After a Kansas City mother left for work, an intruder attempted to break into her house where her two daughters, ages 12 and 14 were home alone.¹

The full story is reported here.

According to the report, the burglar began by beating on the doors and then attempted to enter through a bedroom window. The mother told the terrified girls to call the police, but their screams scared the intruder off before the police arrived.

This frightening situation could happen to anyone. What can you do to protect yourself? One of the smartest ways is to install a home security system. If a burglar suspects there is an alarm system installed in a home, he is much less likely to attempt a break in in the first place. You can let a burglar know you have an alarm system by placing yard signs in both the front and back yards.

If an alarm system in installed in the home, a siren could have been triggered that would have alerted not only the neighbors that a burglary was taking place, but it would have also been a strong warning to the burglar himself.

Further, the monitoring company would have gotten the alert and could have contacted the police.

Setting up outdoor security cameras is another deterrent. Burglars do not like the idea of being on camera and may leave if they think they are being recorded. Just make sure the cameras are in plain sight.

Finally, have a plan. No matter how well you think you have protected yourself against intruders, it can happen to anyone. If you do not have a plan, it will be hard to decide what to do in a moment of panic. Talk through with your family what would be the best course of action in such a situation and practice the drills frequently.

^{1 http://fox4kc.com/2016/06/23/family-on-edge-after-intruder-attempts-burglary-in-south-kansas-city-while-girls-were-home-alone/}