Crime reporter explains why people should not pretend they are not home if they suspect a burglar

Americans spend over $20 billion yearly on security devices and systems to protect themselves and their properties, reports Forbes. However, despite this, over a million home burglaries happen annually in the country and 25% of them happen during the day, assuming that homeowners will be out of the house. In a TikTok video, a crime reporter shared her insights into staying safe in case a burglar knocks at your door. 

"So you should not get quiet and pretend that you are not at home when someone knocks on your door. I have reviewed hundreds of criminals, and burglars, particularly in my 31 years as a crime reporter," says Lori Fullbright in the video. "And the vast majority of them tell me that they want to hit a house that's empty. They want to kick in your door when you are gone, take all your stuff, and leave, and it's terrible."

She goes on to say that the situation could take an ugly turn if someone pretends to not be home. "Now you are face to face with a criminal. So a vast majority of burglars tell me they like to hit Monday to Friday, 9 am to 3:30 pm. Why? Because they think you are gone and that's what most of them do. They want an empty house. But they are not sure that you are gone so they knock," says the crime reporter.

However, Fullbright agrees that one needs a plan if someone kicks in the door and they are there. "You need a plan for that, you guys, if someone kicks in the door and you are there. But let's prevent that from happening all the time," she says.

She emphasizes not staying quiet. "Make noise, go talk through the door 'Can I help you?' 'walk along', 'I'm not interested.' They now know someone's inside and if you want to lie for safety then say, 'Honey, get out of the shower somebody's at the door.' Let them know that there is more than one person in the house," she continued.

Fullbright shares that most of the time, it's kids, who stay quiet when someone knocks. "I see it a lot with kids, definitely teach your kids if someone knocks, don't get quiet and pretend they are not there, and make a ruckus - a vast majority of burglars won't come in," concluded the crime reporter.

The video garnered over 1.7 million views and 213k likes on TikTok. @nichole90 commented, "Growing up in the 90s our parents would leave us and tell us 'pretend you’re not home if someone knocks at the door' and that kinda just stuck." @meg..han8 wrote, "I ignored the knock once and they assumed I wasn’t there. All 6 of them broke in through the window and I hid in the dryer to hide for over an hour."

"This is why my dad leaves on a light that is scheduled to go on and off during the days that we’re not home, so it looks like someone’s home," shared @juulzpod0. @heyitsnicole_ expressed, "Recently I’ve been pretending to be on the phone and being super loud saying what time will you be here? 'Oh you’re pulling into the neighborhood now?"'