The 5 D's of Home Defense

Whether a brand new or more seasoned owner, many people purchased their firearms for home defense purposes. Sadly, there are people who feel that once they own a firearm they are safe. They are ready to defend themselves and others in their home. That may be true and you are one step closer to making yourself and your family safer. However, wouldn’t it be better to not have to use a firearm at all in a defensive situation? I know I would rather make my home a “hard target” for criminals then just prepare to defend myself if they come.

The 5 D’s of Home Defense are a way to hopefully help you avoid ever having to use your defensive firearm in the first place. Deter, Detect, Deny, Delay and Defend. Each individual D is a process that should be evaluated to help you create or better enhance your home defense plans. Below we will analyze each one individually.

Deter

Simply put, deterrence is and always will be the best method of home defense. Making your home an undesirable or “hard” target for a criminal will help you avoid the necessity for the rest of the steps. Though, even with a good deterrence plan you still need to solidify the rest of the steps. Deterrence can come in many forms but there are five particular methods that I want to cover in this article.

Vehicles in the Driveway

One of the easiest deterrents is having vehicles in your driveway. Vehicles usually indicate that at least one person is home therefore making your house undesirable for most criminals. The majority of criminals don’t want to deal with people who are home. If possible always have at least one vehicle in the driveway or in front of your house.

Lighting

Interior and exterior lighting are important. If at night, the outside of your house is completely dark, it makes it easy to walk up undetected (unless you have motion activated lights which we’ll cover later). If there are no interior lights on then it could signify that no one is home. At my house, we always have a front porch light on at night and we leave at least one light in the kitchen and/or main living room on. That way someone driving/walking by our house knows that not only are they visible when walking up to the house but also can assume that someone is most likely home.

Signage

As simple as it sounds, putting up various types of signage around your yard can act as great deterrents. Do you have a security system? Put a sign indicating that you do out front. If you don’t have a security system, then put one out there anyway. Having a Beware of Dog sign on your back gate even if you don’t have one can help as well. Any type of signage that will make a criminal think twice about targeting your home because of possibly being filmed or having to deal with a dog will work.

A bit of precautionary advice however. If you have signage on your property such as “The Owner of This Property is Armed,” or “Trespassers Will Be Shot,” or “Attention Thieves, Please Carry ID So We Can Notify Next of Kin” can be troublesome. First, it tells criminals that you have firearms which is a desirable item to steal. Second, signs such as the ones above, as clever or accurate as you may feel them to be can hurt a legal defense in certain areas. By announcing publicly that you intend on shooting anyone who comes onto your property you could have a prosecutor argue that you never intended to let the person get out alive, you only had the intent to kill. Please keep these two ideas in mind when putting up firearms signage on your property.

Cameras

In today’s world, you can easily and quickly install exterior cameras around your home for a fairly inexpensive price. I personally have a Ring Doorbell and a Floodlight Camera installed at my house with plans to get more. Once again, if a person is scanning your house for any indications that make you a hard target, they need look no further than a camera at the front door and possibly other locations.

As with all electronic forms of surveillance, if there is a power outage then you may run into issues. With cameras such as the Ring devices, then you may run into issues if you are simply having WiFi problems as well.

Manicured Landscaping

One of the first things I did when I moved into my house was clear out all of the overgrown shrubs, trees, assorted plants and bushes in the beds. In several locations around my house someone easily could have hidden and not been detected, particularly at night. These locations were near the front door and under several windows that led into bedrooms. Denying the ability for a criminal to hide near your house is important. The majority of criminals do not want to be seen breaking into a house. If they have no way to hide while trying to enter they most likely will move on to an easier target.

Pets

Although having signage alone may work, an actual dog will work even better. Size in a dog does matter but more importantly, the dogs ability to alert you to a possible intruder is crucial. A big Rottweiler who just sits down when someone is intruding isn't as worthwhile as a small dog that won't stop barking. Train your dog to be an alert/attack dog, not just a pet that lounges around all day.

Implementing all or even some of the above deterrents will help make your home a safer place and will hopefully encourage a would be intruder to pick a different house. The next time you are driving around your neighborhood or local area, take a look around and see if you notice any of the aforementioned deterrents. Also, notice if they are NOT being implemented and think about how their house looks versus yours. As horrible as it may sound, think about which house would be more appealing to a criminal. Don’t feel bad if you feel better prepared since you are taking active steps to help keep you and your family safe.

Detect

Detection is key to helping stop an intruder before they make it into your home. Detection can come in many forms but the simplest are typically lighting/motion activated lighting, alarm systems and cameras. With the installation of a Ring camera at the front door and in my backyard, I get notified if there is movement in either of those areas. Sure, it can get annoying that I receive alerts in the middle of the night due to animals. However, I would always rather have a heads up that something/someone is on my property rather than hear it for the first time when glass is breaking or a door is being kicked in.

Security/alarm systems also help with early detection. Using motion sensors, glass breaking sensors, window sensors etc. all help with knowing what is happening in and around your house.

Simply put, detection is crucial and can save you seconds or even minutes to prepare before an intrusion occurs. As we all should know, time is of the essence and even mere seconds can help you keep yourself and your family safe.

Deny

Now that we have reached Deny, we can somewhat safely say that Deterrence didn’t work and hopefully your Detection tools helped you know what was coming. For denial of entry there are a few key things that can help you slow down or even stop an intruder from gaining access to your home.

Secure and Reinforced Locks/Deadbolts

Unfortunately, a lot of homeowners have very insecure entryways into their home. Maybe you have a doorway that only has the lock on the handle and no deadbolt. Maybe you have both but don’t always lock the deadbolt “because it’s an inconvenience.” Even if you lock both, most people don’t understand that their doorway probably wouldn’t survive a solid kick or two if applied by the right person.

The location where your deadbolt and regular door catch enter into the frame is usually very weak and ineffectual against any type of force. Your hinges also aren’t very good either. Two things are at play here:

1.) The wood that is used is typically builders grade and is not built to necessarily take force when applied properly.

2.) The screws that are used to hold the parts of the door handle, deadbolt and hinges are typically short and won’t hold up against any type of applied force.

I highly recommend doing two things, the first being screw replacement and the second being the installation of a reinforcement kit. First, you should remove the screws from the hinges one at a time and replace them with longer three inch screws. This typically allows the screw to reach into the 2x4 frame that the door frame was installed on. After doing the hinge screws, replace the screws on the deadbolt plate and the regular strike plate as well.

The second recommendation includes installing a reinforcement kit such as the one sold by Door Armor. This kit (or one like it) helps reinforce the areas around the deadbolt and regular knob/handle lock both on the door itself and the frame. Now, when someone tries to kick in your door, rather than applying force to just screws and wood, they are now impeded by metal on both sides. With the installation of a reinforcement kit, the force needed to kick in a door increases tremendously. This can either deter the would-be intruder completely or at the minimum will provide you with valuable time to respond.

Locked Windows

Make sure that your windows are locked as well. Some intruders will attempt access through windows, especially if those windows provide good concealment. Look back to deter when thinking about this. Not only do we lock the windows but we also install wooden rods into the windows as a secondary locking mechanism. One thing to also be aware of is repair men/workers in your home. There have been instances where those individuals will unlock windows in a house in preparation for a robbery in the future.

Delay

Delay has its own category but is very closely related to Deny. If you are denying access to a would be intruder, then you are also delaying their entrance. Delaying can also be done by creating further barriers within doorways/hallways. As an example let’s just say that you hear your front door being kicked in, you may proceed to place dressers in front of your bedroom door and lock it in case they get into your house. This extra barrier will assist with slowing an attacker down if they were to approach your room.

Defend

After you have fully implemented Deter, Detect, Deny, and Delay, then you should be thinking about Defend. Defense comes in many forms but for the purpose of this article I am assuming you are using a firearm for home defense. When analyzing your home defense plan remember that you need to take into consideration your states laws and how they can affect the implementation of your plan. I will say though, no matter what state you reside in, you should be making every effort to avoid interaction with an intruder. If you are able to barricade yourself in a room and can put yourself in a solid, defensible position, you will be much better off than walking through your house trying to find an intruder.

Remember, you are not a SERT/SWAT/Military Unit that is backed up by a series of people behind you. You would be alone, moving toward a criminal who clearly has no regard for the law. The intruder could be armed, drunk, high or even a combination of the three. For my home defense plan, the only time that I would be spending in a hallway would be to retrieve my youngest daughter. After retrieval I would then be retreating back into our rear most bedroom to set up my defensible position. I know that this concept will draw a number of dislikes and negative comments because it isn’t flashy or “tactical.” It doesn’t scream, “This is my house and anyone who walks in will got shot.” In a different series on this site you will see why/how that mentality can get you in trouble.

Now that you have read about the 5 D’s of Home Defense, I hope that you take the time to analyze and review each one and how it can help you build a home defense plan or even bolster your current one. These rules do not just apply to home defense but can also apply to self-defense situations outside of your home as well. As stated early Deterrence will always be key to helping you avoid any conflict so do your best to be a “hard target” so that you and your family can be safe.

Stay safe. Stay practical. Stay educated.

-Pat