I have a wall & fence around my property.  The fence is 6 ft high next to the main house, and 6-8 ft high in the front (fence is on top of a concrete tile wall). 

You have to walk up 3 steps to see over the gate, and to open it & walk in.

I have a RING 2 Video Doorbell attached to the gate that's battery/solar powered.


So, sitting in my living room, I hear someone calling out.  I look out the window, and some guy is standing ~7 feet from my door (about halfway between the gate and the front door/living room).

I made it to the screen door before my 85 lb German Shepherd did -- luckily for him. 

He said he was looking for work -- cleaning yard, etc. I told him to leave my property, and that I have a door bell he should have used.  I also have a "Security Dog" sign on the gate which he ignored.

He lied saying my door bell didn't work.  I told him it works fine.  Looking back at the video, he went straight to the gate and opened it.  He never gave the doorbell a single try - or even a glance.  He just opened the gate and stood there a minute or so, then walked right in.

He was local, about mid-30s or early 40s, in a beat-up, old white pickup, and he was rather large.  Wearing trousers and a fluorescent yellow long-sleeve shirt like most contractors use now, only his was filthy (maybe working earlier that day?).

I told him I was not happy with him walking onto my property uninvited. I also told him I don't hire door-to-door solicitors, so don't bother coming back.

Regardless of how innocent his reason might have been to come inside my fence, I had no way to know he wasn't checking the place to see if it was vacant so he could break in or see what I had in the garage.  His lie about my doorbell just made me that much more suspicious, even more so after I verified he never tried it.

He looked a little angry when I told him to leave, like I was being rude, but he apologized and left.

I've read of many break-ins that start with people posing as solicitors for landscaping, roofing, etc. Never let your guard down.  It's not okay to walk onto someone's property if they have a fence and latched gate.  Or maybe that's just me?   

I'm a consultant and visit business clients around the islands. Sometimes the business is located in their house. I always get nervous when I approach a gated fence, especially if there is a dog sign. I call the owner before entering just to be sure. Haven't had any incidents but my coworker did have his tire punctured by a bulldog as he drove up to the client's house.

So HPDs advice of a big dog didn't work?

So HPDs advice of a big dog didn't work?

The guy was lucky my dog didn't hear him. I have floor fans on, and the dog sleeps in front of them to stay cool.

My dog's super protective.  If the guy had rung the bell, he would have never opened the gate once the dog started barking.  He knows what the doorbell sound means. 

Of course, I was sitting next to 2 loaded pistols. I was more concerned with his safety if the dog heard him than for mine.

This kind of thing and other similar things happen to me all the time. Except I have no dog and no doorbell. I would be worried for the same reasons as you but in all likelihood he was doing what he claimed, and his lie about the doorbell was just because those kind of guys are just that way.

Then again, guys break into my house often (I have a few cameras now as you suggested to me earlier) so who knows. But at least I saw all the guys who broke in and they weren't the same guys who came into my yard uninvited or steal my fruits.

One of the guys who tried to break in, when I caught him deep in the yard (I had already been alerted by a neighbor that he was in my yard, and I was searching for him) past several gates, he suddenly said "Sorry wrong house, I'm a contractor!" then he ran away. He was a skinny guy with a shaved head wearing a red shirt and shorts, not an older looking local who resembles more like a yardworker.

He had a bag of loot and unlike other burglars, that guy had no transportation and hit my house last, not first. He later returned to another house and confronted us aggressively, forcing me and another neighbor to chase after him on foot and police caught him and fought with him physically, but ultimately let him go and didn't charge him with anything.

I think your dog needs practice. Next time let it loose.

I think your dog needs practice. Next time let it loose.

If the guy hadn't turned around when I told him to, I would have at least acted like I couldn't hold him back!

"Run, Forrest!!  Run!!"   

Sounds like the description of a guy/vehicle that's been breaking into houses by where I live in Diamond Head.  Do you have a picture of the guy that you could email to me?

Or post so we all can see?

Also I hope when you opened your door to talk to him, he wasn't able to see inside.  I would be on guard the next few weeks and let your neighbors know what happened so you can watch each others homes when no one is home.

Robbers have all day to "case" a place out and know when you leave for work or other events.  Not to make you paranoid, but since you do have guns in the home it is an extra concern. I've heard of 1 guy stealing a 800lbs safe because he had 8 hours to do so while the owner was at work. 

Alertus/Liberty alert makes a motion sensor and door open sensor for your safe.  So this way you know if someone is trying to pry it open, moving it, or opened the door.  This is just another barrier of protection, because it's very difficult to stop a motivated person.

See pic, it also text and emails u when its triggered

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The motion sensor is sensitive.  So if a race car or Harley goes by, it triggers it.  But 1 trigger isn't a concern.  It's multiple seconds apart (someone bashing the door or prying it).

Once we had contractors working the railings after the Ala Moana incident.  They were jack hammering the concrete flooring in the walk ways.  Alarm motion alert went off every 20 seconds.  So I rushed home because the "door open" alert didn't sound off (someone prying,prying, and prying, then being successful, so the door is now open (door open alert triggers)). 

So for the time being, I just ignored the alerts for motion.  But was watching for the "door open" just in case Murphy decides to strike.

Or post so we all can see?

Also I hope when you opened your door to talk to him, he wasn't able to see inside.  I would be on guard the next few weeks and let your neighbors know what happened so you can watch each others homes when no one is home.

Robbers have all day to "case" a place out and know when you leave for work or other events.  Not to make you paranoid, but since you do have guns in the home it is an extra concern. I've heard of 1 guy stealing a 800lbs safe because he had 8 hours to do so while the owner was at work. 

Alertus/Liberty alert makes a motion sensor and door open sensor for your safe.  So this way you know if someone is trying to pry it open, moving it, or opened the door.  This is just another barrier of protection, because it's very difficult to stop a motivated person.

I never opened the screen door, and he never approached closer than about 7 feet from the door.  He can't tell I have guns .... yet.

I've had the same safe monitor ever since I've had my safe.

I also have exterior and interior cameras all around the house.

Sounds like the description of a guy/vehicle that's been breaking into houses by where I live in Diamond Head.  Do you have a picture of the guy that you could email to me?

The street-side cameras are in the upstairs window. apparently the Ring doorbell wasn't connected to the WiFi (does that every month or so) and needed to be reset.  So, I didn't pick up his face on the doorbell.

The motion sensor is sensitive.  So if a race car or Harley goes by, it triggers it.  But 1 trigger isn't a concern.  It's multiple seconds apart (someone bashing the door or prying it).

Once we had contractors working the railings after the Ala Moana incident.  They were jack hammering the concrete flooring in the walk ways.  Alarm motion alert went off every 20 seconds.  So I rushed home because the "door open" alert didn't sound off (someone prying,prying, and prying, then being successful, so the door is now open (door open alert triggers)). 

So for the time being, I just ignored the alerts for motion.  But was watching for the "door open" just in case Murphy decides to strike.

The WYZE cameras on Amazon are about $26 each, and well worth the money. They have motion and audio detection features if you want, and they only need a power connection.  They record for free to the "cloud", and i also installed a 64GB micro-SD card in each for continuous recording. 

I use them mostly to keep an eye on the pets when away. You could just as easily have one set up in the room with your safe so you can take a look if the sensor sends an alert.

I bought my daughter 3 WYZE cams also for her place.  For the price, it's really hard to find a reason not to buy them!   

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076H3SRXG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Wow!  That's all sorts of sketchy. 

Many of my friends have cameras all over their house.  I have a couple set up at my dad's house, but that's more for his safety than security at this time.  He's lucky that he lives on a street that doesn't get much traffic and many of the neighbors are original owners from back when my parents bought.  So that means that there are lots of retired eyes that are often taking story in front of their homes and they ABSOLUTELY notice things, particularly strangers.  One thing that concerns me is that up the street, at the corner of one of the main circulation streets, I've noticed many times HS aged kids hanging out.  I know a couple of the houses near that intersection used to get broken into often back in the day, but not sure anymore.  Well, one has 10 foot tall fence, iron bars over the windows, and a large German Shepard (at least they used to).  Anyways, I suspect that they are meeting there for drug buys as I see random cars and often a few guys just sitting there in the car.  I was wary that they were noticing coming and going patterns, but the activity on the street is super random.  Particularly because many homes have active retirees and many also where the next generation (my HS classmates) have moved back in.  So the street has pretty good eyes. 

If that guy was casing your place, hopefully he was convinced that your house wasn't an easy target.  Unfortunately that means someone else may be a victim, but one can only control so much in life. 

The WYZE cameras on Amazon are about $26 each, and well worth the money. They have motion and audio detection features if you want, and they only need a power connection.  They record for free to the "cloud", and i also installed a 64GB micro-SD card in each for continuous recording. 

I use them mostly to keep an eye on the pets when away. You could just as easily have one set up in the room with your safe so you can take a look if the sensor sends an alert.

I bought my daughter 3 WYZE cams also for her place.  For the price, it's really hard to find a reason not to buy them!   

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076H3SRXG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for the link.  I was actually thinking of ordering a camera and was looking at Sams, but the cost was way more than I wanted to spend.  What I want a single camera for is to see if my alarm does trip, I call HPD and it's not a false alarm.

I haven't heard of the WYZE cameras, but they sound like a cost effective one.

I have an UOKOO and Nest at my dad's.  The UOKOO isn't that expensive and actually quite clear.  Couldn't get the motion sensor and notification to work properly, or at least figure it out, but that camera doesn't need that.  The Nest is pretty pricey, but has lots of excellent features.  For the situation that my family uses it for, the ability to quickly go back and check video is one feature that we use often.  The notification for motion is also pretty handy.  Haven't used the sound sensing feature yet. 

After looking at my screen grabs of the "visitor", I'm thinking it's time to upgrade my surveillance system. I put that system together as a DIY, using a 16 channel PC surveillance board. The cameras are all in the 480 TVL broadcast quality range of resolutions.

Looking at what's out now, I can get a NVR system with 8 x 4K cameras and all the Cat5 PoE cables for about $1300. 

I knew my old system was getting outdated, but until now, I didn't realize how crappy the resolution really is. Looks like the normal bank CCTV stills you always see on TV that you wonder how anybody could ever recognize.   

That's separate from the WYZE and Ring Doorbell cameras.  I like not having all my eggs in one system.  That way, if the NVR/DVR recorder or drive dies (as hard drives do), I'm still capturing with the IP cameras.

For the WYZE, what happens if you unplug it?  Does the system reset and you have to set it up again?  I don't like leaving things plugged in so I would only use the camera when no one is home.

The WYZE cameras on Amazon are about $26 each, and well worth the money. They have motion and audio detection features if you want, and they only need a power connection.  They record for free to the "cloud", and i also installed a 64GB micro-SD card in each for continuous recording. 

I use them mostly to keep an eye on the pets when away. You could just as easily have one set up in the room with your safe so you can take a look if the sensor sends an alert.

I bought my daughter 3 WYZE cams also for her place.  For the price, it's really hard to find a reason not to buy them!   

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076H3SRXG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The reviews have concerns about privacy of the cloud storage (being a china based storage network?).  What are your thoughts about that?

For the WYZE, what happens if you unplug it?  Does the system reset and you have to set it up again?  I don't like leaving things plugged in so I would only use the camera when no one is home.

All the setting are retained. I've moved mine around to different outlets. As long as it can find the WiFi signal you paired it with, it'll start right up.