-Having experienced both casual and serious intrusions in my condo building and some push-and-shove street assault -I have to think outcome-based response is best.
-What do you want when encountering thieves/miscreants on your property? Primarily their absence-all else is gravy. Save heroics for Dirty Harry. I deploy a squawking, official-looking handheld VHF transceiver as a prop frequently. This implies backup and is usually successful getting request-to-leave compliance.
-Do I have backup? Yes, but not in a form suitable to any but dire defensive circumstances, and any display or reference to it in the heat of the moment may provoke an armed response from the guy or group whom just a few seconds earlier would have willingly left. Its fine to be prepared but absolutely best to allow the situation to devolve as peacefully as possible.
-Avoid the urge to make a personal apprehension unless you are trained, equipped and competent to deal with the nearly inevitable wrestling match -in otherwords if you're a cop with backup right there & then. Junkies & druggies will resist furiously when cornered if they perceive the faintest chance of escape. A gun is only capable of one level of response, and may be turned against you at the time or later in court.
-A neighbor deploys a "shaker" type turkey call
http://www.midwestturkeycall.com/detail ... &cc=T&dn=1 to weird out snoopers casing the property. Its loud, durable, inexpensive and hilarious, resembling in appearance an alien recreational device.
-I assisted a retail security guard struggling with a shoplifter once, and when the suspect was controlled we opened his backpack to find it loaded with loot & drug needles. We both avoided getting needle-stuck in the struggle by good luck, but it shows just one of the hazards a person undertakes in enforcement action. These risks are better undertaken by police than by most of us.
-I'm used to an ambient-urban defensive posture but would have to reconfigure for rural security
concerns.
