Squatters and Looters after SHTF

I live in modern suburbia, middle class America where strip malls and big box stores are intermingled with large swaths of subdivisions full of look-alike homes.  The drive to the city lasts about 30 minutes and the rush hour traffic always sucks.  I haven’t always been a prepper and this is clearly evidenced by my current living situation.  The irony is that I’m willing to bet that I represent the large majority of current preppers, especially since many decided to “wake up” after the recession of 2008.  Since most of us lost value in our homes post market crash, have jobs which we cannot afford to lose and most likely have kids in a decent (this remains debatable) school system dropping everything and moving to the Redoubt is not a feasible option…at least in the short term.

I wanted to paint that picture for you because I believe it’s important to understand that what I’m about to describe doesn’t always happen somewhere else, it can literally happen right next door in middle class America.  The home next to me has been empty for at least 2 years, I believe the couple got divorced and simply walked away from the house.  This has been both a blessing and a curse I suppose, good because that’s one less neighbor to care about but also bad because the home has unexpectedly attracted the wrong type of attention.

Despite warning signs posted on the windows, garage and front door, the home has been broken into multiple times.  Twice I have personally caught individuals inside the fenced in back yard during broad daylight. most likely casing the home for later entry.  Another time my neighbor told me a few people backed a van up to the home, forced the garage door open and started loading up the van.  One of those “act like you are supposed to be there” moments, she said nothing because she assumed they had permission to do what they were doing.  I have also seen the lights either on or off at night and wondered who went into the home to flip the switches.  All of the windows have the blinds up so it’s possible to see into the home but I obviously can’t spot who may or may not be in the basement.  I wouldn’t doubt if someone would use that home as a safe haven in the winter when the temps really start to drop.

At this point you might be thinking, “Ok PJ you claim to be a tough guy, why not go into the home and clear it room by room?”  First of all that’s against the law, while I certainly view the home with suspicion and have a heightened sense of awareness with respect to it I don’t plan on breaking and entering anytime soon.  The local police have been made aware and I have observed them driving down the street occasionally in order to make their presence felt (not that it helps much).

Here’s the point, SHTF hasn’t happened yet and this criminal activity is going on right next door.  If it could happen in my neighborhood you’d better believe it could happen in yours too.  Can you imagine how things would go down in a post SHTF world?  In a world where people have been displaced, are hungry and law enforcement is spread too thin or altogether non-existent?  If individuals are bold enough to case a home or even rob it in broad daylight imagine what they will be capable of when there is little to fear from the police.  If squatters are bold enough to set up shop now who is to say they won’t take over vacant (or even occupied) homes in a world where rule of law is gone.  We should never underestimate just how far those who have evil intentions will go to get what they want.  Stay vigilant because you’d better believe criminals are looking to exploit those who are not.