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Lynn Champagne
August 19, 2010
On April 14, 2007 I learned a real life lesson on being safe.
At exactly 9:10pm a friend called me to say that Channel 6 news was reporting break-ins in my neighborhood. Breaking into cars seemed to be the crime of choice. Since I had gifts for my grandchildren in my car I decided to bring them in where they would be safe. Normally, I would have waited until 10:00pm to do this, just before settling down for the night. However, on this night, I decided to get this done at 9:30pm. So I did. I went outside to my car and gathered up the gifts and brought them inside.
Later, at 10:00pm as I was about to turn the den lights and TV off I heard a very loud pounding on my front door. Well, I couldn't imagine who it could be. I thought it must be someone who knows me well because sometimes I don't hear the doorbell at the front of the house. I go to the front door but peaked outside first. There was no neighbor in the yard. There was no car in the driveway so it wasn't family. Who was it? The pounding had stopped. I naturally assumed I was hearing things. I headed to the back of the house.
Just as I reached the kitchen, which is close to my back door, I heard someone kicking in the door. Don't ask me how I knew it was kicking, some things you just know. I ran to the bedroom. "Oh, God, Oh, God" was all I could say. I picked up the phone; it was dead. I looked for my cell phone. It was in the foyer, in my purse. "Oh, God, what do I do?" My heart was pounding. I could hardly breathe. I ran to another bedroom where I could peak into the den to see what was going on. I usually kept that door open but that night it was closed. I stood there. What do I do now? I could hear the kicking but could not tell if the door was breaking; could not tell if someone was in my house. It was like a movie when you scream at the screen saying "No, don't go in there!" It was like an out-of-body experience at this point. I opened the door. My back door was still standing. I ran as well as any scared-to-death person ever has to the foyer hoping I could get to my phone before the door came down. Found my phone and dialed 911 as I headed back to the bedroom. On my way I decided to hide in the hall closet. As I sat in the dark in that closet my life flashed before my eyes. I never understood this phenomenon before but it does happen. You don't even know it is about to happen. It happens all by itself. A few minutes later I heard the sirens. Three police cars were in my front yard.
My neighbors came out to see what was going on. Thankfully, one invited me to stay at her house for the night. I was just too afraid to stay there. Eighteen months later I was still waking up in the mornings to the sound of someone pounding on my door. I now also understand those victims that keep reliving an event.
Turns out there was a serial killer in Baton Rouge with the MO of pounding on the front door. If no one answered, he went to the back door and KICKED it in. He had already killed a mother and daughter in north Baton Rouge. A few days later an elderly couple was found dead in Goodwood, a few blocks from my home. Same guy. The police had lifted prints from the back door. I received a call from the police later to say they had caught him.
Why had he given up on my door? The grace of God. Had I waited until 10:00pm to go to my car, I would have met him at my door. Also, the grace of God.
My yard had been pitch-black on that night. My yard was a great cover for anyone wanting to commit a crime in darkness. I didn't even have motion lights.
While the police were still at my house that night, they took me to my back yard to "show" me just how dark it was. I could not even see the fence around my yard. They suggested I get motion lights and flood lights. I asked a friend of mine who I should call to do this? He did it himself. Great job, too. He even monitors his yard via his television.
Go outside tonight. Do NOT take a flashlight. Can you see all around your property? Can you see past bushes and other obstructions in your yard? By the way, bushes under windows are a very bad idea. Just another place to hide and how convenient to be right under a window! Being able to "kinda" see isn't good enough for your family. If you can "kinda" see, a criminal can "kinda" hide. Now my yard is lit-up like a Christmas tree when the motion lights come on and nearly that lit without them.
Get an alarm system also. If you never need it, never have a break-in, so what? What if you DO need it? If you were a criminal, would you stick around with an alarm screeching throughout the neighborhood? Get an alarm system today! Not next week, not this week-end. That is, of course, unless you have a scheduled appointment with a criminal. Then I guess you can delay until the day before he comes.
Do you know where Baton Rouge is on the list of crime?
Neighorhoodscout.com reports that 96% of Louisiana cities are safer than Baton Rouge; the national median for property crime is 34.3, Baton Rouge is 71.23; national median for crime per square mile is 49.6, Baton Rouge is 227.
According to os.cqpress.com/citycrime/2009, Baton Rouge ranked a whopping #25 on the list of high crime - out of 102 cities ranked. That's up on the list with cities like St. Louis, Detroit, New Orleans, Memphis, Washington, D.C.
Please do not allow yourself and your family to become victims of a crime because your yard is dark. There is absolutely no sense in it. Be safe, like I am now.
Lynn Champagne is a Baton Rouge citizen whose perspective on personal safety changed after someone attempted to break-into her home. You can learn more about personal safety in the Think Safe. Think Family off-the-job safety sessions at the 2010 Louisiana Governor's Safety & Health Conference.
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