15 Things Navy SEALs Teach Women Living Alone to Keep Burglars Away at Night

Summary

The video presents a 15-step nighttime home-safety routine centered on Linda Bower, who lives alone, and her brother Danny, described as a former Navy SEAL. Its central idea is that most burglars seek an easy, low-risk target. The suggested precautions are intended to make a home look occupied, visible, and difficult to enter—and to give residents warning and time to respond.

The advice is organized around four principles:

• Control the light: Illuminate approaches to the house, not the person opening the door.
• Deny observation: Keep outsiders from seeing who is home, what is inside, or the household’s routine.
• Get early warning: Detect someone approaching before they reach an entry point.
• Plan ahead: Decide and practice what to do in an emergency before one occurs.

The 15 Recommendations

15. Check the perimeter every night. Follow the same route and physically test every door, ground-floor window, and sliding-door lock rather than relying on a glance. A consistent routine can help reveal a lock that is not fully secured.

14. Use deadbolts on every exterior door. The video says knob locks can be bypassed more easily than deadbolts. It specifically advises checking the door between the garage and house, along with any little-used back door.

13. Close blinds and curtains at dusk. This limits what someone outside can see about the home’s occupants, belongings, and evening routine. Make it a regular part of the nighttime routine.

12. Move valuables out of view. Put visible electronics, purses, keys, and prescription medication away from windows. The narrator also warns that leaving a new-appliance box at the curb can advertise what is inside the home.

11. Replace an always-on porch light with motion-activated lighting. The video argues that a constantly lit porch can make the person opening the door visible while leaving an approaching person in shadow. A sudden light is intended to draw attention to someone approaching.

10. Light dark approaches and entry points. Install motion floodlights near back doors, side gates, basement windows, and other concealed approaches. Mount and aim them to illuminate the path someone would take.

9. Use timers to make the home appear occupied. Put lamps and a radio on timers, vary their schedules, and change the timing periodically so the home does not follow an obvious routine—particularly when away.

8. Arm the security system while at home, if available. The recommended “home” mode keeps interior motion sensors off while activating door, window, and glass-break sensors. The video also recommends testing sensors regularly and notes that a visible alarm-company sticker may deter some intruders.

7. Set up an early-warning motion or driveway alarm. Place a wireless sensor near a driveway, side gate, or backyard path, with a chime receiver near the bed. The purpose is to give the resident warning before someone reaches the house.

6. Keep signs of neglect or absence under control. Collect mail and packages, move trash cans back, put away ladders and objects that could be used to reach a window, and arrange for mail or outdoor upkeep while traveling. The video says snow-covered driveways can also signal that no one has been home.

5. Keep a car in the driveway, if possible. The video presents a car as a sign that someone may be home. It also advises taking the garage-door remote inside at night and keeping car keys near the bed so the vehicle’s alarm can be used to attract attention.

4. Keep a charged phone and backup close to the bed. The narrator recommends keeping the main phone within reach, having a backup device where possible, and learning how the phone’s emergency-call feature works. Anyone using a medical-alert pendant is advised to test it.

3. Build relationships with nearby neighbors. Exchange phone numbers with at least two neighbors and ask them to contact you if they notice unusual activity. The video describes attentive neighbors as an additional layer of warning.

2. Remove hiding places and climbing aids. Keep shrubs low, trim tree limbs to improve visibility beneath them, and consider gravel or thorny plants near windows. Store flowerpots, bins, chairs, and other objects that could help someone climb.

1. Choose a safe room and practice a response plan. The video recommends using the bedroom as the safe room, improving the door with a solid-core door or security brace, and keeping a flashlight, phone, backup phone, glasses, needed medication, shoes, and car keys nearby. If there is an intrusion, the proposed plan is to go to the room, secure the door, call emergency services, provide the address, and remain behind the door rather than searching the house. The narrator emphasizes practicing the sequence in advance, including saying the address aloud.

Closing Takeaway

Start with a simple drill: choose the safe room, put a charged phone, flashlight, and car keys by the bed, and practice moving from the bed to the door and phone. The broader lesson is that preparation and routine are meant to reduce the need to make complicated decisions under stress.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Primary narrator/presenter: An unnamed home-safety educator who says they worked in home security alongside retired officers.
• Danny Bower: Presented by the narrator as Linda’s brother and a former Navy SEAL; his checklist and advice are quoted or paraphrased.
• Linda Bower: The subject of the story; her experience and comments are relayed by the narrator.
• Unnamed retired police officer: Cited by the narrator for describing thorny holly bushes as “nature’s razor wire.”
• Unnamed retired officers and security professionals: Referred to generally by the narrator as people they worked alongside.
• Home-security salesman: Appears in the story as the person who quoted Linda for a security system; no direct advice from him is included.