Shawn sent me this:

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) – The Georgetown Police Department reported that two home invasions in the city may be related.

The crimes happened early Sunday morning, one on the north end of the city, the other on the south side.

In both cases, the suspects entered the homes through unlocked doors or windows. In both reports, the suspects were only interested in cash.

One invasion happened in the Berry Creek subdivision. The resident was taken hostage, driven to an ATM and forced to release a large amount of cash and later released unharmed in a different part of the city. The victim called police from that location.

[…]

A few hours after the ATM incident, police said at least two men entered another home on the south side of the City while the homeowners were sleeping.

[…]

Georgetown Police Department Lt. Todd Terbush said they are stepping up their patrols.

Read the full article.

My take-aways:

• Lock your damn doors and windows! Crimes like this are crimes of opportunity. Unlocked door/window? So easy to slip in, hopefully undetected, and gain the upper hand. It’s so easy to keep things locked, and they do so much good in preventing such situations from happening. Too many stories of home invasions happening with the criminal getting in through an unlocked door or window. *sigh*
• Consider as well other things to help, such as alarm systems — and actually using them. Other early-warning devices such as dogs (useful dogs), or even things like putting ornery shrubs in front of exterior windows (make it difficult to get in), or putting large or noisy things in front of interior windows (e.g. the noise made if they knock over cheap knick-knacks, or can’t get through the window at all).
• Yes, guns are useful, but be aware that the gun is only going to come into play after the fact. If you don’t take good up-front preventative measures, the gun may be of little use to you. Imagine in the first case that the invader was able to sneak in and found the first victim still in bed… and the victim never had a chance to obtain a gun, deploy it, or otherwise fight. That person is lucky they didn’t get left at “crime scene number 2”. But if they had locked their doors/windows, could this all have been prevented?
• So the police are going to step up patrols. That’s nice, but what good will it ultimately be? They can’t keep the stepped up patrols forever. If this area gets stepped up patrols, some other area of the city will now have a reduction in patrols. And besides… it’s not like the police were around in the first place to prevent either of these crimes or keep either victim safe. Folks, most cops I know would do all they could to protect you, but the reality is they cannot — here’s proof. You are responsible for your own safety and well-being.