# Securing your home



## NCas (Sep 9, 2013)

Yesterday I received an urgent text message from my father who is currently staying with me. He wanted the phone number for the landlord which was confusing so I called him up to see what was the matter. He said he had caught someone inside the building acting odd and very close to our door.

When I got home he told me what had happened, he confronted the individual who said he was there from a moving company and they had told him that they had sent him to this building. My father then ask what address had they sent him to and his response was "around here to a brown building". My father also asked him who was the person they told him was moving and made up some name. The building I live in is small with 2 studios and 2 two bedroom apartments and my father knew no one was moving out. 

The man apologizes and said he had the wrong apartment and went downstairs to check the other apartments to check if the person that had hire the movers lived downstairs. My father is a in his 60's but hes a big who grew up in rough city so I'm sure he must have felt a big intimidated. My father feeling that something was wrong as the guy was fumbling the questions he asked and he did not see a moving truck anywhere in the driveway. He went inside the house and quickly check that nothing was missing. He took a blunt object and went outside and down the stairs, but the so called mover was gone.

One of the neighbors arrived and my father talked to him about what had happen as they make their way to the neighbors apartment they could see that the door had been prayed open. My neighbor and his family where all together so no one else could be home and my father hadn't seen anyone coming out of the apartment. They called the police as they didn't know if there was anyone else inside. The police came and went in to make sure no one was there, but it was clear that some of their things were taken. Another of the neighbors also comes home and she see that her place had also been broken into. Her computer and tablet had been stolen. The upstairs neighbors were also lucky that they hadn't been broken into, worse they were home but where sleeping when it happened. 

In the 5 years I've lived in Mexico I have never had my home broken into. I was fortunate that my father scared them away, but it has made me reassess about the things I need to do to better secure my home. Fortunate I have metal bars on windows so that makes entry really difficult. My father (he's a handyman) suggested I reinforce the door frame as that's how they were able to get into my neighbors house. He's offered to install it for me which I happily accepted. The door knob and deadbolt are mine, I purchased them from home depot a few years ago and are of really good quality. The door frame was something I neglected because as good as the knob and deadbolt were they could just break part of the frame to get in. I'm also checking for a camera that I can set up outside to deter at least at some level other would be thief's. 

Sorry for the long post and I would love to hear of things you guys do too keep your homes secure. Any experience or thoughts are always appreciated. op2:


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Sorry to hear that this happened to your neighbor. Of course, it's a good idea to have your door frame reinforced - most thieves target places that are easy to break into. My question for you is how did this person get into your building in the first place? I live in a small building with 14 tiny apartments. We have had a few break-ins over the 11 years I've been here, but I feel pretty safe since the only way for a non-resident to get into the building is for someone to buzz him in at the building entrance. As long as the residents remember to close the building door firmly when entering or exiting, all is well!


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> Sorry to hear that this happened to your neighbor. Of course, it's a good idea to have your door frame reinforced - most thieves target places that are easy to break into. My question for you is how did this person get into your building in the first place? I live in a small building with 14 tiny apartments. We have had a few break-ins over the 11 years I've been here, but I feel pretty safe since the only way for a non-resident to get into the building is for someone to buzz him in at the building entrance. As long as the residents remember to close the building door firmly when entering or exiting, all is well!


Just an un-requested opinion: I wouldn't rely on the locked front entrance as much of a deterrent. Someone who wanted to get into the building could just ring all 14 apartments. Someone is likely to open it for them without asking who it is. Or the ladron could just go in as someone else is entering or leaving. Most people will not question it and, in fact, most will politely hold the door for someone else.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> Just an un-requested opinion: I wouldn't rely on the locked front entrance as much of a deterrent. Someone who wanted to get into the building could just ring all 14 apartments. Someone is likely to open it for them without asking who it is. Or the ladron could just go in as someone else is entering or leaving. Most people will not question it and, in fact, most will politely hold the door for someone else.


During the day, almost everyone (except me) is out, so ringing all of the bells most likely won't work. I never let anyone into the building unless I know them - not sure about my neighbors.


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## NCas (Sep 9, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> My question for you is how did this person get into your building in the first place?


No worries, my father is ok and nothing was taken so for me this is more of how we can make improvements. Two of the neighbors have parking within the building thru metal gates. It looks like they got careless maybe a little lazy and have not been been locking them with the padlocks. Thief's saw they could open the gate and came thru there. Hopefully they've learned their lesson and will be more careful. 

I'm surprise they would try to steal during the middle of the day and with a police station a couple of blocks away. Better not take anything for granted.


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## KingM (Apr 2, 2018)

The place I was staying in Ecuador had a locked gate with spikes, a padlock on the gate, a thick wooden door with two padlocks, a door lock, a heavy bolt, and a chain. Barred windows, of course. Seemed like a quiet neighborhood, too, but I think the goal was to make the place look like the toughest target on the block.

I was there two months, and never could learn all the keys, which meant it took several minutes just to get in and out. I took to leaving some of the candados unlatched, but that made the owner really anxious whenever he saw that I wasn't properly securing the place.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

NCas said:


> No worries, my father is ok and nothing was taken so for me this is more of how we can make improvements. Two of the neighbors have parking within the building thru metal gates. It looks like they got careless maybe a little lazy and have not been been locking them with the padlocks. Thief's saw they could open the gate and came thru there. Hopefully they've learned their lesson and will be more careful.
> 
> I'm surprise they would try to steal during the middle of the day and with a police station a couple of blocks away. Better not take anything for granted.


I hope your careless neighbors were informed about what happened and how the robbers got into your building. Thieves usually case a particular building before trying their luck.

In my building, the thieves always tried to do their dirty work in the daytime, when they thought that no one would be likely to be at home. One afternoon I heard some noise in the hallway and went down to investigate. I saw two suspicious-looking characters lurking around the door to a neighbor's apartment. When I asked them what they were doing, they mumbled an excuse and then left. I wonder if I scared them away!


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

""I wonder if I scared them away!"" stated The Ninja Verde.......LOL


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

chicois8 said:


> ""I wonder if I scared them away!"" stated The Ninja Verde.......LOL


Thanks for the compliment, chico! Maybe I should have a tee shirt made with a "Ninja Verde" logo.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

I have a large vigilant watchdog. No one gets within 100 meters of my place without her barking. She looks and sounds ferocious, but is, in fact, quite a gentle dog who has never bitten anyone or even another dog. But the potential thieves don't know that.


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## KingM (Apr 2, 2018)

surabi said:


> I have a large vigilant watchdog. No one gets within 100 meters of my place without her barking. She looks and sounds ferocious, but is, in fact, quite a gentle dog who has never bitten anyone or even another dog. But the potential thieves don't know that.


Ah, so _you're _the one contributing to the barking dog problem in Mexico!


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## NCas (Sep 9, 2013)

surabi said:


> I have a large vigilant watchdog. No one gets within 100 meters of my place without her barking. She looks and sounds ferocious, but is, in fact, quite a gentle dog who has never bitten anyone or even another dog. But the potential thieves don't know that.


I could make an argument to the owner to change the policy of no pets. But I doubt it was I told the landlord about my plans to reinforce the door frame and they said to please only add small perforations.


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

Reinforced door frames and iron bars on the windows. I've always felt safe.
Before I moved into my building, while they were still renovating, some guys broke into my home to steal my wiring. *******s.

Reinforced the frame and added a lock.

My other door is on a metal frame, with dual locks.

My upstairs windows have bars that open, but are also locked.

It seems Mexican homes are often built like fortresses, more-so than American homes.


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## NCas (Sep 9, 2013)

WintheWin said:


> It seems Mexican homes are often built like fortresses, more-so than American homes.


If a zombie apocalypse ever hits I'm going to be glad I'm in my fortress. Garafones, cylindros de gas, and I'm plenty of food vendors will survive. 

eep:


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

KingM said:


> Ah, so _you're _the one contributing to the barking dog problem in Mexico!


Guilty as charged. However, I do go quiet her down if she's barked for more than about 45 seconds, and even get up in the middle of the night to do so- she isn't one of those dogs that barks neurotically for hours. I live down a dead-end country road, so not like there's cars and people she's barking at all day. Once they pass the front of my property, she stops.
I've never been able to understand how some dog owners can just let their dogs bark endlessly or sleep right through it.


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## Stevenjb (Dec 10, 2017)

surabi said:


> Guilty as charged. However, I do go quiet her down if she's barked for more than about 45 seconds, and even get up in the middle of the night to do so- she isn't one of those dogs that barks neurotically for hours. I live down a dead-end country road, so not like there's cars and people she's barking at all day. Once they pass the front of my property, she stops.
> I've never been able to understand how some dog owners can just let their dogs bark endlessly or sleep right through it.


They become deaf to it - like a nagging spouse. Yes dear, yes dear...


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

This will undoubtedly mark me as a –grouchy old man– but here goes anyway.

I like dogs a lot and have at various times had a pet dog myself, however I am not so fond of many dog owners. My particular peeves in no particular order are:

• Dog feces on sidewalks and streets.
• Roof dogs that bark at everything within a block or nothing. Mostly I am sorry for the poor dogs who are abandoned to the loneliness of life on a roof.
• Dogs behind fences or gates that wait until you are right next to them, then scare you half to death barking or growling in your ear.
• Loose dogs on the street that force runners to stop running in order to avoid being chased. The problem is you don't know which ones will chase so you have to stop for all of them.

The one instance of barking dogs that I enjoy for some reason is when it is in the distance and late at night. There is mournful quality to the sound of a dog barking far off in the distance when it is very late.

I occasionally sleep out on top of a small volcano located on the edge of Guadalajara (Colli). The camping spot is a hundred meters or so above dense residential neighborhoods. Late in the evening as the sounds of the city and traffic quiet down, you are left with a low background noise. The the last time I camped there, I realized it was the sound of hundreds or thousands of dogs barking in the city below.


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## dwwhiteside (Apr 17, 2013)

It is important to take precautions and make your house secure. It seems like most of the break ins that have happened around here have happened in the mornings, sometime between 8:30 and 11:00, when there is a high probability that the house will be empty.

We have done what most of our neighbors have done; we put electric wires on top of all of the low walls, security bars on all the windows and cameras on the corners and in the front door. And that door is made of steel with a steel frame.

But, the best security measure we have taken was to get Jack, our boxer. He is a sweet, playful and loving dog but, at 34 kilos and with canine teeth about half an inch long, he is probably the best deterrent we have for any would-be trespassers.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

I agree with dogs being great security, and a very culturally appropriate measure in Mexico. However I have heard of cases where thieves come prepared with meat laced with poison, which would lead to a double tragedy- a break-in and losing your dog. We are absent from our house in Mexico for extended periods. We have iron bars on windows, decorative iron doors in iron frames, high walls, and cameras. We actually don’t keep much of significant value in the house when we’re away for longer stretches. My husband takes his motorcycle and power tools to a friend who stores them for him. The “defenses” are more about not wanting to have to deal with the stress any break-in entails and having deterrents. We also have one neighbour officially in charge of taking care of the house, but 2 other neighbours also keep an eye out and let us know if anything seems amiss.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

IMO, the "dog security" is largely an illusion. An experienced thief can make short work of a dog with a number of counter measures resulting in loss of a pet as well as property. The only good reason to have a dog and the responsibility that involves is because you enjoy its company.

Walls and bars work very effectively. I've been in this house over ten years without a break-in. It's a good thing to be in a a fairly busy residential area where a stranger trying to climb over walls or get past bars would be very noticeable. It also helps to keep a low wealth-profile.

If you have household help, it's a very bad idea to pass out keys. Your help may be honest, but you have no idea about their family and other acquaintances. A friend trusted her maid with keys, little knowing that the maid's gangbanger son and his buddies would clean out her valuables when she wasn't home.


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## KingM (Apr 2, 2018)

lagoloo said:


> IMO, the "dog security" is largely an illusion. An experienced thief can make short work of a dog with a number of counter measures resulting in loss of a pet as well as property.


The other thing is that a barking dog is a lot like a car alarm. When the car alarm goes off in the middle of the night, do you ever think, "Oh my God, someone's care is being stolen!!!"

No, you think, "Someone shut that *&#! alarm off or I'm going to put a brick through the windshield."

Dogs bark so many false alarms, that the chance of someone paying attention suddenly because the dog is barking in the back yard is slim.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

KingM said:


> The other thing is that a barking dog is a lot like a car alarm. When the car alarm goes off in the middle of the night, do you ever think, "Oh my God, someone's care is being stolen!!!"
> 
> No, you think, "Someone shut that *&#! alarm off or I'm going to put a brick through the windshield."
> 
> Dogs bark so many false alarms, that the chance of someone paying attention suddenly because the dog is barking in the back yard is slim.


This is a good analogy, KingM. However, there is also the possibility that a barking dog may scare off the robbers in the first place.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

Isla Verde said:


> This is a good analogy, KingM. However, there is also the possibility that a barking dog may scare off the robbers in the first place.


The amateurs, perhaps.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

I think when a dog can really help is if someone breaks in when you’re actually home. We had a break-in at our home in Toronto once in the wee hours of the morning through a forced basement window. Our little 5 lb Mexican dog alerted us - her bark was way different than her “raccoon alert” bark. We all ran down to see what was going on, and she’d chased the thief out the back door. He did manage to grab my purse on the way out, but various electronics out in the open were untouched. According to the police the same guy had been breaking in to various houses in the neighbourhood and mostly stealing electronics. So we got off fairly easy, thanks to our little dog.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

One day I felt someone was watching me from our neighbors roof and one of mastiffs was growling softly so I knew something was up , I left th dogs out, I had 4 of those guys and the next day my neighbor told me someone had gotten into his house..
Another time a xolo started barking in a way that was unusual, The painter who was finishing work as the night had kust fallen told me there is something wrong next door , the dog is trying to warn us.. I looked and everything was quiet.. my neighbors had 8 dogs and none were barking so I called the dog back. At 10 at night my neighbor called to rell me they had been robbed .. None of their dogs and they were all inside had barked..ANother neighbor told me the thieves must have come at 8 because of something she saw that was strange and that a dog was barking in an unusual manner at that time.. Dogs can tell you a lot if you know how to interpret their bark. They can also warn you that someone is in the house and that way you do not have to be surprised.. As far as attacking and scaring off the thief,it all depends on the dog and unless the dog is a trained attack dog I would not count on it.. The closer we came to have really protective dogs was when we had mastiffs, the other dogs are just good for warning..


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## [email protected] (Nov 12, 2017)

*Get to know your neighbors*



ojosazules11 said:


> I agree with dogs being great security, and a very culturally appropriate measure in Mexico. However I have heard of cases where thieves come prepared with meat laced with poison, which would lead to a double tragedy- a break-in and losing your dog. We are absent from our house in Mexico for extended periods. We have iron bars on windows, decorative iron doors in iron frames, high walls, and cameras. We actually don’t keep much of significant value in the house when we’re away for longer stretches. My husband takes his motorcycle and power tools to a friend who stores them for him. The “defenses” are more about not wanting to have to deal with the stress any break-in entails and having deterrents. We also have one neighbour officially in charge of taking care of the house, but 2 other neighbours also keep an eye out and let us know if anything seems amiss.


I believe in interacting with my neighbors, ( and for someone like me learning Spanish as a second language ), our conversations are fun, yet sincere. I believe in my heart that such an outreach communicates that I value the neighborhood, I value & respect my neighbors, and they in turn get to know an American ( true story, when I purchased my cement block 3/2.5 the neighbors were concerned - oh no, an American - loud music, disrespecting aloof behavior, and everything including the kitchen sink! There goes the neighborhood!!!! ) I understand that all of my neighbors & I are "Americans, " so to be PC, yo soy norte americano . . . once I reached out way back in 2005, I now wave, "buenos dias," keeping my sidewalk clean of trash, weeds, etc. Also, I purchase items, fruit, bevs from the tiendas steps from the front door. Long story short ( I am long winded as you have noticed! ) I feel my neighbors and I look out for each other, and as posted above I (hope ) my neighbors and I too would question somebody or something out of the ordinary, and "scare" them away . . . as in, this is not a street or neighborhood where the pickings are easy. with a smile


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

lagoloo said:


> IMO, the "dog security" is largely an illusion. An experienced thief can make short work of a dog with a number of counter measures resulting in loss of a pet as well as property. The only good reason to have a dog and the responsibility that involves is because you enjoy its company.
> 
> Walls and bars work very effectively. I've been in this house over ten years without a break-in. It's a good thing to be in a a fairly busy residential area where a stranger trying to climb over walls or get past bars would be very noticeable. It also helps to keep a low wealth-profile.
> 
> If you have household help, it's a very bad idea to pass out keys. Your help may be honest, but you have no idea about their family and other acquaintances. A friend trusted her maid with keys, little knowing that the maid's gangbanger son and his buddies would clean out her valuables when she wasn't home.


Yes, but at least in my experience, most of the thieves around are not what you'd call professional. Druggies looking for things they can quickly fence for their next hit and so on. They will go the easiest route- if there are dogs barking at them, they will move on to the next place where there aren't any. The areas of town where I live that get hit by thieves the most are ones where there are no dogs. There were a lot of break-ins in my old neighborhood, the homes with no dogs got hit, the ones with dogs not.
Low wealth profile for sure. Same on not handing out keys.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

It's always "in my experience" though. My property isn't suitable for a dog, so I don't have one. My "pets" are the roving birds who like the three tiered "spa" in the patio.

Never been hit, so that's "my experience". One of my neighbors has an "occasional" dog belonging to a relative who leaves it with him. It never shuts up, to the point where one might consider dogicide. 
We do have some pro thieves around here since this is ******-heavy town where the perception is that there are goodies well worth going after.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

When I was helping at the MP, they arrested a guy who would communte and came every day to get into homes in the Ajijiic area. He had a gun and a few tools in a mochila.. I never looked at mochila the same way after I saw what he was carrying.. He took money, jewelry and small electronics.. He came every day by bus from Guadalajara, I guess you could call that a professional..


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

My house was robbed a few years ago. They came over the roof, dropped down into a patio and left the same route. I was getting ready for a trip and had everything laid out on a bed, passport, credit cards, camera, laptop, iPad. I left to go the the mercado a block away. I was only gone for 10 minutes but they needed less than that. They took it all. I had to spend a day at the consulate getting a temporary passport.

Since then I have changed things. I put concertina wire around all the patios, and I lock all the doors from the patios into the rooms. I always had locked the front door, but before the theft I used to leave interior doors open. No more.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I got tagged in Chiapas and it is exactly how they were planning to enter, via the roof down into the patio.. so now I also cleep with doors to the patio locked.. a sha,e these patios are so nice..They must have thought you were a great guy to leave everything out so they did not have to search anything!!


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

ojosazules11 said:


> I think when a dog can really help is if someone breaks in when you’re actually home. We had a break-in at our home in Toronto once in the wee hours of the morning through a forced basement window. Our little 5 lb Mexican dog alerted us - her bark was way different than her “raccoon alert” bark. We all ran down to see what was going on, and she’d chased the thief out the back door.



A great story, ojos! I've always thought that tiny dogs can be a lot more ferocious than their larger relatives!


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Isla Verde said:


> A great story, ojos! I've always thought that tiny dogs can be a lot more ferocious than their larger relatives!


Right on Isla, my mini dachshund sounded like a pit bull behind a closed door...LOL


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

chicois8 said:


> Right on Isla, my mini dachshund sounded like a pit bull behind a closed door...LOL


It could be a great mascot for our Ninja Verde!


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

ojosazules11 said:


> It could be a great mascot for our Ninja Verde!


I love dogs, but my landlord won't allow me to have one in my apartment, too bad!


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

[email protected] said:


> ( true story, when I purchased my cement block 3/2.5 the neighbors were concerned - oh no, an American - loud music, disrespecting aloof behavior, and everything including the kitchen sink! There goes the neighborhood!!!! )


In my experience, it's Mexicans who play loud music without any regard for the eardrums of their neighbors, not Americans!


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> I love dogs, but my landlord won't allow me to have one in my apartment, too bad!


Too bad, indeed. You could be driving away would be thieves together!


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