# Home/Neighborhood Security Survey



## CWOLDOJAX (Sep 5, 2013)

I moved recently (3 months ago) and I am still casually introducing myself to the neighbors.
People are not as openly friendly was they were in Iowa and Oklahoma.
When I was transferred to OKC I was on the phone for 15 minutes with the local utility company visiting with the friendliest lady just to get my power turned on. In Norman, OK, folks brought us meals as we were unloading boxes. In Iowa, being neighborly meant shoveling the snow for an elderly couple, or bringing your own brush and help someone paint their house.

In my last neighborhood, I had a friend who was retired from the Army, and worked as a security consultant for churches and businesses. for the sake of this thread I will call him "Baldy." He offered, and I accepted, to have a security survey/awareness meeting for me and my neighbors. 
We had 4 households represented in a sub-division of 350 homes. I only invited friendly neighbors not the whole sub-division.

My friend, Baldy, pointed out weak/difficult areas for defending my home and gave tips for others to consider. He also touched on neighborhood defense... not "Neighborhood Watch." He touched on areas of the 'hood he felt were vulnerable to outside aggression be it gangs or an organized assault. I found this very helpful. My invited guests did too, yet only one family absorbed it and are looking to relocate too.

For the purpose of this thread, Have you ever asked a security expert other than your alarm tech or police to survey your area?


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## oddapple (Dec 9, 2013)

We have a nuclear cop. They make pretty OK consultants. Don't look for "friendly" in OKC btw. Not their style.


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## CWOLDOJAX (Sep 5, 2013)

oddapple said:


> We have a nuclear cop. They make pretty OK consultants. *Don't look for "friendly" in OKC btw.* Not their style.


I worked at Tinker AFB (OKC), in the early `90s and they were real good to us.
San Diego and JAX ... not so much.


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## dannydefense (Oct 9, 2013)

CWOLDOJAX said:


> For the purpose of this thread, Have you ever asked a security expert other than your alarm tech or police to survey your area?


No, I don't need one. Not out of arrogance, but because I don't need anyone smarter than myself to tell me what I already know; my property would be the worst place in the world to make a stand against anything larger than a couple undetermined people.

If there's ever a WROL scenario, we'll be relocating a few miles up the hill to the in-laws. Yep, the people we wouldn't live with in a million years when things are hunky-dory are the people we'll be associating with during shtf.  Their house would be much easier to defend because it creates a natural bottle neck through the front (and a high ground advantage that the village idiot could defend were you stupid enough to try coming in through the back). The bottle neck doubles down with a small "courtyard" in the front that would make one hell of a nasty fire position with a few well placed sandbags. The interior is laid out in such a way that with a few more of those snazzy sandbags to create barriers, we could defend in three directions without coming within ten feet of a window.

Not that we've ever discussed that, or planned it out (or started work on turning a crawlspace into a roof access point, because they have a flat roof with parapets).


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Florida gets too many people moving in from NY. I am seeing similar problems in AZ. The locals are very friendly, the people who've moved down here from the east half of the US are very unfriendly by comparison.


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## Armed Iowa (Apr 4, 2014)

My Basset Hound keeps me apprised of any issues outside of my house !


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## Renec (Dec 21, 2012)

I agree with Para..when i first came to AZ,lots of smiles and hellos as you went about your day. Now? not so much. I can spot a native or a longtime transplant right away..fairly friendly. Also spotted the retired NYPD Detective in the parking lot at Fry's by his body language,his demeanor and his disapproving look when he realized I was also CCing.He stuck out like a sore thumb LOL. how do i know,you ask? after we eyeballed each other passing in the parking lot..i looked at his truck.Yankees stickers and a "retired NYPD" plate holder


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## Renec (Dec 21, 2012)

sorry,got off track there! no,i realize that the area i'm in now is a "must abandon". I'll let you know what i think we re-settle upstate.SO,no need for a "professional"


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## Jeep (Aug 5, 2014)

The Power of observation.

People here wave when we pass each other, and will stop if you are broke down or just using your phone. But there are no block parties and friendly invites to other homes, we all live out here to be alone. Sounds funny


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## CWOLDOJAX (Sep 5, 2013)

Jeep said:


> The Power of observation.
> 
> People here wave when we pass each other, and will stop if you are broke down or just using your phone. But there are no block parties and friendly invites to other homes, we all live out here to be alone. Sounds funny


In the `hood I described earlier I waved at everyone too. How I was raised. I live in a cul-de-sac now, and always mentally note the occupants and lic. plate.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

I gave plenty of thought to security before and after buying the place that I call Slippy Lodge. We have plenty of pros and cons and some things that we couldn't overcome due to cost. The home is located on the highest point of our land. Heavy hardwoods with some natural choke points and some areas that I cleared for recreation, fire safety and outbuildings/garden etc. Limited ways in and out.

Yes, a group of determined well trained bad asses can breach most homes, mine included. But my goal was to make it difficult for the common idiot troublemaker. 

If you come down my road, you are either invited, lost or up to no good. In the past couple of years, we've had 3 incidents of uninvited visitors...Two kids who lost their dog; A nice couple who live in a home about a mile away just wanting to say hello on a Sunday afternoon; and a delivery man looking for one of my neighbors who got his delivery truck stuck and I pulled him out. None made it close to our home without alerts.

If I were up to no good, I wouldn't pick my place to venture down to cause trouble. Too many country folk with firearms. I'd keep driving and hit one of the neighborhoods about 8 miles away with lots of mini vans with stickers of their kids activities on the bumpers.


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