TOPS Bunker: The Original Prepper Survivalist Podcast

196 Home Security - Dont Be a Soft Target with Andy Blair

• Keith Otworth & Rhonda Triggs • Season 7 • Episode 196

Share episode

Text Our Show Hosts

Tonight... 

We’re talking about Hardening your Home, Your Stuff, and You.

Let’s be honest now. Having a year’s worth of food, medical supplies, and gear doesn’t mean jack shit if someone can kick in your front door and walk off with it. If you’re not hardened from the outside in, if your home isn’t layered like a fortress, and if you haven’t trained your mindset to defend what’s yours, you’re just stockpiling for the next guy.

That’s why we’ve got former Air Force Law Enforcement and Security Expert, Andy Blair on the show with us tonight. This guy’s the real deal. He’s not just another ‘expert’ reading off a checklist. Andy lives and breathes security. From locking down your perimeter and hardening your entry points, to interior defense strategies, personal protection, and securing your preps, Andy’s got the knowledge you need, I need, we all need, to turn our homes into no-go zones for predators, thieves, and marauders.

So, if you’re serious about protecting your people, your preps, and your peace of mind, then strap in and get ready to take notes. Because tonight, we’re tearing down the illusion of safety to make room for simple and affective changes that may save your life one day.

This is Andy’s first time on our show, and I really hope it won’t be his last, cuz what you’re about to hear is just the tip of the iceberg, when it comes to his extensive experience and knowledge.

 

So… 

Let’s Get To It.

Visit HoneyComb Holler on YouTube

TOPSBunker.com

Please Visit Our Affiliate Links to Find Great Preparedness Products:

Music: The Talbott Brothers "The Comng Days"

Support the show


sgtb
I'd rather sweat than freeze. That's my mantra.

00:00:24.71
Keith
Oh, I'm the exact opposite, man. I'd much rather be in snow all year round if I could. I just wish.

00:00:30.34
sgtb
I don't mind shoveling snow if I could do it wearing shorts.

00:00:31.01
Jeremy
When I was younger.

00:00:35.43
Keith
That's

00:00:36.69
Buddy
You can always do it wearing shorts. You just have to pick your and pick your battles, I guess.

00:00:38.88
sgtb
Yeah, i might

00:00:43.01
Jeremy
When I was younger, I could tolerate the heat a lot more.

00:00:43.34
sgtb
I might be subject to an involuntary mental health commitment. I've done a few of them to people. I just don't want to be on the receiving end of one of those.

00:00:53.58
Buddy
Oh, good. Good to go.

00:00:55.63
Keith
So Andy, ah tell us a little bit briefly about yourself and why you're with us tonight.

00:01:01.21
sgtb
So i am a native of York, Pennsylvania. York is, if nothing else, York Peppermint Patty started there. They're not made there anymore, but that's where they came from in case you ever see one. um About 50 miles north of Baltimore, 90 miles west of Philadelphia, the edge of Amish country, ah born and raised there.

00:01:20.84
sgtb
At the age of 17, when I was graduating from high school, I did not want to become the head French fry maker at McDonald's, but nor did I want to go to college, as all my brothers and sisters did. So fortunately, my dad was a World War II veteran, so I did go in the military. I went in the Air Force, and I did do, back then they called it security police. Today it's called security forces, basically the same thing.

00:01:45.23
sgtb
And ah I was involved in nuclear weapons security and flight line security. I served in Montana, um which I did see 47 below zero on a calm day. So there's your cold.

00:01:58.79
sgtb
um After a couple of years there, i I was, I consider it fortunate. I got orders to go to Korea for a year. So I was stationed in Korea. That was a different environment.

00:02:11.08
sgtb
And then I finished off my the rest of my enlistment in New Jersey at at McGuire. i got out, I did a little bit of truck driving. And then in 1986, I got hired as a police officer and I did that for 26 years.

00:02:28.01
sgtb
And during that time, i did just about everything. a Field training officer, I did that. I was a SWAT team member for probably six years. um I gate became a corporal, then a patrol sergeant, and then eventually became a detective sergeant.

00:02:44.37
sgtb
And so i did so I did just a little bit of everything within that agency.

00:02:44.54
Buddy
Thank you.

00:02:48.60
sgtb
That agency had about 50 officers. I think today they're up to about 85.

00:02:55.07
sgtb
uh so pretty in our world that's a pretty full department i did a lot of trucking enforcement dot type stuff and today i have capitalized upon that background and i travel all over the country which is why i'm here in indiana doing cdl training for all kinds of companies in all kinds of states and locations i have not forgotten my military background. It is clearly a part of, of what I do and who I am, ah in the weaponry side. You know, a lot of people may or may not be familiar with all the weapons that we have access to and did carry. I was actually an M 60 machine gunner.

00:03:35.29
sgtb
Uh, I carried that thing all over creation. Uh, that's the machine gun that Rambo used. Um, if nobody, nope.

00:03:42.06
Buddy
The pig. and

00:03:43.75
sgtb
Yeah. Nobody knows what it is until I say Rambo carried it. Then they know what it is.

00:03:47.70
Buddy
We called it the pig.

00:03:47.70
sgtb
Um, we,

00:03:48.76
Jeremy
Oh, we definitely know what it is.

00:03:49.47
sgtb
The pig, death at a distance, 550 rounds minute.

00:03:52.96
Keith
Isn't that the gun that they mount on the side of ah is that the gun that mounts on the side of ah of a helicopter?

00:03:53.15
sgtb
did. It's 23 pounds. 23 pounds.

00:03:58.66
sgtb
um

00:03:59.22
Jeremy
i was for a long time.

00:03:59.55
sgtb
they did

00:04:02.98
Jeremy
Yeah, that's what we call the, that's what we call the, yeah, it's what we call the echo model.

00:04:03.08
Keith
not anymore

00:04:03.23
sgtb
it's twenty three pounds

00:04:08.80
sgtb
it's twenty three pounds And you had to carry a spare barrel and the ammo's heavy and, you know, it's fun to use, just it's not fun to carry.

00:04:11.12
Keith
oo

00:04:19.11
sgtb
um So it's it's nothing better than shooting full auto when it somebody else pays for the ammo. That's fun.

00:04:24.94
Keith
Yeah.

00:04:24.92
sgtb
So um we had grenade launchers, claymores, 81-millimeter mortars,.50-cal machine guns.

00:04:25.98
Buddy
Hehehe.

00:04:31.60
sgtb
but We had all sorts of toys that perhaps a lot of people don't know that the Air Force carries. And we did do literally infantry training down in Texas at Camp Bullis outside of San Antonio.

00:04:46.12
sgtb
So i did ah I did a lot of that. I i enjoyed that background. I liked what I did. I even went the National Guard three years. After that, I became an electronic warfare NCO in an air guard unit that did electronic warfare. I did that, but then I became an officer. So I kind of focused on that and and did a lot of things and certainly have a lot of exposure on the civilian law enforcement side, which is clearly different from the military side of things.

00:05:12.72
sgtb
And I did that for 26 years and they literally paid me almost six figures to walk out the door. They just wanted to get rid of the top salary guys.

00:05:25.44
sgtb
So we parted terms on good company and I got a healthy head start on my retirement fund.

00:05:31.25
Keith
Nice. Yeah.

00:05:33.02
sgtb
So I am a firm believer in the second amendment. I'm a firm believer in concealed carry in public. I am not a fan of open carry, even though it's legal lot states. I'm not a fan of that.

00:05:45.35
sgtb
I do have my Leosa card so I can carry nationwide just about anywhere. Concealed um as retired law enforcement. So I believe in common sense.

00:05:57.96
sgtb
I believe that the single best weapon you possess is is between your ears. That is your best self-defense.

00:06:07.52
Buddy
Amen.

00:06:09.62
sgtb
Before we get into weapons and guns and all that, it's use common sense.

00:06:10.23
Keith
buddy Buddy, why'd you bring this guy on the show?

00:06:17.71
Buddy
Man, I brought him on here because he is a subject matter expert when it comes to hardening at home. You know, how to, how to, how to bring, how to actually provide the best security

00:06:24.17
Keith
Hardening a home.

00:06:31.26
Buddy
that you can. And it's coming from a law enforcement perspective and not from the military. We we've done a show on, on the military perspective, how we, we would harden our homes and how we do it. And, he's coming from years and years of being, ah ah in law enforcement and a detective to give his perspective on what he's seen on the other side. So.

00:06:50.05
Keith
Well, he terrifies me and not because of ah the ah all the stuff you just talked about with the weapons and the Air Force and this and that. He ters but terrifies me because I used to drive big rigs. And if there's ah one person that I've ever feared in my entire life, it was the DOT inspector.

00:07:08.65
Keith
Man, I got to tell you, don those guys.

00:07:09.11
sgtb
By the way, that's my that's my that's my email, dotinspector at gmail. and So it it seems to work.

00:07:15.52
Keith
ah when i When I saw that, I didn't know if that was a joke or if I was like, is somebody playing a joke on me?

00:07:19.12
sgtb
Nope.

00:07:20.50
Keith
I mean, honestly, in the trucker world, those guys determine your career.

00:07:20.72
sgtb
Nope.

00:07:26.29
sgtb
Yes. um I actually work. I have a part time job at a construction company and I used to stop them, write them tickets, put them out of service.

00:07:36.30
sgtb
And so they hired me. So now I'm there. One of their fleet safety managers.

00:07:40.23
Keith
Wow. Wow.

00:07:41.38
sgtb
And so i I do work for them. I do work for attorneys on trucking defense. no i don't I don't help people go after trucking companies. I help defend truck drivers.

00:07:52.41
sgtb
You could say I'm like the former IRS agent that now helps you do your taxes.

00:07:58.10
Keith
So do you ever ever have to work in one of those stations where they where they where they you know the trucks go through and they have to inspect it?

00:08:04.81
sgtb
Oh, yes. Oh, I've been on my creeper.

00:08:06.73
Keith
Yeah.

00:08:08.25
sgtb
i still do that kind of work. i I have companies that pay me to come out, do level one DOT inspections on their own fleet, treat them as though I was still an officer.

00:08:18.72
sgtb
I write up everything I find. I tell them how many tickets I would have written. I tell them if I would have put them out of service, how much the fines would have been. and I give them the information and I leave.

00:08:29.28
sgtb
And then they do whatever they do whatever they want with that information.

00:08:29.99
Keith
Is that right?

00:08:33.73
Keith
Wow.

00:08:34.57
sgtb
And i don't hold I do not hold anything back.

00:08:34.69
Keith
Okay.

00:08:37.01
sgtb
I tell them what I tell them. I find what I find, good or bad. Here is a survey of how well your fleet is doing in my eyes.

00:08:47.57
Keith
Nice. Wow. Well, i got I'm not going to tell the story again, but ah I got out of the business because of a very bad accident with another big rig, two semis, mine and another, and it was really bad. So that's that's what that was my last day of driving.

00:09:03.99
Keith
So, yeah.

00:09:04.12
sgtb
i I do have my Class A CDL, and actually I'm now a third-party CDL tester for the state, so I also do CDL testing for those wanting to get their CDL.

00:09:15.98
Keith
Nice. Yeah.

00:09:16.86
Buddy
Well, now that my dreams of being a cross-country trucker are crushed. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. okay

00:09:26.21
Keith
Everybody thinks when you you're going to become a trucker, including me. You're going to be a trucker. you're going to get to see the whole country. And I promise you, you will see the whole country at 65 miles an hour.

00:09:35.97
Buddy
ah yeah

00:09:36.13
sgtb
Yeah.

00:09:36.81
Jeremy
You

00:09:37.19
Keith
Because if you're not rolling, you're not making money.

00:09:37.36
sgtb
and you And you get to stop at the armpit of the part of the country you don't want to see.

00:09:42.76
Keith
All the time. Yeah. I went through ah all different kinds of places, but um I could tell you right now. When, uh, there are places that I looked at drove through it. was like, man, I would never, ever want to live in this place.

00:09:57.30
sgtb
Right.

00:09:58.76
Buddy
A lot lizards are people too, man. You know, they got to make a living just like, you just like everybody else. All right.

00:10:05.45
sgtb
Absolutely.

00:10:06.08
Jeremy
and Oh, man.

00:10:08.16
Keith
So buddy, uh, take us through what's what's going on tonight.

00:10:11.52
Buddy
All right. So we've got Andy here tonight. He's going to speak on, on, uh, how to help harden your home up from, uh, any kind of invaders.

00:10:22.60
Buddy
Um, and this is coming, not from, ah the perspective that me and Jeremy, we did a, uh, Hardening the Home ah episode a little while back, and it was from a military perspective.

00:10:34.00
Buddy
So he's gonna come on and he's going to talk about you know his perspective from a law enforcement background on how to harden your home up, you know help help defend you know an invader, the burglars, you know the opportunists that come in that wanna take you know what you have.

00:10:52.77
Buddy
So I think it's gonna be good episode.

00:10:54.58
Keith
Right, right. And keep in mind, I'm i'm the layman, so in probably a lot of our listeners are as well. we're not I'm not military, and lot of our listeners aren't or weren't military. So, yeah, just keep that in mind.

00:11:08.86
sgtb
Well, I got out of active duty in 1982.

00:11:09.17
Buddy
All right.

00:11:11.13
sgtb
So, you know, it's it's there. It's just a few years ago.

00:11:15.85
Keith
Right.

00:11:18.60
Buddy
All right, let's kick this thing off.

00:11:18.76
Keith
and Okay. Okay.

00:11:21.81
Buddy
All right, Andy. So I'm a new homeowner and have never owned a home before or I'm in a new area. So what what should I do ah to make my house more defendable and to be less likely to be robbed by the you know, the burglars.

00:11:40.91
sgtb
So, again, as my perspective as a police officer going to these calls, break-ins, thefts, what did I get to see a lot of? And surprisingly, one of the most common things was so simple, people simply leaving police.

00:12:02.45
sgtb
and not locking their doors. It's part of it is that simple. I don't know what part of the country everybody lives in. I don't know how trusting you are, but it's 2025 and it's time to stop trusting people.

00:12:15.70
sgtb
It's unfortunate, but it's true. Let's get on with it. If you leave your house, lock it. Unless you've got a team of ferocious dogs in there willing to eat anybody that walks in the door, lock your doors.

00:12:29.33
sgtb
This includes you leaving to run down to the corner store to get milk. This includes you're out in the backyard mowing and you leave your front door unlocked because you're out in the backyard mowing.

00:12:43.63
sgtb
There are people that are willing to pull doors, check doors, even during the day and go in a house and take a risk that they can get in and get out and steal stuff simply because they found an unlocked door.

00:13:00.22
sgtb
So people need people need to take that seriously.

00:13:00.43
Buddy
Oh, yeah, it's it's happened to me. Yeah, definitely.

00:13:05.70
sgtb
If I'm out mowing my grass and I don't have that big of a yard, my house is locked. My vehicle in my driveway is always locked. It's never unlocked, ever, unless I'm in it.

00:13:20.23
sgtb
So a simple locking of a door, because an unlocked door is is an easy access. Okay, so people lock their doors. Good for them.

00:13:31.30
sgtb
So you're a new homeowner, you have a new house. If it's a new house, ah contractors certainly don't use the highest quality hardware and locks because the less they spend, the more money they make.

00:13:44.40
sgtb
So if there are no deadbolts, you need deadbolts. Those doorknobs locks are too easy to defeat. A deadbolt is harder. I'm not saying it'll stop everyone, but it certainly will slow people down and it becomes more difficult to force a door with a deadbolt.

00:14:05.55
sgtb
But then we get into, well, how in the world is this lock mounted? And a lot of the factory or when you purchase, if you decide to purchase a deadbolt and install it, It comes with what I would call fairly short screws that go into some pine or some fir trim and the lock holds, but the the frame and the doors do not. I have rarely seen a lock fail, but I've seen whole door frames get kicked in because they're using one inch screws.

00:14:36.58
sgtb
going into the side of the doors holding the locks in place. There is a rather basic and easy solution, and that is go get some three or four inch screws and just simply replace them and run those screws deep into the studs.

00:14:53.39
sgtb
Make it harder. Make it more difficult to force the door. A lot of criminals are lazy. They're not willing to work hard. to steal your stuff.

00:15:05.31
sgtb
And if it becomes hard, they're going to leave and go to the next house that's unlocked or is has a cheesy lock and they can get in much easier.

00:15:05.66
Buddy
Yeah.

00:15:15.26
sgtb
So do a little door fortification. If you have a door that has glass in it or a window of sorts, then that deadbolt should be what's considered a double cylinder.

00:15:27.28
sgtb
Meaning if I break the glass and reach in There's no knob there to unlock. I would literally need a key to unlock that door from the inside.

00:15:40.35
sgtb
That would be limited to a door that has some sort of glass or a window or something which may look nice, but could allow me to break into the glass, reach in, twist a knob, and I'm in.

00:15:52.27
sgtb
Those are called single-cylinder deadbolts. There's no key in the inside.

00:15:55.98
Buddy
That's a good point there.

00:15:56.24
sgtb
if If there is a key lock on the inside, then please don't leave the key in that lock as a matter of convenience for you to enter and exit the house.

00:16:09.32
sgtb
Again, you're just making it more difficult. You're going to make people work to get in and the more work they have to do, the longer it takes, the longer it takes, the more risk they have, and even the stupid criminals after a while,

00:16:26.93
sgtb
This is just not worth it. It's taking too long. Neighbors could see me. ah police car could drive by. i don't know. Let's go for the lowest hanging fruit.

00:16:37.74
sgtb
There aren't too many criminals that have master's degrees. So let's not give them too much credit, but let's give them just enough that they'll go for brute force and just basic breaking and entering skills.

00:16:51.68
sgtb
So my all my doors that have any sort of glass in, unless it's the teeny little windows at the top, are double cylinder deadbolts. The doors that are solid, and that's where I'm going next, a solid core door, a metal door.

00:17:06.71
sgtb
or a solid wood door. Certainly if you go to your favorite hardware store, Home Depot, Lowe's, whatever, the cheapest doors are the hollow core doors. And that's fine for internal generally, but it is not a good external door because then i can defeat the door itself easier than I can defeat the lock.

00:17:29.75
sgtb
If I'm just a little bit of work, I can get a hole through that hollow core door and I'm um'm probably going to get in. So exterior doors should either be metal would be clearly a preference. I have ah a house built in the early 70s and one of my doors is solid wood.

00:17:49.66
sgtb
It's not going to be easy to get through that door. But metal core doors, yes, they're a little more expensive, not crazy. But we're talking about your home.

00:18:00.36
sgtb
And for a lot of people, you know, the bug out thing is nice. But if you have nowhere where to go or no plans that you can go anywhere, the worst thing you can do is leave your home turf.

00:18:12.39
sgtb
and just be one of thousands clogging up the highway. They have no clue where they're going. If you don't have somewhere you can go, then stay put, but make your home base a little bit harder to get into.

00:18:29.95
sgtb
If anybody is determined enough, they'll get in, but don't make it easy. Make it a bit of a challenge. Alarm systems are great.

00:18:40.71
sgtb
um There's an expense. In a scenario where there's civil unrest, you know, the police are clearly going to be tied up and busy. They get a burglar alarm. They're not going to have time to respond to that. The single best thing, I think, is camera systems that, which I have, which, by the way, even though I'm not home, I can turn my cameras on and off from anywhere. Right.

00:19:06.89
sgtb
I can watch. I do not recommend putting cameras inside of a home. They can be hacked. Now they can see what's going on inside. So my opinion, if you do the camera thing, exterior cameras.

00:19:22.35
sgtb
Understand inside cameras. I mean, there's people that are good at hacking stuff and if they really want to, ah they can get into that. Same with locks. there's ah The locks are starting to come out. They're e-locks.

00:19:36.44
sgtb
You don't need a key. You can remotely unlock and lock your locks that way. i'm yeah Other than your car door, I'm not a fan I don't like something that in some way can be taken out of my control.

00:19:52.02
sgtb
So I'm fine with carrying a key. I've carried keys for a long time in my life. They're in my pocket. They're for my house. They're not for anybody else's.

00:20:03.18
sgtb
And I just like having that security of knowing there's no option for some well-intentioned, not so well-intentioned 15-year-old that good in a computer to figure out how unlock doors.

00:20:16.28
sgtb
Make your home look like somebody's there when nobody's home.

00:20:22.82
Keith
Andy, ah on the E-locks, I was in ah commercial construction for ah multifamily for many, many years.

00:20:25.82
sgtb
Yes.

00:20:30.87
Keith
And the last place that we built, and we're talking luxury here, not just you know top the line kind of places. they We use the E-locks, where you know we just put the fob up to the thing and the door opens automatically. And they, the construction people or whoever, the the company to, um, to help with costs, they did not put deadlocks on these doors.

00:20:51.39
Keith
And I can literally go as a worker there. And I had, i had the, the, uh, codes for everything during construction.

00:20:57.47
sgtb
Sure.

00:20:58.29
Keith
I could, I could go on my phone and unlock anybody's door in a multi, you know, in an apartment, in a multifamily place from the, from the parking lot.

00:21:03.76
sgtb
Right.

00:21:07.01
sgtb
Yeah.

00:21:07.40
Keith
I mean, just un if you if you you're using e-doors, you've really got to know what's going on. Those electric file doors, man, I don't like them. They're so convenient because you walk up and, but here's the thing. You still got to take your file out and and put it up against the door.

00:21:21.30
Keith
it's It's not that much different than putting a key in the hole.

00:21:21.57
sgtb
Yes.

00:21:24.43
sgtb
The police station, the last few years I was there, that is how we gained access. It was all fob.

00:21:30.79
Keith
Wow. Wow.

00:21:32.13
sgtb
Now it's a police station, but nobody's there all the time. um But yeah, i'm this it seems convenient. It seems great. But, you know, as these new developments come along and homes and locks and doors and windows, just step back for a moment. And, you know, is there any, you know, in this world of electronics and people hacking and stealing, there's something to be said for the good old fashioned simple lock that there is no electronic means to alter it, change it or open it.

00:22:07.93
Keith
Right.

00:22:11.09
Keith
Great, great info. Really good stuff.

00:22:12.80
sgtb
So, you know, you're home. again, in my opinion, should look like you or somebody is home when you're not home because most bad guys are not willing to confront any homeowner or confront someone inside of a house. Clearly some will, but I would say the majority do not want that confrontation. They want to get in, steal stuff and get out without a direct conflict.

00:22:46.37
sgtb
As the Japanese said in World War two they were concerned about attacking USA because there's somebody with a gun behind every blade of grass. And, you know, there are certainly many homeowners who are armed.

00:22:59.46
sgtb
And you don't know. Of course, that leads to, you know, my opinion again, don't be plastering your vehicle with and NRA stickers, even if you're a member. i have nothing against NRA.

00:23:09.78
sgtb
Or, you know, gun right this and and your house and, you know, my house is protected by.357 Magnum. Don't advertise. um You're actually advertising you own weapons. And you know what? I might be more inclined to go in your house because you probably have a gun safe maybe I can get in too.

00:23:28.66
sgtb
So don't advertise what you have. If you have it, don't flaunt it. Don't go online and post pictures of your various and sundry weapons, cash, your storage room, your gun room.

00:23:44.59
sgtb
It should be kind of like privileged information. So that makes you an attractive target. The more you advertise of what you have, if you have some coin collection, that's worth a lot of money.

00:23:57.77
sgtb
You know, be careful who you tell and how you let it be known what you possess. It is not uncommon that relatives will steal from other relatives.

00:24:08.53
sgtb
That happens more than you know.

00:24:09.14
Keith
You know, many years ago, I had a a very cool looking gun wall. Let's put it that way. And just stupidly took a picture of it and send it to a friend saying, hey, check out what I built today.

00:24:20.43
Keith
You know, i had all the magnets and all that stuff. He posted it online. And I was like, I can't believe this.

00:24:25.15
sgtb
Yes. Yes.

00:24:26.22
Keith
Everybody knows exactly where my stuff is. They know exactly what it's worth, what I've got, everything.

00:24:29.24
sgtb
Yes.

00:24:32.15
sgtb
And if I knew you had a lot of valuable guns or just a lot of guns, why should I go risk breaking into a gun store with burglar alarms and And then i go on Facebook and I see Keith is on vacation and he's posting live, I'm in Acapulco, Mexico at a restaurant.

00:24:49.68
sgtb
Well, guess what that means?

00:24:51.49
Keith
That's right.

00:24:51.48
sgtb
Keith isn't home. His guns are home. He's not. Hey, open season. I probably can take my sweet time on doing what I need to do to break in. These people that post on vacation that they're not home, they're enjoying food in Acapulco or wherever,

00:25:10.06
sgtb
Um, it's all about ComSec, communication security, operation security, a little bit of military jargon there. But, you know, there's no reason to let the world know that you're not home when you get back from your trip.

00:25:21.58
Jeremy
Thank you.

00:25:23.74
sgtb
Go on there and say, hey, we had a great time. We ate at this restaurant, but now you're home. So don't advertise. That you're not home. Because then even your best methods of deterrence and security, they have all the time in the world to attempt to defeat them and go around them.

00:25:38.17
sgtb
They're not worried about having for to deal with a confrontation.

00:25:43.44
Buddy
Well, according to the the liberals, my guns will defend themselves. I don't even have to be there.

00:25:49.23
sgtb
Yes.

00:25:49.88
Buddy
so

00:25:50.46
sgtb
Yeah, they they will self-fire.

00:25:50.90
Keith
yeah

00:25:53.59
Buddy
Yes, they're going to do.

00:25:54.35
sgtb
And then you're responsible.

00:25:54.58
Keith
mine do you know

00:25:56.28
sgtb
And you're responsible if they do that.

00:25:56.79
Buddy
Oh, dang it. I still can't win.

00:25:59.65
sgtb
Yeah.

00:25:59.94
Jeremy
Yeah.

00:26:01.01
Keith
and

00:26:00.99
sgtb
Yeah.

00:26:01.55
Jeremy
That exact kind of thing actually happened to Missy when she was stationed up in in the DC area.

00:26:01.92
Keith
and

00:26:07.40
Jeremy
um She had been up there as part of a special missions unit and her, one of the the girls had, i guess, inadvertently, you know, posted something online and um they're pretty sure they knew exactly who did it, but the house was broken into electronics were stolen.

00:26:29.28
Jeremy
Uh, she received a saber as uh, as an award from one of her units that saber was stolen. It was really odd. Like the stuff that, you know, they stole.

00:26:40.20
Jeremy
Cause it was, it was almost as if they knew exactly where everything was.

00:26:44.31
sgtb
Right.

00:26:44.55
Jeremy
So yeah, it happens.

00:26:48.25
sgtb
So alarm systems are great. you're You're probably going to pay, but there are some systems. I i own one. It's called Arlo, A-R-L-O. That is a camera system that does not require any subscription.

00:27:03.46
sgtb
Now they have a paid option, but you don't have to use it. And yet my cameras can be turned on remotely. And it keeps the recording for seven days. So if someone does break in, I have I can download it.

00:27:16.34
sgtb
I have seven days to get it off the system before it disappears. So there are some options that don't require other than the initial expense don't and they are Wi Fi don't require some paid service, nothing wrong with paid services, nothing at all.

00:27:32.94
sgtb
But it is a cost that may or may not be necessary. if you And so when my cameras are on, if there is motion detected at 2 a.m., m i will get an alert on my phone and I can go on live.

00:27:47.94
sgtb
It'll record a 30-second shot of whatever it is, but that can also go on live and look and see what's going on. um

00:27:55.20
Keith
And in most cases, you can actually ah interact with whoever's out there as well. That guy, the same system.

00:27:58.41
sgtb
I can't.

00:27:59.82
Keith
Yep. It's good stuff.

00:28:00.62
sgtb
I can. i can talk to someone if if I choose to. i would If I had a scenario that was along the line of someone committing a crime, and here I am probably, i don't know, 800 miles from home,

00:28:19.15
sgtb
Do you know the non-emergency phone number to the police dispatch where you live? Because if I call 911 in Valparaiso, Indiana right now, I'm not getting 911 where I live.

00:28:35.50
sgtb
Every.

00:28:35.87
Keith
How far away are you getting it?

00:28:39.83
sgtb
So I would get the local 911 center. So if I look in my cameras and see something somebody breaking into my house and I call 911 here, I'm going to get the Indiana police, which that doesn't help me. i live 800 miles from here.

00:28:54.63
sgtb
So every dispatch center has a non-emergency number. I can call that number and get the 911 center. They even answer the phone 911 immediately.

00:29:06.30
sgtb
But it's considered a non-emergency line. So if I know the number, I can call there direct from Indiana and get county control and get the police going, dispatch to my house.

00:29:19.08
sgtb
But if you're on vacation and something happens and you don't know the number to your local 911 center, I guess you can just watch them break in, steal your stuff and go.

00:29:31.01
sgtb
are you going to call if you don't know the local?

00:29:31.52
Keith
Yeah, that sucks.

00:29:31.51
Buddy
Hopefully, yeah, I guess you Google it, but mean, that's just going to take time.

00:29:35.57
sgtb
the local Yeah. And as an officer, I had occasion to call that number. So fortunately, I'm good with numbers. It's a number I'll never forget.

00:29:46.99
sgtb
um And so I know that number well, and I could call it immediately knowing it would be a waste of time to dial 911 when I'm here, not home. So

00:29:56.79
Buddy
that That's a really good point, though. You know to you need to know that non... Everybody, they'll dial the 411 or the 911 or whatever the other 11 is, but they don't really know the the actual phone number to the desk there.

00:30:16.67
sgtb
And a lot of the police departments, like the one I retired from, there's nobody there. You have to go.

00:30:22.92
Buddy
there's no more desk sergeants anymore?

00:30:24.93
sgtb
Well, during the daytime, there would be. But after eight to four, nine to five, there is no one there. And if you call their main number, you'll just get a recording telling you if it's an emergency call, nine one one.

00:30:39.97
Buddy
Oh, and and I know of ah smaller towns around where I live that three or four different towns in the county will share a line. So you'll call and whatever, whoever's on that night and they might run, you know, two nights a week, they'll have it another two nights a week.

00:30:56.48
Buddy
Another town would have it to where.

00:30:58.26
sgtb
state

00:30:58.46
Buddy
Okay.

00:30:58.95
sgtb
State police are the only ones that have 24-7 desk officer, but all the areas that's not served by the state that have individual agencies, 911 center is your only option to get an immediate police response.

00:31:04.20
Buddy
okay

00:31:14.00
sgtb
There is...

00:31:14.18
Keith
so jacla So to clear it up then, what exactly is the non-emergency number? Where is it going and what's it used for?

00:31:19.79
sgtb
So it is exactly what it sounds like. Its initial intent was you need to call the 911 center, but for non-emergency reasons. You need to call an update in the event of break-in your business.

00:31:34.58
sgtb
Who do they call first? Who do they call second? Who do they call third? That sort of a thing. That's the reason for that number. However, That number is answered by the people at the 911 center. And if you call this non-emergency number and say, hey, I have an emergency, you are so talking to the same people that answer the 911 number.

00:31:57.50
sgtb
It goes to the same place.

00:31:59.08
Keith
Oh, see what you're saying. Okay.

00:32:01.05
sgtb
It goes to the same place, but if you call in the middle of the day and say, I have a, you know, initially they're going to ask, do you have an emergency?

00:32:01.66
Keith
Yeah.

00:32:09.73
sgtb
No, this is non-emergency. Okay, fine. We'll deal with that. Emergency? Okay. Probably send you over to the dispatcher that covers the area that you live in. There's different dispatchers that cover different areas of the county. You tell them where you live, okay, that dispatcher will handle your call.

00:32:26.22
sgtb
They'll just ship you over one So um not even calling the police department is beneficial, say outside of the Monday through Friday, eight to four, nine to five. You've got to know that outside or that non-emergency number, which I i know only too well.

00:32:42.02
sgtb
um The other reason to call that number is for those that care, that number does not track calls. 911 calls tracked.

00:32:53.41
sgtb
are tracked And when someone calls 911 and hangs up, and you'd be surprised how often that happens, we would ask the dispatcher, what's the call history from that number?

00:33:05.83
sgtb
And they can say, we've had four calls from that number in the past two months. Every one of them was a domestic. Well, guess where we're heading to? Another domestic. So if you're concerned about the 911 center tracking your the reason for your call, you can call the non-emergency number.

00:33:16.17
Keith
Nice.

00:33:23.56
sgtb
It does not do that.

00:33:25.79
Keith
Well, we don't have a police station. We just have the ah the county sheriff. And and i think therere they're really spread out.

00:33:29.15
sgtb
Right.

00:33:32.28
Keith
But i had got delivered. ah and Actually, somebody was making delivery, went to the wrong place. And the the old guy made delivery said, yeah, i i' have also work for the sheriff's department. I just do this on the side for extra money. and Actually, he wasn't making delivery. He was a locksmith.

00:33:46.57
Keith
And um he said, it's hard to get, you know, the the sheriff's. He said, if you never, if you can't, you have some kind of emergency, he gave me his card. He said, just call my number. said, if i can't help you, I'll get somebody who can.

00:33:56.62
sgtb
Yeah. And so if you live in an area that truly has that countywide police service via sheriffs, so be it. Where I live, there's multiple different police departments that cover multiple different jurisdictions, and you have to know which one to call.

00:34:12.04
Keith
Right, right.

00:34:12.24
sgtb
And when when you call, they ask, where are you? What is your address? What is your location? So they if you ask for the wrong police department, they'll say, nope, that's not the right one. You need this department.

00:34:23.69
sgtb
um Countywide, dah. It's all the same. It's all one, you know, you're little, perhaps a little easier. There's no worried about. But in my case, I say, look, I'm not home. I'm 800 miles away, but my cameras are going off at my house. Here's my address.

00:34:39.41
sgtb
Nobody should be there. send Send the officers.

00:34:44.63
sgtb
There's my, you know, distant response to what's going on.

00:34:45.23
Keith
I see.

00:34:48.29
sgtb
And I can capture that video. I can save it. it's And it's actually, even some of the inexpensive cameras today are pretty good. um I wish the bank cameras would catch up to this. Some of the bank cameras are crappy.

00:35:03.93
Buddy
Thank

00:35:04.35
sgtb
And yet, if I want good video from a theft, I go to a convenience store. They have good cameras. The banks, it's like, come on, guys, you're a bank. But so, you know, the alarms and if nothing else, you can go a little cheap. um You can buy decals.

00:35:21.80
sgtb
You can get them on Amazon or probably eBay or other places indicating you have an alarm, whether or not that's true or not, may or may not be true. But again, you are putting a potential criminal on notice.

00:35:36.32
sgtb
You break in here. It's going to trip an alarm. Police are coming. Are they willing to take that risk? You're going to lessen the risk. You're not going to completely stop it, but you are going to lessen it by making your house, your home, your business unattractive.

00:35:54.91
Buddy
So they're basically, they're they're if they're making the choice of if they do hit that home with, ah and there's an ADT sign or something out in the front, you know, there's some kind of, so they're they're saying, okay, I'm going to hit this home, but now I've only got, you know, what yeah whatever the response time would be.

00:35:55.32
sgtb
um

00:36:05.23
sgtb
Correct.

00:36:12.02
sgtb
Right.

00:36:14.13
Buddy
So I got three minutes, you know, or four minutes to get in and get out, so.

00:36:18.05
sgtb
And if they're doing this on a random whim, they do not know that this house contains a gun collection. They do not know this house contains some valuable jewelry coin collection.

00:36:31.15
sgtb
It's just a random thing. They're much less likely to attempt that because it's going to take them several minutes to even begin to find stuff. People don't steal TVs anymore. People don't steal stereos anymore, at least very rarely, because they're they're cheap enough and you can't get anything for them at a pawn shop.

00:36:49.38
sgtb
Small stuff, jewelry, valuables, guns, of course, but small things that have great value.

00:36:57.17
Keith
So from your law enforcement background, and and this could just be a quick answer, i don't know if there is one. If you had, let's say, your stash of guns, legal guns, stolen, what type of legal trouble, what i mean, what are the ramifications of that? I mean, on your end?

00:37:11.63
sgtb
aren't any.

00:37:13.54
Keith
They're just gone, that's it?

00:37:14.94
sgtb
No, I mean, there's no crime.

00:37:16.32
Keith
Are you responsible for them?

00:37:18.35
sgtb
As far as if they are criminally used subsequent to the theft?

00:37:22.96
Keith
Yeah, I'm just wondering if you're responsible for those guns once they leave your possession.

00:37:24.12
sgtb
No. No. No, we had a gun store robbed and he had a local alarm, not a monitored alarm.

00:37:34.92
sgtb
And local alarms, meaning like a siren or, you know, whatever. um It's kind of like car alarms. People don't call in because they hear an alarm going off.

00:37:47.92
sgtb
They call in because the alarm's been going off for half an hour and they can't get back to sleep. That's why they call. So not not a good idea to rely on an audible only alarm.

00:37:56.06
Keith
Right.

00:37:59.90
sgtb
This gun store had an audible only alarm. They cleaned the place out for years. ah Every so often, all the guns rendered in the NCIC is stolen.

00:38:10.75
sgtb
Every so often, gun would show up in Minnesota, wish Michigan, you know California. Because it was in the system, it'll stay stolen. But it's you're just not liable.

00:38:24.30
sgtb
for something that is stolen from you and then subsequently illegally or improperly used, you had no, you didn't offer the guns. You didn't give them the guns. You didn't do a straw purchase for the guns.

00:38:38.51
sgtb
They were literally stolen from your house and you have a police report to back it up. Now, if someone does not report something like this, If they have a reason to not report it, maybe they don't legally own a gun. Maybe they own a fully automatic weapon and they don't have the proper class of license to own it.

00:38:59.64
sgtb
I guess you got to make a choice. You're going to report that theft? Well, what if that gun is used criminally and I run and there is a way I can get gun history ownership. I can get it from the ATF, by the way.

00:39:14.96
sgtb
Who owned the gun? And then I call you up and say, Keith. We have a fully automatic weapon that is in your name. um It's not listed stolen. Are you missing this?

00:39:27.08
sgtb
What's going on?

00:39:28.53
Keith
Or your fingerprints could be on it, I'm assuming.

00:39:30.79
sgtb
Correct.

00:39:31.58
Keith
no

00:39:32.25
sgtb
Correct. So, um you know, someone takes a shotgun and makes saws it off, but then it gets stolen. So depending how that weapon was purchased, I know where I live in Pennsylvania, long guns, any long gun,

00:39:48.94
sgtb
can be purchased resident to resident, completely private, no gun shop, no background check, no nothing. I could go to a yard sale in Pennsylvania and buy an AR-15 and leave with it legally.

00:40:06.12
sgtb
I can't do that with handguns, but long guns,

00:40:07.11
Keith
right

00:40:09.78
sgtb
And so coincidentally, every long gun I own was privately owned. There is no government record of any transaction showing I'm the owner. If there's any record at all, it'll go back to the previous owner, but not to me.

00:40:23.37
sgtb
And I have been offered receipts for those purchases and I declined them.

00:40:29.47
sgtb
So I own them legally, but there's no record that's mine.

00:40:34.05
Keith
Good info.

00:40:34.11
sgtb
Other than I have the serial numbers, clearly.

00:40:34.84
Keith
Yeah.

00:40:38.07
sgtb
but I can show pictures they're mine, but there's no, unlike a vehicle that has a title and registration. So, you know, the alarm systems, the stickers, you can go as far as little as you want.

00:40:49.82
sgtb
Um, it is a deterrent. Um, people can be turned off by, Hey, this ADT system here, you know, let's not go in here. you they don't know whether or not you have it. Um,

00:41:02.50
sgtb
You know, making your home appear, make it look like someone's home when there's nobody there. So if you came up to my house at 11 o'clock tonight, the curtains were drawn, but you saw the bluish glow of a TV set on, what is your initial assumption?

00:41:21.75
sgtb
That I'm sitting there watching TV. Are you inclined or less inclined to attempt to break in if you have some legitimate and reasonable belief that someone is sitting right inside that door?

00:41:34.21
sgtb
And the answer is no. Who goes away and leaves their TV on? Well, not too many. Maybe that's something you should do. Honestly, how much electricity does it take? It isn't that much. I think it's cheap insurance. Some people will turn a radio on and leave it playing loud.

00:41:53.01
sgtb
That's nothing wrong with that. Use talk radio, not music. But how about a television? You can see the light from the street. You can see the flickering. They even sell devices that mimic a TV being television.

00:42:05.78
sgtb
that you can plug in, you can get them on Amazon, and it looks like a TV screen flashing and and pulsating, and it's not even a TV, it's a device that projects a light that looks like a TV.

00:42:16.66
Keith
That's awesome. I got get one of those. That's cool.

00:42:19.11
sgtb
So, timers, of course, are good. um Neighbors helping, hey, I'm going away for a week. Nobody should be at my house. Nobody. And except my daughter, she drives a maroon, you know, Chevy van, something along those lines.

00:42:36.82
sgtb
Police, some departments will do vacation checks. That's kind of limited on whether they will or won't check on your house. um But again, making that home appear lived in.

00:42:50.03
sgtb
Leaving at least, if you have a car inside of a garage and you're going away, maybe park it outside. So there's a car in the driveway. It's not, you know, it's not inside where you can't see it. um You know, ah social media, again, not advertising that you're not home.

00:43:09.30
sgtb
People do that so often. So often do I see people, I know somebody I know, retired officer, he's in Ireland right now. He's been posting nonstop from Ireland.

00:43:20.70
sgtb
Well, I know he's not home and I know he's a retired officer and I know he has guns. I know that. Maybe not the best thing to do with your home security.

00:43:35.92
sgtb
Inside your home, as far as maybe some things you can do, what are the rooms that the bad guys never or rarely go into or spend any quality time in looking for your stuff?

00:43:51.85
Keith
bathroom.

00:43:52.77
sgtb
Bathroom and kitchen.

00:43:55.87
sgtb
They just don't go there because nobody keeps anything in the bathroom or kitchen of any value.

00:44:00.80
Keith
and bowseth but If I was a thief, I'd go for the kitchen first, get me some fried chicken, then move on from there.

00:44:05.11
sgtb
All right. Well, yeah, that's you.

00:44:08.59
Keith
But that's just me.

00:44:09.65
Buddy
I would go for the freezer because I've, I've know people who, well, I know people who put stuff in the freezer. They'll stick cash in a deep freeze or something in in a washed out ice cream tub or something, you know?

00:44:15.97
sgtb
Right.

00:44:19.61
Jeremy
Mm-hmm.

00:44:19.83
sgtb
Sure.

00:44:23.02
sgtb
You're going spend a lot of time looking for that stuff.

00:44:25.83
Buddy
Yeah. Yeah. And that's a good point.

00:44:26.47
sgtb
Because most people don't do that. So most people, they want to get in, they want to get out, low-hanging fruit. ah Bedroom draw ah drawers, jewelry chests, gun cabinets,

00:44:39.88
sgtb
Right there is where it's at. That's the easiest and quickest thing to do. They're small. You can get out. You could spend quite a bit of time going through a freezer and checking every individually wrapped item or packaged item or go through a shelf. Sure, they make cans that are fake that you can put stuff in. They make wall outlets that are fake you can put stuff in. There's all sorts of that stuff.

00:45:00.40
sgtb
But there's so it's truly so few and rarely used, you could spend an awful lot of time and not many people are willing to spend that much time looking.

00:45:12.95
sgtb
And having said that, again, one of the best places to hide things is in plain view. Literally, instead of trying to hide an object, make it look like something else.

00:45:28.51
sgtb
maybe take a tub of sorts and mark on it dog food. and cut it so it completely will cover, not a huge, but a small floor safe, and push it up over top of the safe.

00:45:44.36
sgtb
So a quick open of a kitchen door looking into a closet or a pantry, I see all this canned food and box food down there at bottom is one of those plastic totes pushed up, you know, against the wall, and it says dog food.

00:45:59.88
sgtb
And that's not what's in there. But it sure looks like it.

00:46:05.25
Keith
That's a good one.

00:46:05.36
sgtb
There are other things that you can do to disguise

00:46:05.77
Keith
i like that.

00:46:10.63
sgtb
to hide things and something you could do is if you have a cheap or inexpensive, something maybe our grandparents had, a little metal box with a little key that they would keep their car titles and house titles and maybe a little money in jewelry.

00:46:31.24
sgtb
If you have one of them and put some stuff in it that is really of no great value, put maybe just a little bit of money in it And kind of leave it kind of where it probably would get found and let them steal that thinking they've got thousands of dollars when really they have a bunch of junk mail and about $3 in currency.

00:46:56.33
sgtb
And again, low hanging fruit, not hard to find. They think they hit the jackpot until they get three blocks away and beat on it with a hammer and open up and find all your junk mail and three $1 bills.

00:47:11.33
sgtb
and they didn't find your true stash.

00:47:14.97
Buddy
I actually have one of those.

00:47:15.29
Keith
that that's, that's a good one.

00:47:16.09
Buddy
I'm goingnna i'm going to do that. going to do it.

00:47:18.56
Jeremy
Hmm. Keith, did you say that you would, if you broke in, you would get a snack first? Is that what I heard?

00:47:24.57
Keith
Yeah. Well, I'm hoping for something like some leftover pizza or fried chicken, you know, something quick.

00:47:29.06
Jeremy
Nice.

00:47:29.93
Keith
I can just grab it, eat it while I'm looking through drawers and stuff like that, you know,

00:47:30.15
Jeremy
Yeah.

00:47:32.23
sgtb
And you're the kind of guy that's going to get caught.

00:47:34.00
Jeremy
That's, that's, I don't know, man. Cause if I bust into a place and I look and I'm like, Hmm, those cookies look pretty delicious. I might grab one or two on the way. Yeah.

00:47:47.16
Keith
You would. I know you would.

00:47:48.61
Buddy
And you got, you don't, you don't remember, you don't remember that What was that show, man?

00:47:49.42
Jeremy
Oh yeah, especially if it's Snickers.

00:47:52.85
Buddy
With, uh, oh my, uh, Home Alone. You don't remember that. That's, that's where it all went down. Went South is when they started trying to take cookies, uh, Christmas cookies and stuff.

00:48:02.70
Keith
Oh, that's right.

00:48:03.60
Jeremy
yeah

00:48:03.93
sgtb
yep

00:48:04.50
Keith
That's right. Sorry, Andy. We we were were're doing some stupid but stuff here.

00:48:08.93
sgtb
No, no, that's okay.

00:48:09.08
Keith
go but What you're talking about is awesome.

00:48:10.27
sgtb
i like Oh, I like stupid criminals. I live for it. I'm just tickled to death when they rob a bank and they leave their ID card with the teller. you know Thank you.

00:48:21.20
Keith
Yeah.

00:48:21.38
sgtb
um And I've had that happen. I've had people that tell her wanted to see ID and the guy got it out and gave it to her and then he did take the money and run. we got your ID, bud. So good for you.

00:48:32.71
sgtb
um Another area that is typically unmolested, unchecked is an unfinished basement. Once if they choose to go down there and it's not finished.

00:48:45.68
sgtb
it's usually, they don't waste any time. You got a bunch of stuff, you got a bunch of junk, you got your fishing rods and snowshoes or whatever, kayak paddles. It's just not interesting to look at.

00:48:57.67
sgtb
And again, you can keep boxes of things you have purchased in the past, things like shoes or, i don't know, a backpack, something that's not of significant value.

00:49:10.77
sgtb
And you can use those items to store stuff that has great value, But stuck up on a shelf, it just looks like a box that sneakers came in, a box that hiking shoes came in.

00:49:22.75
sgtb
um You bought a new faucet for your bathroom sink, so you kept the box. And so you stick and, you know, you put faucet parts on it. This stuff all blends into the background.

00:49:35.13
sgtb
Few people have the time or are willing to really sort and dig through things like this. They're gonna give it a quick look and they're gonna go back up the bedroom dresser drawers,

00:49:47.53
sgtb
any open closets looking for guns laying in the corner, um looking underneath the pillow, underneath the mattress. They're generally looking for low-hanging fruit, the easy stuff they can quickly grab and go. They're not going to spend quality time.

00:50:03.70
sgtb
So leave them a couple of morsels out there, that little cheapy lockbox that has a little cheapy key, and they think when they shake it, it sounds like it's got a bunch of stuff in it. And they stop what they're doing and that and they're that they're happy to get that and they leave.

00:50:18.95
sgtb
And basically they got nothing. And you have given them a little tidbit and they left until they get it somewhere. It ends up they have nothing and they quit going through the rest of your house hoping to find stuff. So...

00:50:35.31
sgtb
Evade, conceal, hide, but don't think that stuff in plain view is a bad idea if it's just disguised. It's not what it truly appears to be. Almost have to be a little bit of a magician and hide stuff in plain view.

00:50:52.08
sgtb
And generally, they're in in a few minutes and they're out. And if whatever easy things they can grab and take, they will, and they're gone. if you make them work, not too many are willing to work for stuff.

00:51:09.53
sgtb
Because if they were willing to work, they'd have a job they wouldn't be stealing to begin with.

00:51:13.44
Keith
Good, good point.

00:51:15.55
sgtb
So you can do these things, you can take some steps, whether it's a simple measure of just hardening the place up to make it less hospitable to get in, make it harder to get in make it uncomfortable to get in,

00:51:33.20
sgtb
And ultimately, but if they really truly want to get in, they'll get in. There's nothing that'll stop a truly determined thief. But those kind of people usually know what you have and they know it's there.

00:51:48.07
sgtb
and they're willing to dig for it because you have told people, a friend of your posted a picture of your gun collection online. Well, now somebody knows what you got and they know you can't hide that in the bottom of a small dresser drawer.

00:52:02.55
sgtb
You've got a cabinet, you've got a closet. I go through a house, I find a locked door on the closet. I'm going for it. People don't lock closet doors.

00:52:13.51
sgtb
You got something valuable in there. That's where I'm going to go. I'm going to smash that door thinking this is where it's at. So, you know, there's your don't advertise. Don't tell people what you have. How many times have I taken reports and it turns out a relative, a grandson.

00:52:33.13
sgtb
We've had that kind of family members. People own drugs. They need money to buy their stuff. They'll steal from you. They'll murder.

00:52:44.40
sgtb
i had a case where... A girl was taking checks out of grandma's checkbook, the back of the checkbook, forging them and cashing them. Grandma eventually caught on.

00:52:55.63
sgtb
Grandma confronted the granddaughter, adult granddaughter.

00:53:01.01
sgtb
You either pay me back or I'm going to the police. Grandma loved Wendy's chili. I mean, she really liked it. This girl worked in the ER r at a hospital.

00:53:13.02
sgtb
She got morphine. She injected the chili with morphine, gave it to grandma. Grandma overdosed and died.

00:53:24.24
Buddy
Damn.

00:53:24.26
sgtb
And through a determined family member,

00:53:25.24
Jeremy
Jesus.

00:53:27.86
sgtb
who She had health problems, so she's 85 years old. She keeled over, looked pretty natural, but her her son was a retired officer and said, this isn't right, something's wrong.

00:53:39.14
sgtb
We did a test on the blouse she was wearing. She had thrown up, and it was full of the the morphine. This grandma was not on morphine. We were able to prove that this girl stole it from the ER, and she killed grandma for checks.

00:53:57.14
Buddy
Wow. Who needs enemies when you got family?

00:54:00.07
Jeremy
Golly.

00:54:01.62
sgtb
Yeah.

00:54:01.87
Buddy
like That proves my point. Hey, I'm going to, no kidding.

00:54:04.25
sgtb
Right. so

00:54:05.34
Jeremy
Goodness. I'm never eating there again.

00:54:09.98
Buddy
Yeah, I kind of, since we're coming up to the hour mark, so I want to switch gears real quick. Okay. So somebody has gotten in your house. They've stolen some of your stuff. What's a good way that you could either recover your stuff or what's a helpful way to get your stuff back?

00:54:25.45
sgtb
Okay, so if you own anything of value, especially, is especially if it's a weapon, ah a gun, a firearm, make, model, serial number, pictures.

00:54:40.34
sgtb
You have police officers that don't know a 30-30 from a bolt action. Not every officer is a military veteran, and not every officer is a gun aficionado. You tell them it's a 30-30 lever action, they may or may not know what that is.

00:54:55.25
sgtb
You say it's the gun that was used in all the Western shows, yeah they probably figure it out. Make, model, serial number. With that information, I can enter it into the nationwide stolen database, and it'll stay in there forever until it's recovered.

00:55:14.45
sgtb
That is way one. way to certain states. And I'm going to pick on West Virginia here because I don't live far from there. West Virginia is maybe a hundred miles from where I live. West Virginia pawn shops do not require ID to pawn anything.

00:55:30.11
sgtb
If you walk in the door and say your name is John Smith, you can pawn stuff. And I have, in fact, recovered stolen property from ah construction company I do some work for.

00:55:43.09
sgtb
It had their name on it, and it was sitting there for sale, and we don't sell generators or power tools. They're ours. They're stolen, and I have recovered them.

00:55:53.97
sgtb
So looking on the online, any place that guns are publicly sold or property, I have gotten stolen tools advertised on Facebook marketplace. i went I got an unmarked company vehicle. I went there. I looked at the item. It still had our equipment number, everything on it.

00:56:10.94
sgtb
I told the guy, i got to talk to the boss, you know make sure we can afford this. I left. I went and called the police, brought the officers back back and got my stuff. That is maybe not something everybody should attempt, but people steal stuff typically to sell it.

00:56:27.16
sgtb
So marketplace, um any sort of a Craigslist, ah those type of places, ah any place maybe just asking around, hey, you know, anybody, you know you know, anybody been selling a bow lately? ah You know, you may not have to tell them you had something stolen, but I'm looking for that, this type of a gun. You know anybody that one like this?

00:56:48.47
sgtb
um But make, model, and serial tools, equipment. And how about this? So if you have items of value, maybe not a gun so much, but otherwise, maybe tools, and you want to do something to that item to that if it's found, an officer can contact you based on that tool outside of a serial number. Maybe it doesn't have one.

00:57:11.19
sgtb
The single best thing to use is your home state driver's license number. not your social security. As officers, we cannot get your information from social security.

00:57:26.34
sgtb
But if I put my eight-digit driver's number on a tool and I put PA in front of it, not even my name, most officers looking at that would immediately recognize that that Pennsylvania uses an eight-digit number.

00:57:39.19
sgtb
They can run that number in their car immediately get my name and my address, even if I have moved, assuming I kept my address current, and they can get a hold of me. This could be power tools. This could be anything.

00:57:52.96
sgtb
Use your driver's number engraved on items of value for the easiest and quickest way to identify it and get it back.

00:58:04.29
Keith
Man, that's really good information right there.

00:58:07.64
Jeremy
yeah And I do know for home insurance needs.

00:58:07.70
sgtb
Any officer...

00:58:08.04
Keith
i would just i would just put my last name.

00:58:10.74
sgtb
Your last name is is, well, it's not that common, but it's, you know, but I'm sure there's others of you out there. So, but your driver's number is unique to you. It's yours.

00:58:21.46
sgtb
And if an officer in Oklahoma could run my Pennsylvania eight-digit number and get my information, he can call me up and say, hey, I got a power saw here.

00:58:32.59
sgtb
This guy that has it's pretty hokey. We think he's you know stealing stuff. I'm like, is it a skill saw? And it says PA and my eight-digit number. I'll say, that's mine. That was stolen from me.

00:58:43.14
sgtb
That's my driver's number here. I'll send you a picture my driver's license.

00:58:47.93
Buddy
Wow.

00:58:47.95
sgtb
All states, any officer can do that.

00:58:50.73
Buddy
All right, we're hitting we're coming up on that that final ah hour mark.

00:58:52.58
sgtb
Okay.

00:58:54.15
Buddy
So what what are some of your last words?

00:58:57.84
sgtb
My last words are use your common sense, use your head. Your best self-defense weapon is not a gun. It's not a knife. It's not a club. It's as Kenny Rogers said, no one to hold them, no one to fold them.

00:59:10.57
Buddy
Yeah, that's good.

00:59:12.14
sgtb
Use common sense and avoid situations when you can and prepare for others that have yet to come.

00:59:22.27
Buddy
Yeah, this is this is definitely good stuff here. it's it's it's You got me thinking and and rethinking a few things that I need to tighten up around my house for sure.

00:59:30.69
Keith
Right? I mean, i i've been I've been thinking I've been you know one up on the game, but he's got stuff here that's way past where I'm at. I don't have any of my firearms cataloged. i mean, I've got pictures them. I don't have any them cataloged at all. i't I couldn't tell you what the numbers are on them.

00:59:44.50
Buddy
Wow.

00:59:45.00
sgtb
And so when they if they get stolen

00:59:45.45
Jeremy
Do you, do you not do that for your home insurance?

00:59:45.45
Buddy
Yeah.

00:59:48.49
Keith
i don't I don't know. it No, we don't have to list anything like that.

00:59:51.49
sgtb
without the serial number, they cannot be entered into the nationwide stolen database. If an officer 100 miles away runs the serial number, it will not come back as stolen because it was not entered.

01:00:04.09
Buddy
Oh, wow.

01:00:04.16
Keith
hu

01:00:06.41
Buddy
I got a lot of work to do.

01:00:06.62
Keith
Great.

01:00:07.62
Buddy
lot of work to do.

01:00:08.12
Keith
Yeah. Yeah. Andy, thank you so much for coming on, man. I can't honestly, if you're available, I'd like to have you back on again. We got plenty of other questions I can tell you right now, but I really do appreciate it.

01:00:17.05
sgtb
Yeah, I can do that. I, you know, i i I got where I am today. i was a public servant. I worked for you as an officer. I was paid by you. I learned a lot by doing what I did.

01:00:29.22
sgtb
And I feel that I need to return that your investment as a taxpayer. I need to give it back to you in some way, shape or form. And I'm more than willing to do this.


People on this episode

Head Shot

Keith Otworth

Host
Head Shot

Rhonda Triggs

Host
Contributor

Buddy

Co-host
Contributor

Jeremy

Co-host