Home security for an apartment?

Did I miss something? Did someone try and break in? You can get door and window alarms for not much money. A professionally installed alarm with a call service can be expensive. When I first moved to my house my father gave me the installation and a year of service as a gift. I found it to be a pain in the butt and never renewed the contract. I still have the box sitting on the wall, it took two years for all the little lights to finally die out.

Maybe you just need one of those signs that says..

"This place protected by an alarm."
Every alarm company has them. I believe I have even seen fake signs sold for a few dollars.

Just leave a pair of size 15 work boots and a copy of guns and ammo outside your front door.

HA!

Unfortunately, my neighbors probally have more automatic firepower then I have seen in my entire life...

trust me, thats quite abit.


My husband is 6'5 250 lbs.
But these people dont flinch.


No one has broken in.


What happened, was...

a little while ago, I had my front window open. Beautiful day it is! Great breeze.. perfect day to just let nature cool your home.

Any who..
The guy one building over..creeps me out.
He opens his windows when he sees mine open. I know .. well i THINK he can see in.
And we have things that 'homeboys' think are cool

We have a flat screen on the wall. A cheap one, crappy at best, but it is a flat screen.

We have a flat screen monitor.
We have really odd, some rather pricey pieces of furniture, drums, guitars... etc
Things that people could hit the pawn shop with.
Or a neighbor down the street and make a quick buck.

Said neighbor has questionable traffic 24/7.
Much pot smoke fills my house in the afternoon that isnt ours.

I dont CARE about pot heads.. just.. this guy.

he also looks like someone on the child rapist registration.


I . DONT . LIKE . HIM

and I could just be .. being judgemental.. but I DONT.

well, he doesn't know anyone in this building.

We are on the second floor. He does NOT know our neighbors.
Well, at least.. I have not seen him converse with him.


Windows open.. and I hear someone.. ON MY PATIO talking to someone.

I peek out the window and there he is. Facing my window.

I know , he could see in.
I have no clue how long he was there.
And I know, from where I saw him he could see the computer and drums.

He had no reason to be there.

My shades were 1/2 way up, just enough to not block the breeze. SO I could not see his face, and he could not see mine.
I tried to watch him for a second to see if , maybe he was just trying to catch someones attention.. but even then.. why was he facing THIS apt?

He has too many pot head kids hanging out with him. ( kids -20-25 ) All wanna be gang bangers. pants hanging down to their knees.. five thousand dollar stereo systems in 300 dollar cars..


Ok, im being racist and judgemental here.. but frankly he bothers me.
His traffic bothers me.

HIM BEING ON MY PATIO scared the **** out of me.
I dont trust him.


Over reacting? maybe
but I will be damned if I can afford for someone to break in here.
We dont live in the slums because we WANT TO. we live here because we have to. And that doesn't mean he has the right to steal, peep , or even be anywhere NEAR my business.


( sigh )

You could put up a motion detecting light for the patio and ask the landlord about installing a deadbolt. You can also get do it yourself window and door alarms at hardware stores fairly cheap.

These thugs sound like they would only go after something easy and probably wouldn't know the first thing about deactivating even the simplest of alarms.

I honestly don't think you are over reacting. It's not just your stuff it's your safety. People will do stupid things to get money for drugs.

I do think you need to get opaque curtains so it's harder to see into your apartment.

You might want to get the local alarms that will let you know if someone opens a window or door, the noise can scare off potential thieves. Most hardware stores have them or check on-line.

You can check with the local police about the criminal records of your neighbors, especially the guy you think is a sex offender.

You can't out gun violent people. I know all the gun loonies think we should all own AK47's, but the reality is the evil crimminals tend to be faster on the trigger and better at hitting their human targets.

The other thing is get to know all your neighbors, you don't have to become friends - in fact you don't want to become friends. Just be social enough that they know you could pick them out of a line up if you had to.

Sublime and I crossed posts, but at least we are in agreement.

I have talked with him before.
For the number one fact that he looks just like a guy on the sex offender website.
One who goes after 4-7 year old little girls. My daughter is 3

He can steal what he wants, Im more concerned for her then anything.


Let me find his info again.. I will shamelessly post it here.

I did not know you could buy an alarm at Home depot??

Can you , then install it and possibly register with a larger security company.. say Briggs for monitoring?

Re: Home security for an apartment?



Mine was installed when I moved in. All the apartments have them.

Mine is motion sensor, so I never use it (cats).


It will function as a loud alarm (building rules say you can't use it this way, as it could go off for no good reason and annoy neighbours) or as a monitored alarm...I gather the connections with phone line have been built in to allow this.

I have been checking online for the past 30 minutes or so and Im seeing prices above my head.
800.00 ????

then a monthly service fee?


My apt layout is rather simple and will not require alot of equipment.

I want the front and back door, and the window next to the front door.
Thats it.

Maybe Im not looking hard enough, or I am looking at the incorrect companies.. but 800.00 set up sounds awful steep to me.


Would I have to get landlords permission?
( granted, if I wanted it, he would allow it 100000%! No questions there.)

Re: Home security for an apartment?


I wish apartments here had them .

But we dont.
And Im finding it really expencive to do so.

I too could not use the motion, but a "glass breaking" alarm , or a forced entry through the door is just fine..

Ace Hardware has this that you can install yourself.

Re: Home security for an apartment?



Some people say that buying stickers warning of an alarm is quite effective.....

Looks like one of his "friends"




9900 ROXANNA DR
Apt #B
AUSTIN, TX 78748
Distance: 0.09 miles


2 counts on 2 girls under the age of 8



( I hope I dont get in trouble for posting this. If I do MODs please tell me! )

What Sublime posted is what I was thinking would work in your situation.

The expensive ones are the kind you would hook up with an alarm company, they work thru your phone lines. I believe you have to have a land line for the service. Monthy service runs about $25 per month, although some places charge extra for false alarms - and there are always false alarms.

I lived with trouble across from my kitchen window, but none of them ever looked up. I got ahold of the owner & police , and I did do the occasional photo , just in case....

I'll speak up as not against the odd deal. But I didn't like my neighbor with (presumed) meth distribution on a routine basis, or some other distribution. Trucks would be there, for, oh seven minutes, and then roar off, as I washed my dishes.

This is all a big quandary, as you don't want to endanger yourselves and yet need to keep the f.kers away.

This is a microcosm of what war is about, what you are dealing with.

Is that a current address for him and it's near you? You could call the local police and ask for a confirmation and their advice. I don't think it's illegal for you to post it, it's already on the net.

I can see that address from my porch

Ak, I posted late.

You need something like a pager (I know nothing about pagers).

Well, A, you need to be with your kiddo. Which is too bad, since being alone as a kid is a good thing, at least for a bit, but safely.