When seconds count...

This morning's timeline:

0650 - Niece goes downstairs to eat breakfast, forgets to turn off house alarm. Alarm sounds, sister-in-law turns off alarm. My wife is asleep and I'm in the shower.

0652 - Alarm company calls, sister-in-law answers the phone, but can't remember password. My wife is still asleep and I'm still in the shower.

0655 - Alarm company calls, I answer the phone. The attendant tells me the police have been dispatched. I didn't even hear the alarm go off and the wife is still asleep. Going to have to get a louder siren.

0723 - Twenty-eight minutes after the last call from the alarm company, there's a knock on door; the police have arrived. I explain it is a false alarm, and the officer was quite nice about it. Last time, they were not amused.

It took 28 minutes from the time I was told the police had already been dispatched for an officer to show up on my doorstep. Our house is less than three miles from the nearest police sub-station. There were no traffic accidents or incidents anywhere close to our house, according to the morning traffic report on the radio.

Now, I'm not complaining. Yes, I would have liked to have seen a better response time than 28 minutes, but I understand it is not the job of local, state, or federal law enforcement to protect me it the alarm goes off. As the timeline above shows, they know it's not their job, too.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not slamming the police. I think our police do a pretty good job. If they were sitting outside my home when the alarm went off, I'm sure they would have done the necessary. However, the police are not in the habit of sitting outside my house, and since it took them 28 minutes to get there

Yes, when seconds count, the police are only 28 minutes away from my house. So what does one do in the meantime? Cower in a corner while you wait for the cavalry to arrive, or get behind cover and stand ready to protect yourself and your family with tools suited to that purpose? (that means guns, if you missed it)

Rob Allen has a short video about being prepared over on Sharp as a Marble. Substitute armed burglar or home invader for civil war. You get the idea.

GBW