Last night about 130am I heard my garage camera alert go off a third time within close proximity. I reached for my phone and the first image I saw is attached. Check the picture before you respond, curious of your first reaction to what I saw. I grabbed my shotgun and ran for my front door just in-case they tried to get in. I cracked the front door (I have a screen door) and yelled out to leave that the police were on the way and shut the door.
A few min’s go by and I don’t have a great view without my phone in my hand, then I hear bangs on the door. My wife was on the phone with dispatch and grabbed my phone to see what was going on and the person was lying there on the porch. I cracked the door and looked to see somebody lying there muttering words, drunk, high, or both. They got up a minute or so later and then fell over again in the driveway. I felt bad and wanted to go see if I could help but didn’t and thought about the possibility there were more and just trying to lure me out, so I stayed in. Twenty-minutes passed, no police.
It ended up being a neighbor’s 21-year old daughter and the Mom came walking across the street. We opened the door and talked for a minute, daughter was super drunk. Thirty minutes at that point, no cops, no ambulance. In a way it was good because it finally got my wife to take these types of situation more seriously.
Flood light would be helpful.
Second time in 6-months having a situation needing police, they never showed. Cops, at least in my area, are not coming in time if you need serious help. No offense to any police officers here, I still respect the profession.
For home defense long guns, get a sling, they get heavy
Keep my phone on hand so I can observe rather than relying on somebody else in the house.
Wife and I talked about what she should be doing with the kids.
I still feel bad not going out to help but I feel like it was the right decision. Thoughts?
I think you did good. If you had known it was the neighbor’s daughter you could/would have helped but you didn’t know, it’s the unknown that can hurt you.
It’s all subjective. What you did may or may not have been what someone else would have done, but does it really matter? I may have gone out the back and gotten a better angle, but I don’t have kids, and my wife and I have a plan for what she should do in these scenarios already. you did what you thought was right by your family. Definitely better safe than sorry. What if it would have been some methed up dude with a gun? You might have been in for a lot more than you thought. Fortunately, it was a drunk neighbor. As far as feeling bad, she’s old enough to get hammered, she’s old enough to deal with it… just my .02
The floorplans here are weird. We live in these older condo / townhome things and the other exit is out the side and through the garage. We have a lot of homeless people in the area and they often seem to be on drugs or just not right in the head, so you truly just don’t know. A couple months ago there was somebody walking through our neighborhood that was high and sat down on our neighbors porch (she’s 94) and looked like he was trying to get in. Same thing, cops didn’t show and a neighbor and I went out together to get him away because a 94 year old is far too vulnerable to a situation like that. We joked around that she’d probably let him in because she’s really nice.
My wife and I were both really bothered by the fact 30-mins elapsed and the police didn’t show-up despite having a station 10-minutes away. I don’t blame the officers as they’re likely just understaffed and who knows what dispatch communicated out.
Her and her Mom just moved in recently with her Grandma to help after her husband died. Definitely some of the responsibility is on her but in talking with her Mom, she was hanging out with some friends and they let her leave alone in a Lyft. What kind of friends are those? I’ll give her credit in that she didn’t get behind the wheel and try to drive but hell her friends should not have let her leave in that state.
I would not have opened the door. This opens your barrier with the outside. Had this been multiple people with someone waiting at your door for it to open you could have been facing one or more individuals rushing you.
Most cameras have the ability to let you speak through them. Doing this keeps locked doors locked. And should they attempt to get your house you have the delay of forced entry to be ready engagement.
Well played. Flood lights good. Strobe lights better. Consider adding cameras to get different angles of view. Maybe a loudspeaker to announce the police have been called. Consider setting up a neighborhood watch. Do you like dogs?
No need to second guess everything everybody’s okay. It is good that in retrospect you are looking at how the situation could have been improved. Flood lights are a great idea. I outside lights are tied to my cameras so at night if the camera trips the outside lights all come on automatically.
I will say you’re probably a nicer person than I. I just don’t babysit drunks. Don’t get me wrong I have a drink from time to time nothing against that but I don’t tolerate sloppy drunk well. I would be politely but firmly letting that mother know if it happens again you’re just going to call the cops and let them deal with it. Of course you don’t get much response from your police force the way it sounds but maybe mom doesn’t know that and we’ll get a handle on her daughter. Yeah I know I’m a grumpy old fart!
I wouldn’t be cracking the door, especially knowing someone is close to the door. I also wouldn’t be standing close enough to the door to be able to crack it, bullets go through doors.
I agree with @Nathan57 and @Jamey1 I wouldn’t have opened the door. Even if your screen door is one of those security doors that are hard to break through they won’t stop bullets. By opening the door you are presenting yourself as a target.
The image you captured doesn’t look like a drunk young women stumbling around but even if it did I still wouldn’t have opened the door if I didn’t know the person and know she wasn’t a threat. Lots of stories of women coming to a door at night asking for help and when the door is opened one or more men end up forcing their way in.
I likely would have just turned on all the outdoor lights, covered the doors from a safe location and waited for the police to arrive.
911 and hasty response is a thing of the past. I’m dialing 911 only to make sure the call is recorded and I did my due diligence. My home is my fortress, the door never gets opened after dark, even if the person on the other side is ablaze, I’m not a firefighter.
Cameras will catch all the action in 4K technicolor, once the lights go bright the images are in color. Some sorta infrared technology!
I don’t have a need to breach my own home by cracking the doors if I have a visual from my phone.
Unlike myself, my family is extremely kind.
These cover my peephole. Just in case one of the girls or one of the grandkids want to help whilst I’m asleep or out for the evening.
We’ve had this lecture once! Some people just have a desire to help, that’s so 60’s. With all the cell phones, no one needs help from me!
Because of the layout of my fortress my wife and I form a “V” position on the door, it’s an open phone line, I already know, no one is coming.
Anything outside my home can be replaced. Gotta treat your home like the safe haven it is. That locked door is for their protection!
Make a plan, never second guess, go with your gut instincts or the little hairs.
Your post is awesome, I learned something from it. I never considered the weight of my long gun without a sling. But then again I never go to the door without my handgun!
That is another thing I shouldve done is kept control of my phone instead of giving it to my wife. And yes, in retrospect staying further from the door wouldve been wise. Im definitely going to look into at least one solar powered flood light. Our camera coverage isnt bad but there are blind spots I cant remedy, those were concerning in this situation.
Good feedback too. This taught my wife a lesson and also showed her Im not entirely crazy in thinking and planning for this stuff. LOL.
As soon as I saw the camera shot, it was like an instant adrenaline rush, grabbed the shotgun, racked a round and ran down the hall. I momentarily forgot I had a sling. Then after about 10 - 15 mins I was like damn this is getting heavy. Oh yeah, I have a sling on here. Lol.
When TSHTF Napoleon said, “dress me slowly, I’m in a hurry”. Similar to Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
When crap like that comes to my closed and locked doors, I have the time to vest up, phone up, visualize, clear any cobwebs, focus, get into position and breathe and articulate what’s happening to anyone listening on the other end of the phone.
As soon as that door is breached, intent is obvious!
They’re not selling Thin Mints!
Take the time to play by play the situation, but never second guess, you did what you did, how will you approach the next bump in the night.
@Jason148 These are the solar lights I use, I have had some up for 3 years. They may seem kind of flimsy, but I have not had one break in the snow, wind and ice buildup.
A decent measured response. You survived a learning experience and know some changes that need to be made. The best part is your wife will be a willing participant.
As far as the police response, in my school age years we lived in the poor part of a midwest city and police response was nonexistent. People learned to be self-reliant. Now that I live in a rural area, the long response for the sheriff to arrive is no big deal. We just need to be a little more prepared than most people.
