. I would call 911 and take photos of looters and vehicles. I won’t be that guy that shot somebody over a generator. I will however protect my family and myself if looters attempt to use deadly force against us.

I started this thread to get feedback regarding what non-deadly force actions to take as well as to stimulate thought amongst others that might find themselves in a similar situation. Thank you for your responses.

I am curious about other ways to preserve food.

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Thanks Dawn :+1:

I was typing while you were posting, my conscience wouldn’t let me take deadly force action over a generator but would be educational to know if the emergency situation changes things from a legal perspective.

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I made a separate topic for that topic, @Gary_H. I think it’s got enough merit for its own topic.

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I know there is a law (SB 290) that authorizes concealed carry without a license during emergency evacuations:

  • Authorizes an individual to carry a concealed weapon while “in the act of evacuating” during a mandatory evacuation order issued by the governor or the local government authority (Sec. 1).*

  • Defines “in the act of evacuating” as the immediate and urgent movement of an individual away from the evacuation zone within 48 hours after a mandatory evacuation is ordered (Sec. 1).*

  • Authorizes the governor to extend the duration of an evacuation beyond 48 hours (Sec. 1).*

*From Votesmart.org

I’m wondering if there are other allowances due to the emergency situation


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A generator seems like a stupid thing to die over but thieves are generally not rocket scientists so you could follow this advice : “ Well, you know, my shotgun will do better for you than your AR-15, because if you want to keep someone away from your house, just fire the shotgun through the door .” (Joe Biden) They will probably still steal your generator but now you have a window in your door.

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Whatever decisions you make if you have small to big predators in the area, can hang 10" in air is generally considered a good height to store if you are going to have an issue due to perishable, throw a block party. Not in your home but drag ye olde trusty grill out front and start cooking.

We did that during last big tornado, people started bringing food, drinks, chairs, next thing you know we had probably 10 biggish chain saws out there clearing the way, making sure those who had more damage done to their homes had safe places to sleep and clean up.

So other than waiting for power company to get there to clear power lines we were up and running. Since then we throw a block party once a year and stay connected through an app and phone tree.

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I’ve watched this through the day and figured it’s time to chime in. I do not know how the emergency declaration in each states affect this but I agree that protection of property does not usually authorize the use of deadly force unless the property in in the home or in a vehicle. That Amy change with an emergency declaration but, unless the property is necessary to support life, which a generator could be, it is not worth killing somebody.

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Love that!!

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This is the situation where I’d have a shotgun loaded with beanbags. I only intend to take a life is one is about to taken, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to be sore in the morning.

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@RocketPak Now that you mention it my son’s 3 dozen paintball “markers” may be just the hot ticket for a non lethal engagement. I think they may be the modern day equivalent to “rock salt” :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Cheers,

Craig6

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@Craig6 when my hubby lived in LA, they had some trouble with taggers drifting over from the bad neighborhood on the other side of the freeway. He and a neighbor whitewashed out one of the walls they’d tagged, then sat up for a couple nights. The delinquents showed up and got their own backsides paintball “tagged”. Pretty well tattooed, as they tried to come back for their paint cans. He called a buddy on the force after they ran:

Leo: what’s up?
Hubby: caught the taggers you were looking for.
Leo: do you have them?
Hubby: nope, they ran west under the bridge.
Leo: how will we spot them?
Hubby: oh, you’ll know its them as soon as you see them.

Yep, COVERED in paint.

The hubby collected some rocksalt as a kid
 says that stuff HURTS.

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I’ve been hit by paintballs. They sting but not nearly enough to stop anyone.

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@RocketPak 
 now that just depends
 worked for my hubby and his neighborhood defense.

@RocketPak Yeah I’ve been hit too when I was expecting them. It’s a little different when they come out of nowhere, don’t stop and chase your a$$ and your not wearing a mask.

Cheers,

Craig6

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On the paintball discussion, I used to play with my kids - back when they were kids - and I took out the last kid on the other team. I walked out and that kid lit me up with my arms down at close range, lots of bruises :frowning:

On a good note, we still have power and I just broke even playing cards with the neighbors at my house. :+1:

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