Has your home been marked? And what to do about it.

So you have finally taken that walk on your sidewalk on an early Sunday morning. The news of your friend or relative that they were the victims of a home invasion or break-in a few days prior have had you lying awake at night with so many questions. What will I do if I was a victim of a break-in? How can I protect my family and assets? What will I do if I see my home has been marked? We’ve had 7 home invasions in this area in less than a week. What am I going to do?

In this article, I’m going to show you step-by-step what you can do to completely change the outcome of what could possibly be a break-in or home invasion.

Firstly you need to come to terms with the fact that if you have been living your life without a care in the world, that is going to change. You don’t need to go into hiding or put your family into protective custody, but everything you do from this point on, can and will make a difference in the end.

How do you know that your home has been marked?

So on your Sunday stroll, you noticed some litter on your sidewalk, but something seems odd. When a series of break-ins occur in your neighbourhood you can assume that there is an organised effort behind the break-ins. These groups are well organised and may have members scouting the neighbourhood and recruiting workers employed at possible targets. They may mark these targets in different ways. We cannot know the exact code that applies to every group but certain patterns have been identified and this can help you to know what to look out for.

Tip: Keep your sidewalk clean and tidy. Not only does this help to make your house look neat and clean, but it helps you to immediately notice when something is out of place. You could inadvertently foil a planned break-in by simply removing the items intended to mark your home as a potential target.

Here are some examples of what you can expect to see:

• When you see two big stones placed together, it means the owners are two old individuals.
• White objects placed around your home say that your house is an easy target.
• Red objects (can be a soft drink can or cloth) imply resistance. It means that the homeowner is armed and can defend themselves.
• A Z drawn on a stop sign or the road suggests the homes in that street are marked.
• Blue objects denote the house is an easy target, and it has someone to assist with the robbery on the inside.
• Several stones placed in a row specifies the number of persons within the household.
• Piles of small stones indicate that there are dogs in the compound.
• Green objects are direction markers.
• Swastika painted on a path means that the houses in that area are targeted by burglars. Direction of swastika shows the house that is targeted.

The exact placement of the item can also have meaning:

• Red (such as a soft drink can, red cloth, or crisp packet) – expect resistance.
• Red soft drink can with the opening towards the house – someone is home.
• Upright soft drink can – nobody home.
• White (sorghum carton, plastic bag) – easy target.
• White plastic bag in fence – easy target.
• White sorghum carton facing towards the house – target marked.
• The direction that a bottle is pointing indicates the direction they should proceed. Blue and/or blue and white (such as packets) – easy target and someone inside will help.
• Black objects are used as markers when the intention is stock theft.

Don’t immediately remove the items when you realise that your home has been marked. I’ll tell you why in a minute. Let’s first STOP and think about how to handle this.

The worst case scenario

You are woken up at midnight by the sound of breaking glass and strange voices in your home. You realise your nightmare has come true, there are criminals in your home. Your only concern is the safety of your wife and children. A struggle breaks out and thankfully you are able to fend off the intruders but 1 or all of them end up dead (worst case scenario).

It’s your right to protect your loved ones and assets, but sadly our country’s justice system cannot be relied upon to come to that conclusion. Someone was killed and the wheels of justice turns into action. Whether you were wrong or right that doesn’t matter.

So what do you do now? Let’s look at the importance of always planning and preparing for the worst-case scenario.

You killed someone and you could be found guilty of an offence and end up in prison with a criminal record. In this scenario protecting your home and your loved ones is not your only task, staying out of prison needs to be a part of your plan so that you can continue to be there for your family.

STOP

So let’s go back to the beginning and work through a process that can help you protect your family and your home and also maybe keep you out of prison should things go south. So you are back on your sidewalk and have noticed the possible markings.

Remember STOP? S-stop T-think O-observe P-plan. Lets put this into action.

This is what we know

• We know there has been a series of break-ins in your neighbourhood/ complex or street.
• We also know that the security companies working in the area as well as the police have a less than desirable response time.
• We know that there is a 50% chance that this packet tied to your fence or the fact that there are 4 stones stacked on top of each other is the same amount of people living under your roof.
• That soda bottle could also have a meaning of its own. (I will share the markings of different items used and there meaning with a few photos)
• We know that there were no lives lost or injuries reported during any of the burglaries.
• The only objective of the break-ins was theft of property.

With this information, let’s analyze the situation. The first question you need to answer is, is every burglary the same? Do they all end in just theft? And do I need to be concerned? The answer is no, not every burglary is the same, maybe the plan is just to steal but things can go wrong very quickly should they be caught. Violence and God forbid injury or loss of life could be a huge possibility, and that is what you need to be prepared for.

The question of why your home has been marked and what it is that the criminals could possibly want could go unanswered until the end of time. But what they are willing to do to get it. That should be a concern to every homeowner.

The Plan

Now the steps to follow ARE VERY IMPORTANT… First, you need to collect evidence and I’ll explain why.

• Use your phone or camera and take as detailed photos as possible.
• Make sure your device can add time stamps to the photos.
• Send the photos to your wife, a trusted friend or relative for safe keeping.
• Remember to try take at least one photo of a distinctive marking/address or house number with the markings targeting your house present in the photo.

What you do now can impact your life and your future I cannot express enough the importance of this and how crucial this can be. Gathering evidence is the most important action you will be doing at this point. The next step is to report the matter to your local police station but be prepared that you might not get a satisfactory response. We have many dedicated policemen and women in the service, but sadly there are many who are not.

However you need to do the following that could be crucial, you cannot report it and leave it there and think that I have done enough. As a member of the public, you have the right to make a complaint and the police have a duty to investigate. You need to make sure that your complaint has been recorded and that a case docket has been opened or that an entry has been made in the Occurrence Book (OB).

Ask that all reference numbers are given to you and keep a record of that. Every police officer has a name tag so make sure you keep a record of that. Ask that they send out a patrol to check your complaint and to do additional patrols in your area. This may not be ethical but put your device on record before entering the police station, remember this is planning for the worst-case scenario.

Once you have been to the police, you want to go to your local neighbourhood watch if you have one and report the matter to them. Record the following information for your own records:

• The name and surname of the person you reported the matter to.
• Any well organised neighbourhood watch will also have an Occurence Book (OB).
• Make sure you show them the evidence you took and ask that they give you an OB entry nnumber. The number will look as follows: If today is the 9^th of February 2022 and they have received 30 reports so far this month then your report will be entered with the number 031/02/22.

These numbers will be called as evidence should you find yourself in court. It’s important that your report as well as the timestamps on your photos correspond when you walk into court as a victim. You must show that you are a man or woman who fought to protect yourself, your loved ones and your assets in an ordeal where somebody died. You may find that the justice system will not see you as a victim. You could be met with a lot of hostility. That is why you don’t leave any loopholes open in the evidence you have gathered or statements you have made.

What now?

Once you have been to the police and neighbourhood watch, clean your sidewalk, remove all markings and do a sweep around your home, down the street around the block. Take note of anything that looks out of place.

Now the worst part. Protecting your family is on the top of our list but keeping this from them, is only letting them walk around in the dark. We can only protect them by talking to them and preparing them for what could possibly happen, remember one loses nothing if you prepare and nothing happens, but what do you stand to lose if you do nothing?

If your children are at an age to understand what the importance of this is to include them in the conversation. When talking to your family remember the following:

• How long has your home been watched?
• How much information could they have?
• Could your workers have given any information?

Prevention

You now start by changing things you have done in the past, and all this may sound really drastic you might even say overboard. But trust me when I say I have seen enough in my 25 plus years in this industry to guarantee you, that a criminal doesn’t care about your life or the life of your family. He wants what you have, and if he or they need to kill you or your family to get it they will.

So every step you take from here on will make a difference. Where do I start? is a reasonable question to ask. Have a meeting with your family to discuss your safety as a family and come up with a plan that everyone buys into.

Establish how much your workers know? Do they know where your safe is, where you keep your car keys, where you keep your jewellery? Do they know the key number of your home? Have any of your workers ever taken a key home with them? If they have is there a possibility they have made copies? Have you ever done a security background check on them prior to employing them?

Tip: If you suspect your workers could have made copies of your home keys, and you need to change your locks but you’re strapped for cash? Change the outside door locks with locks from the inside doors in your house that have keys untill you can afford better locks. Do it after your workers have left, change the location of where you keep the keys and store them out of sight.

Some of the ideas I mentioned may seem extreme, but we live in a country where extreme violence is at the order of the day. I hope that the ideas shared here can help you to put together your own safety plan and create an environment in which you and your loved ones can thrive.

Read more about this topic in the following articles:

• STOP
• Securing your home – Setting a baseline
• Safety around the home.
• Your home has been marked for a break-in.
• Identifying easy entries.
• Procedures to prevent a home invasion.
• Thinking like a criminal why is that important.
• Entering your property. The do’s and don’ts.
• Keeping your home safe without spending a fortune.