Would you still lock your doors when you went out if there was no risk of being broken into?

[BuckeyeBama]

Yep, always locked. Criminals walk around my neighborhood "trying" front doors and car doors to find unlocked ones. It's a very well off area and burglars are looking for an easy, quick hit. There have been incidents where people have a burglar walk in and demand cash, jewelry and electronics. That is not gonna happen at my house. Cars get broken into all the time because people are dumb enough to leave leave unlocked and keep their valuables AND garage door openers in them. These are crimes of opportunity and enough people leave that opportunity wide open that it keeps happening.

Luckily we have no windows on the front of our house, our door is solid steel and our house is surrounded by a 7 foot high cinder block wall on the 3 sides that have windows. It's way too much work to scale that wall to get into my back patio area. As long as we keep our doors locked, no one is getting in.

What, no armed guard towers?

 

[ronandannette]

Same - no one here locks their doors, but no one would even consider entering without knocking and either being hailed to come in or met at the door.

Ha! Back on the farm having company was a pretty big deal and when a vehicle pulled into the yard there would often be somebody on the porch welcoming them before they ever made it to the door. Good times. When we're expecting guests I always open the door, leaving just the screen door closed, in hopes of seeing them approaching and meeting them there. Just a throwback to my raising, I guess.

 

[disykat]

When I was a child, I witnessed a stranger walk up to our house, try the door, and then walk away when it was locked. Yes, I would lock the doors. I know for a FACT It is a deterent to SOME. My parents were both gone and the driveway was empty. I think they figured it might be an easy place to walk in and a simple lock kept the out.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Yes, we do. We live in a very safe area, but keeping the door locked is just a given. As it happens, I keep my bedroom door locked, too. The other people that live here have a bad habit of knocking and then just strolling in before I've had a chance to tell them to come in or I need a minute.

 

[godisney14]

I’ve fully turned my home into a smart home. (Privacy conspiracy theorists can look elsewhere). No keys for home or car. No cash at home. If I don’t lock a door, it will happen automatically. Only if CA would move to a digital driver’s license, I wouldn’t even carry a card.

 

[nicolita3]

This is how the night stalker became so prolific ...

 

[DeniseJH]

Yes - how the hell is someone supposed to know when there is "no risk"?

 

[TippyThomas]

Hate to say it but this question is over and above stranger than the usual ones.

 

[DLgal]

Yes - how the hell is someone supposed to know when there is "no risk"?

There is always a risk, unless one lives on a house boat in the middle of a lake.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Keep them locked anyway even if you know it's 100% safe.

Because you never know when Lenny and Squiggy will try to walk in.

 

[tzolkin]

I don’t lock the doors when I go out now, so I would say I certainly wouldn’t lock them if there was no risk of robbery.

We do lock the doors when we go to bed. I’m much more concerned about someone coming in when we are home than I am if someone broke in while we were out.

We also lock if we go away on vacation.

 

[Meriweather]

Yes.....always

 

[Mysterian]

YES. Even I ever lived in a rural area, I wouldn't rule out visits from drifters, escaped convicts, draculas, you name it. That or even door-to-door salesmen or church folk who may just walk right in and sit down next to you at the breakfast nook. I just think the only weirdo that needs to be in my home is me.

 

[Meglen]

Always Lock! might not get broken into and stuff stolen.. but my Mother in law might just waltz in and thats even worse.

 

[tvguy]

No. I live in an apartment now, but when we were in houses I’d rarely lock the doors during the day. I’d even walk to my daughters daycare to drop her off and pick her up and leave them unlocked...and we lived in the bad part of town then.

Listening to the police scanners it is amazing to me how many apartment dwellers get confused and try and get into the wrong apartment causing 9-1-1 calls reporting someone trying to break in. They always seem to be one building off.....and yes frequently, alcohol is involved.

 

[Tinkerbell58]

Doors and windows are locked when we're not home. Locks keep honest people out.

 

[disykat]

I always lock my doors and thought of another story that happened while I was in college. A friend spent a night at my place because a mentally ill person with a gun had run into the other half of their duplex and there was a police standoff. They didnt even live on a corner or a busy road. It was totally random.

I also have a story of an escaped convict running through my elementary school playground and straight into a house across the street. Yes, lockdowns happened even in a small town in the 60s. I bet that lady wished she'd locked her door that day.

 

[DisneyMama811]

yes.

I keep my doors locked even when we are home...mainly to keep the in-laws out

 

[moorhunhe]

I used to live in an apartment, 2nd floor, above a bank, so I felt safe already, lol, building was secure with alarms and all that.
And even if I would just go accros the street to get a bread from the machine or mail a letter, I simply just couldn't leave my apartment door open (only 4 apartments in the building) knowing there's also a main door no one who didn't live there could get thru.
And, when I'd go to bed, I'd also leave the key in the lock not that it would probably do much, if they wanna be in, they will, but it did ease my mind.

When I lived with my ex, brand new front door, but even with the key in it on the inside, you could still open it with another key from the outside I hated that, and made me feel quite unsafe when being home alone in wintertime when it was dark early.
He was used to people just knocking and coming in straight away, but I was brought up with a lot more privacy where people wouldn't do that, so I hated it when someone would just appear 'round the back when I didn't hear them knock. So all doors always locked.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

Yes, I would still lock the doors. I'm afraid if I didn't, I'd come home to my ex sitting in the living room, or worse, moved back in!