Break ins and home invasions are going to get more frequent and more brazen all over. It used to be you could just pick a "good area" and feel relatively safe, but now living in a good area more or less just makes you a better target. You probably have things, and your guard is probably down.
I grew up in a fairly wealthy town of about 50K people and never worried to much about break ins. Since moving to Charlotte about 5 years ago, it's something I think about daily. I live in a lower middle class neighborhood that is a few miles away from a neighborhood that was featured on the History Channel show "Gangland." There haven't been home invasions in my neighborhood, but there have been ones literally a mile away, so it's definitely a risk. Cars have been broken into here, including my roommate's Jeep. Nothing was taken because there was nothing to take, but obviously it's a risk we have to deal with.
My roommate and I have both gotten in the habit of removing radio face plates from our vehicles, locking all doors and windows, keeping exterior lights on at night (most of our neighbors do as well), and generally being mindful of suspicious activity. I even keep my utility trailer locked to the deck. Even if they were able to cut the deck to remove the trailer, the lock is on the tongue of the trailer so they wouldn't be able to tow it without removing that.
Luckily NC's Castle Doctrine says you do not have to retreat before using deadly force. I don't ever want to have to take care of a situation that way, but if someone forces their way into my house I'm going to assume they are there to do harm to me and I will do whatever is necessary to protect myself.
I grew up in a fairly wealthy town of about 50K people and never worried to much about break ins. Since moving to Charlotte about 5 years ago, it's something I think about daily. I live in a lower middle class neighborhood that is a few miles away from a neighborhood that was featured on the History Channel show "Gangland." There haven't been home invasions in my neighborhood, but there have been ones literally a mile away, so it's definitely a risk. Cars have been broken into here, including my roommate's Jeep. Nothing was taken because there was nothing to take, but obviously it's a risk we have to deal with.
My roommate and I have both gotten in the habit of removing radio face plates from our vehicles, locking all doors and windows, keeping exterior lights on at night (most of our neighbors do as well), and generally being mindful of suspicious activity. I even keep my utility trailer locked to the deck. Even if they were able to cut the deck to remove the trailer, the lock is on the tongue of the trailer so they wouldn't be able to tow it without removing that.
Luckily NC's Castle Doctrine says you do not have to retreat before using deadly force. I don't ever want to have to take care of a situation that way, but if someone forces their way into my house I'm going to assume they are there to do harm to me and I will do whatever is necessary to protect myself.
