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Charles L. Cotton wrote:Thanks for the post; it's a great reminder that complacency can be deadly.
Lest you think I'm jumping on you, here are my TWO stories.

Thanks for the glimpse into how even much more seasoned individuals can temporarily lapse into a state of "less than vigilant". It gives me hope that (hopefully) not all mistakes are unrecoverable and provides an opportunity to seek teachable moments for myself and my family from everyday occurrences.

VMI77 wrote:Is there any place you could have placed a camera that would have revealed the police vehicle? At a minimum you should have a camera showing who is at your front door, and ideally, covering all entrances. I have 360 degree camera coverage, and the first thing I do at an unexpected knock is check the cameras.

Again, great suggestion. Considering the times we have trolled around the security camera aisle in Costco, I will have to seriously consider doing so soon.

TomsTXCHL wrote:Yikes there was potential for disaster with this one wasn't there. With no vehicle in sight, I'd probably have suspected a BG also.

All I could think of initially when she called was that someone was impersonating an officer and then the story from about a year ago in Ft. Worth http://texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php? ... se#p816371 came to mind as I was driving. Thank The Good Lord everything turned out well.

mtnthundr2 wrote: So I have to look at the things you both did that was RIGHT .....
1. The Mrs DIDN'T open the door (no matter what she heard on the other side)
2. She called for "back-up" (although it might have been better to call 911 to confirm for herself that it was truly an officer out there. I totally understand reaching out to your husband first, I'm sure I would have too!)

I think maybe some things could have happened a bit differently (with some planning ahead of time for just this type of scenario)
1. Stay on the phone with the person in the house to help calm them and direct them to the weapon and a safe place to hide (while help is on the way).
2. Consider switching to the cell phone??? (not so sure about this one, sometimes cell signal can be unreliable)
3. While on the phone with the person in the house, direct someone else to call the police to report/inquire about the events taking place at the address.

These were just my initial thoughts but I KNOW I'll be thinking about this one for a few days, running different scenarios through my head and talking it over with my husband. I'll be watching this thread closely to see others thoughts and ideas!

Neither she or I have beat ourselves up too badly, just resolved to learn from my mistakes. The fact that she didn't open the door was what I was most proud of, considering our lack of preparation and practice . Great feedback.

First of all, from personal sentiment as well as in deference to the revised Forum Rule 9, this post is in no way meant to even approach the bashing of law enforcement.

With that out of the way, while I was away at my Mom's, my cell rang at 10:30 pm last night. My wife was calling from the house phone (who still has these things other than old folk?) talking in a hushed tone relaying that someone had knocked on the door claiming to be the police but she had looked outside (away from the door) and saw no cars that resembled those from our municipality. She said the person outside told her that our house alarm was reported as having gone off, walking around shining a flashlight. I said to call the police (to verify if an officer had been dispatched to our address) and hung up. I hurriedly explained the situation to my mother and hastened out to the car. As I pulled away, I realized I had not directed my wife to retrieve the handgun secreted away and called her on her cell as I headed out but got no answer. My Mom is less than 2 miles away and admittedly, I sped a bit in getting back home. It took me less than 3 minutes to arrive and as I did, I saw a marked unit parked near the house but out of any sightline accessible from the front windows. I drove alongside but saw no one in the cruiser initially but as I pulled away I saw the officer return to his car from across the street. I backed up and asked if he had been to my home to which he replied he had. He admitted that he was on the wrong street. Then he said, "If your wife would have looked out, she would have seen my car." I said, "Your car is not in front of my house," but quite honestly, I didn't want to argue because I was relieved that it was actually an officer and let it go wanting to get to my wife as I proceeded around the alley to the garage. I called again, this time on the house phone, figuring I needed to let her know I was there and went inside to debrief.

Admittedly, several mistakes were committed.
1. Most egregiously I did not have a plan of action.
2. The Mrs. did not retrieve a weapon.
3. She stayed on the landline.
4. She did not move to cover.
5. We were not prepared (see mistake 1).

Alright, I'm pretty thick-skinned so your suggestions will help tremendously as we look at different scenarios and attempt to prepare for what may inevitably be visited upon us.

Thanks in advance!