If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.SUN TZU on the ART OF WAR - The Oldest Military Treatise In The World
According to a 2005 Federal Bureau of Investigation report, after declining for much of the 1990s, violent crime was up 2.5 percent from the year before.DOJ and FBI statistics show that while Los Angeles, Miami and New York City continued to show drops in crime, smaller and medium-sized cities across the nation experienced increases in violent crime on the order of 9 percent.
Of interest here are the statistics pertaining to burglary:
Burglary is defined as "The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft. Attempted forcible entry is included." The use of force in the unlawful entry is not required to classify an offense as a burglary."
Burglary is subdivided into three classifications:
Forcible Entry - Gaining entry by the use of violence or the threat of violence; breaking of windows; forcing doors or windows; cutting screens, walls or roofs; the use of master keys, picks, unauthorized keys or other device to open a lock.
Unlawful Entry - A non-forcible entry achieved through an unlocked door or window. The element of trespass is essential for the act to be classified as a burglary (the entry must be unauthorized).
Attempted Forcible Entry - Occurs when the perpetrator has attempted to commit a forcible entry but not succeeded.
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program:2,154,126 burglaries occurred in 2005 up .5 percent from 2004.
62.8 percent were Forcible Entries.
30.8 percent were Unlawful Entries.
6.5 percent were Attempted Forcible Entries.
65.8 percent of the burglaries were residential.
34.2 percent were commercial.
The majority of the residential burglaries (62.4 percent) occurred during the day.
Residential burglary - Points of Entry (Pennsylvania Survey):81 percent gained entry on the first floor.
34 percent through the front door.
23 percent through a first floor window.
22 percent through a back door.
9 percent through a garage.
4 percent through a basement.
4 percent through an unlocked enterance.
2 percent through a storage area.
2 percent somewhere on the second floor.
Source: Simon Hakim, Temple University
A recent Connecticut study concluded that:12 percent of the burgalries occurred though an unlocked door.
41 percent of homes with alarm systems that were burglarized, did not have the alarm turned on.
Homes without security systems are three times more likely to be burglarized than homes with security systems.
Source: Simon Hakim, Temple University
We recommend that you contact the Crime Prevention Unit of your local police department and inquire regarding additional or modified burglary scenarios in your area.
Armed with the information above, you are now ready to launch your campaign to protect yourself, your loved ones and your property.
Knowledge is powerFrancis Bacon
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