When you survive five break-in attempts in Baltimore, what do you do? Get a gun, or leave

When a burglary takes place while people are sleeping, prepare for a tragic end; especially in a city like Baltimore infamously wearing the laurels of "most dangerous city in America".

Yet, most people cannot simply "leave", in which case, it's best to protect oneself in advance, including those with limited economical means.

Growing up in Paris in the 80s, burglary was a common part of life and everyone's daily hope NOT to find their front door crack-opened on their way home from work.
In fact, anyone who didn't show off an imposing metal door and security locks could end up on the local robbers' infamous list of targets... as we were. We did hold the record in our building with five break-ins in roughly 20 years. These uninvited visitors made a point to always swing by during the day to avoid contact; so at least we didn't get hurt.

So when I moved to Baltimore thirty years later and experienced five burglary attempts, I already had earned my wings of maturity on the matter. But there were a few details I had to adjust to, though. They all have occurred within a six-week period.
With most burglaries occurring during the day, it seems these visitors are eager to meet with us they only drop by when we are in the house - sound asleep between 2 and 4 am, using a crowbar.

Forcing one's front door requires some meticulous work to keep sounds to a minimum. Unfortunately, the storm gate's squeaky and rusty metal handle overwhelmed their clumsy skills and revealed their unwanted presence; but we only noticed the handle was broken and the knob bent when we left the house to go to work the next morning.

It's only on the second attempt we realized it was a break-in, when loud pounding woke us up in the early hours. Luckily, My roommate Jason heard it first and rushed to the door to see what was happening but the perpetrators fled quickly as hyenas chased by a lion.
Jumping back into a sleeping pattern as if nothing had happened is no easy task; especially when some good-for-nothing locals find nothing better to do than racing dirt bikes at 3 am in a one-way street. However, in the afternoon, besides reporting the incident to the police, we discussed some basic defense strategies. It's amazing what you can find at the Dollar store when you need it... a door alarm, aerosol spray (to spray their face) and a chair (to lay against the door).

By the second week, our sleeping habit had adjusted to the burglars' early morning visitor hours and the innumerable catalog of sounds produced by a crowd of carefree loiters who have yet to discover the existence of whispering.
Days later, around 3 am, a loud noise awoke us. It was the chair that dropped from violent kicking. That was the wake-up call of the third attempt. I called 911, Jason sounded the alarm, then we checked the windows, and this time we saw the rear of one burglar rush into a shiny black Nissan Maxima. By chance at that time, the neighbor across the street was sitting in his chair on the sidewalk; so when the police arrived, we detailed our version and mentioned the neighbor may be able to identify the man. The officer returned without clues telling us the neighbor saw nothing but claimed he also had been a victim of some break-in attempts...

It's interesting how they were efficiently warned of the police cruiser arriving - with a series of hand signals from a group of loiters or gang members watching from the street corner.

We had noticed their sloppy hand signals to one another on several occasions, as we would get out of our car to clearly announce our arrival.
By that time, we concluded we were a clear target of a group or gang and became extremely worried of their bottom line intentions. One thought leaned toward a harmful hostage situation. A frightening thought.

Assuming they would pack firearms and came to cause harm, we took serious measures as well in the event they would break in the already damaged door from their crowbar. So we returned to the Dollar store and acquired their most threatening and destructive weapon: the wasp and hornet killer aerosol 12-foot reach spray, and a wifi camera to alert us when they would break the door.

Other aerosols, lighters, and knives were spread around each room for any emergency reach. We also set up a few pots and pans on the chair that would fall and alert us of an entry (hopefully!).

The fourth break-in attempt was probably the scariest.
Not because they succeeded, though. We had been observing that same Nissan car driving casually throughout the week, even communicating with another local car, so we knew our time was up, and we had no doubt they were not acting alone. And one night, it was a notification from our camera sent to our phone that alerted us of unusual motion taking place by the front door.
At a rate of three hours of sleep a day, our response was not very crafty with three zombies struggling to focus, but still managed to dial the police, sound the manual alarm, prepare the wasp spray, grab a few knives to throw, and texted each others with our current position! That was intense. But that's not what was scary.
The police didn't come until 30 minutes later.|
What if the robbers had broken down the door?

That's when we realized we were on our own.

The next day, we filed a police report and inquired about guns. I was amazed to see how many of my friends owned pistols and shotguns, sharing great advice on the choice of weapons to use. They all suggested a Remington 12-gauge shotgun.

Then the other reality talk that swung around the table was what to do if an intruder broke in knowing we were allowed to shoot him. The idea of taking someone's life suddenly became part of a peculiar equation, adding a hint of warrior reality to this unpleasant lifestyle.

We also convinced ourselves that after four failed attempts, intelligent robbers would (or should) give up. While debating these morale issues and the adequate type of gun to acquire, they came back.

After 40 days of surviving this urban terrorism, each sound had become a possible threat flashing in our brain; so when we heard the phone alert vibe, squeaky door noise and robust banging on the door at 3:30 in the morning, we knew they were back. But our defense apparatus against this Baltimore organized crime was all in place. With knives hidden in all rooms, the ultimate wasp and hornet spray behind the wall with a few lighters and ropes in case they had to be subdued. Jason was out of the State that day but when the app alerted him, he began talking to the embedded speaker of the camera via his app directly to the robbers, in case they made it in.
"I see you! Beware, we have a gun and will use it!"
That is what I heard from my room (which actually freaked me out to hear Jason's voice screaming downstairs when I knew he wasn't there!). I called 911 and because there were people "hanging out" outside, we asked if the police cruiser could drive by without talking to us, which they did.

Most burglaries happen between 10 am and 3 pm, when no one is home, which makes sense.

An African-american police officer told me such repetitious harassment at night, could possibly be a hate crime.

If this happened to an Asian, African-American, Muslim or Jewish family leaving in a neighborhood other than their race or religion, the hate crime possibility would be seriously taken into account. So what's the difference with two white men - one being Jewish - and an Asian women living as a minority in an African-American neighborhood ?

We now know how it feels to be a target and stared at with hate looks. What a strange and spiteful sensation when one doesn't even know your name...

Imagine living in an urban culture where the sound of gunshots is more common than bird chirping and singing. A culture that stops traffic to organize illegal dirt bike races among gangs, or shoot at passing cars with air or paint gun if they dare to look at them. Or don't stop to buy their drugs. Or whatever insane justification they want.

Imagine living among a violent urban culture that showers its members with respect for hurting a police officer, orders the murder of cops, then glorifies them for shooting one. It then begins to bring a touch of realism to a once chilling, yet unrealistic 1983 fiction film: "Escape from New York", recently relocated to Baltimore.

When the police must worry about not being shot daily, they simply can't respond to everyone's call; especially if it's not life threatening. But they have been very helpful, understanding. and involved.
I just hope they are able to eradicate this urban terrorism plague before the good guys flee for their life.

Simple. Stay or go.
Among our multiple nocturnal emergency meetings to implement an imminent defense strategy against robbers, we may have shared extreme point of views on what homemade weapons to use or create, that's true.
When I proposed to place an iron-crock pot with boiling oil and rocks on top of the front door's edge to shower the heads of the uninvited visitors, the family council remained unconvinced and voted me out. Too bad, that really proved its efficiency when hordes of barbarians attempted to invade castles in Middle Age Europe in the 6th century...

Nevertheless, there is one thing on which we agreed unanimously. "Life is too short to risk it against urban barbarians who do not value it".
Thus, we must escape this war zone before a tragedy arises, possibly in the next round. But not without offering a positive thought to all concerned families compelled to endure life in similar unforgiving zones. Spend the money to add a security gate (from $100 + $200 install), get a few battery operated alarm sets and test them once in awhile to let people know what to expect. If you cannot afford a camera system, check a Goodwill store, we got ours there for $20.

As far as we're concerned, it's now 3:30 in the morning and nothing has happened; all worthless humans have now emptied the street until tomorrow morning. I guess I can go to sleep for a few hours now, then prepare for another visit, or how we can escape this war zone before it's too late.

Oops, spoke to soon…the white shirt drug gang is back for a ‘management & sales staff meeting’. Music, laughter and dope always on the menu till four. I’ll have to call in sick again.

A small State fund could provide moving/relocation AID for residents who have no alternative but FLEE the most dangerous city in America to protect the life of their family.

Maryland spent $41 million of tax money to build a football field, $60 million for a juvenile detention center, among others, and allocates nearly $1.5 billion to its correctional services, which ironically provides free food and shelter to these cop-killing criminals.
With such lavish spending on sports and the criminals, maybe it could afford a little to relocate the tax paying residents who are put in life threatening situations due to the same criminals...