Physical Security

 

Physical security is defined as that part of security concerned with physical measures such as locks, lights, alarms, and fences, etc. Having good physical security at your home or business is essential to protect against home invasion (no knock warrants) and burglaries (sneak and peak warrants). 

Most residential locks can be easily picked, as can be seen in the MIT Guide to Lock Picking. It doesn't take all that long to learn the basics of lock picking, and most anyone will be able to open locks after just several hours of practice, 

Bosnian Bill's Lock Lab offers physical security recommendations to include the best locks on the commercial marketplace that are all very difficult, if not impossible to pick in a reasonable amount of time.  

Abloy Disc Detainer (Protec2) – Starting at $215
Mul-t-lock (MT-5 Plus) – Starting at $165
Medeco – Starting at $155
Schlage Primus – Starting at $150
Lockwood BiLock – Starting at $160
Evva MCS – Starting at $210

Your lock is only PART of your security system!  You can put a super expensive lock on a crappy door and someone will simply kick it off the hinges. 

Bosnian Bill's home security guide can help you improve your personal security:

Which Lock Should I Buy? 

The Threat

Perimeter Zone

Detection Zone 

Interior Zone 

Apartment Security 

Travel Security 

Hotel Security 

Cultural Security

Electronic Security 

Conclusion 

 

Install a fence around your home, and post your property with 'No Trespassing' signs.

The case, State of Arizona v. Cody Mitchell Lohse, focused on whether or not police officers had the right to enter Lohse’s property without a warrant, where they discovered drugs, guns, and drug paraphernalia. Lohse argued that since the officers passed through two fences, one of which had a private property sign posted on it, the officers “trespassed into the curtilage of [his] home.” This trespass, he argued, violated his Fourth Amendment rights, which states that,

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Lohse was initially convicted of a number of drug-related offenses, but upon appeal of that initial decision, the court unanimously found that the officers, if there was in fact a privacy fence and no trespassing sign in place at the time of the incident, did not have the right to enter Lohse’s property.

“Thus, because law enforcement officers without a warrant are no more privileged to enter the curtilage of a home than the general public… entry under such circumstances would constitute an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment,”

Use a Document Shredder to Destroy All Documents Your Place in the Trash. 

The U.S. Supreme Court (California v. Greenwood, 486 US 35) decided that cops can search and seize abandoned property. In essence, once papers or contraband have been thrown into a trash receptacle, it is considered “abandoned” and anyone, including the police, can look through it and claim ownership. A trash search will not constitute an illegal search and seizure in the eyes of the law. The Supreme Court has consistently held that an expectation of privacy does not give rise to Fourth Amendment constitutional protection unless society is prepared to accept that expectation as objectively reasonable. Therefore, since the Court did not believe society was prepared to accept an expectation of privacy in the garbage we put out to the curb for collection as objectively reasonable, it is not unlawful for an officer or his agent to go through such trash.

What is considered abandoned varies somewhat by state, however, most require that you take an affirmative step to discard the illegal items or evidence. For example, if you throw a list of your drug transactions in the trash bin inside your home, you are still maintaining control over the notes, meaning, you haven’t abandoned them yet. If the police come knocking on your door without a warrant, they can’t use the “abandoned” property or garbage exception to search the trash bins in your house. Therefore, if the search of your home is an illegal search the evidence contained in the trash receptacles will be excluded.

If you later dump the contents of the same trash can into a larger trash can in your backyard, you will probably have the same protection because your yard has many of the same protections as your residence from illegal search and seizures. However, once you dump the contents of the larger trash bin into the dumpster in your alley or you place the trash bin where the trash collectors usually come to pick it up, you have taken an affirmative step to abandon the property. Once abandoned, officers can search and seize any evidence found in your garbage. If your garbage is combined with garbage from neighbors, the police must still show that the items found came from your house. They must affirmatively link the evidence to you. As a rule of thumb, if there’s anything you don’t want to come back and bite you, invest in a shredder.