WWYD if someone tried to open your front door?

Cock a shotgun right inside the door so they could hear it.



Or find a sound clip of that on my phone and play it with the volume all the way up.

Well that's a dangerous idea. 

I would look to see who it is out of the window near the door, while the dog loses its mind barking. And then call the police if things looked suspicious. 

So was he at the wrong house and was really trying to go into your neighbor's house?

Nothing really. You would be hard pressed to find a locked door here when someone is home. Heck most of the doors are left wide open now with all the fresh air. My point being we are all sitting targets. Most folks here knock and stick their heads in. Even UPS and FEdex.

Mental note, never go to Texas. That's not a good answer to me, that's an outrageous, over the top, dangerous idea. 

I have my front door open most days now, but I lock the screen door. Leaving doors unlocked and people having the balls to just stick their head in is an intrusion of personal space... especially if they are delivery or something of that ilk. No one is allowed in the house until they are invited.

We had this happen at our house in TX at 12:30 a.m. I immediately called 911. Four cars showed up in "stealth mode." They caught him. Turns out it was my neighbor out drunk walking the streets and tried to get in the wrong house. Ugh!!!! But if it happened again, I would have the same response. I had to call on the same neighbors once when the door was wide open for hours in the dark morning. I thought they may have been in there dead, and the dog was out running loose. The police went in, and there were tons of teenage boys asleep everywhere on the first level. Guess it was some sort of party! So glad to have moved from there, and it was a nice neighborhood just interesting neighbors.

My door is wired in to the burglar alarm so it chimes like Big Ben when it is opened. I wouldn't hesitate to clobber a burglar with one of my husband's golf clubs if I had to.

I rarely lock doors and I live in a suburban neighborhood right on a main street.

If a stranger just walked in they would be met with a very large, angry, armed woman.

I do keep a firearm, but that would be my last resort. DB made me a sap. It's a 10oz steel ball wrapped in leather with a long braided leather strap. It would stop someone fast, if necessary.

But I've never had that happen. So who really knows what one would do?

I was a dispatcher in a college town for a short time and was surprised how many 9-1-1 calls we got about this. The person trying to get in/getting in was usually drunk or on drugs and thought they were somewhere else, even when the occupant was yelling at them to go away, I'm calling 9-1-1, or whatever.

It even happened to my Lt. who lived in a nearby beach town. Obviously, he was armed so he took the guy into custody until the local PD could get there. The guy had knocked down my Lt'.s locked front door and made entry into the house while Lt. and his wife were sleeping. That guy's pretty lucky to be alive.

I always keep my doors locked, front and back, and even the door from the house to the locked garage.  I lock it if I am running next door for a minute. I lock it when I am outside doing yard work and will be out of sight from the front door.  Yeah, I've lived alone long enough to always lock my doors.  My neighbors next door never do.  They leave their garage door open when they are home.  They leave their two downstairs front windows open all night to take advantage of the cool night air in the house.  They even leave these open when they go on vacation!  I fed their cat for a week to make sure the house didn't get too hot for the cat, the front windows were open and the back patio door sidelights were open too!  I felt uncomfortable going over there.  

In answer to your question, I would have done what you did, gone to the window to see who was there.  I have done that many, many times.  I always have my phone in my hand, ready to call for help if needed.  I also pretend that there is someone upstairs and I will yell up there to make it look like I am not home alone.  I never answer the door unless I know who it is.  When my son comes over unexpectedly, he texts me to say he is at the front door rather than knocking so that I don't freak out.

I just read something today that was posted on my neighborhood watch website about a woman in my town who had a knock at the door when she was home alone.  She looked through the peephole and didn't recognize the guy, so she went back into the kitchen.  A minute later, the guy kicked her side door open and came in because he assumed no one was home.  The woman ran upstairs and locked herself in her bedroom and called the police.  The guy and his accomplice were caught inside her home fand the woman was okay, thankfully.

We have a police liaison who monitors the site and posts pertinent information. Today, she posted that there are representatives from a company canvasing the city with questionnaires.  She gave the company name and described their logo and said they had checked in with the police to let them know they would be in the city today.  I appreciate things like that.  

In response to the woman who was home but did not respond to the door knock, she posted a list of things one should do regarding someone at your door.  They are pretty much just common sense, but not to everyone, I guess.

1. Always have a verbal response to any knock. Avoid giving the impression that the residence is unoccupied.

2. Keep an eye on people you turn away and what they do next. Report anyone who lingers, tries to get a neighbor to open their door, or otherwise acts suspiciously

3. In a gated community, take as many precautions as you would if the gate was not there. If someone calls your home from the gate and creates a reason to be let into the neighborhood, do not let them in if you cannot verify who and why.

4. Be suspicious of unexpected knocks. If you are not expecting anyone, a service call, or otherwise, do not open the door without asking questions.

5. Be aware of ploys such as fake emergencies, fake deliveries, etc.

6. Use your viewing methods to help verify. Peep holes, nearby windows, vantage points from other rooms may be used to see who is knocking.

7. Do not feel pressured or forced to open your door. You have the ability to allow those into your home that you know and trust. All others are not welcomed - or worth the risk!

8. Consider a high quality security screen door or enclosed porch/entry way to maintain a barrier between you and the door knocker.

9. Install and maintain adequate security lighting for the perimeter of your home. Lighting choices vary and additional lighting around your property is a proactive deterrent.

 

I grew up in a college town and then attended college in a college town (ha ha-obviously.)

Anyway, I was a tween when Ted Bundy rolled through Tallahassee and in school at UF when Danny Rolling rolled through Gainesville and from that day forward, I don't keep any door in my house unlocked at any point unless I am walking through it. I am a scaredy cat that way. If someone is trying to get into my house, they are going to have to work at it.

My mom never locked the doors and always had the windows open at night until Ted Bundy came to town. That was when her habits changed-and the first time we had a/c to make up for locking the windows at night.

I am not one to live in fear, but I lived in the area in Gainesville where Danny Rollings was camping, where he was doing all his killing and I was a petite brunette which was who he went after and locking doors has become an ingrained habit at this point. Calling 9-1-1 if someone was trying to open my door, drunk or not, I prefer to have the police coming around just in case.