How To Be Safe
James Kerr: ... on the Boss page.
Elena Ledoux: Yeah. Indeed, so now because I have to share it on my personal page after.
James Kerr: All right, guys, we're live. Well, good morning, everyone, or good afternoon wherever you are, whenever you're listening. We're here and we're with Mr. Wayne Nichols. Mr. Wayne Nichols is a retired police officer. 19 years?
Wayne Nichols: Nearly 18. Nearly 18.
James Kerr: 18 years. And we're going to talk about the sensible, prudent things one could do to stay safe, especially with regard to break-ins. Maybe we even have time to look at other crimes, but our goal here is to share all this wisdom and knowledge with you on a regular and ongoing basis. Maybe it's every Saturday at 9:00 AM. But, Wayne, go ahead, tell us a little more about yourself.
Wayne Nichols: Well, thank you very much, James, thank you very much, Elena. I'm excited to be here. My name is Wayne Nichols. I recently retired from the Henderson Police Department in 2020. And so, I've got nearly 18 years of law enforcement experience. Throughout my career, I worked various positions, obviously starting at the patrol level and then working my way up to an investigator/detective, where I worked internet crimes against children, investigations, robberies, homicides, home invasions, so various crimes that I've worked throughout the years. And so, James, I got to give you kudos, you and I have talked before this and I think the attendees today or those who watch in the future are in for a real treat, because you and I have talked about the goal of Boss Security Screens being more than just a product, but really encompassing the importance of security. And being safe, being mindful, it doesn't cost you anything. So, I'm excited to network with the both of you and so once again, thank you so much for having me.
James Kerr: There's a bunch of chainsawing being done right outside the home at the moment. It's across the street, the neighbors. But let's just start with that, let's say someone's chainsawing right through my front door, maybe that's never happened, we've seen it in the movies. But if it were to happen, what do I do?
Wayne Nichols: Boy, right off the bat you got a good one. Well, this is not a horror movie, because if it was, most people would run upstairs or to a closet and lock themselves in. Obviously, if somebody is trying to force their way into your home, I think one of the first things that really should be a thought is, if something were to happen in my home, I could talk about, I've got kids so even the thought process if a fire broke out or some type of traumatic incident occurred, what do you do? Do you get out of the house? Do you stay in the house? I do think it differs for every situation. Obviously a fire, you want to get out of the house. How do you get out of the house? How fast can you get out of the house?
If you've got somebody trying to invade your home, breach your home, exiting the home may not be something ideal. But I do think what is important is, obviously do you have a cellphone nearby? Everybody today pretty much sleeps right next to their cell phone, if not with it in their hand as I always tell my kids. So it's really important, not necessarily doing a practice session or a practice run as to what you would do, but absolutely being able to call the police. If you've got kids in the home, being able to alert them. It's really a case by case basis. I live in a two-storey home, so if I were to exit my home in the traditional sense, I have to walk downstairs. That might be nerve wrecking even for me. To think about it, if somebody were to be inside of my home, the stakes have certainly been elevated. Do I confront that person? Do I have the means to protect myself, whether it's a weapon? Or do I grab my kids and shelter in place or I lock my door? Do I yell?
Sometimes the question is the answer. And the question that I have for the attendees today is what would you do in that situation, and have you began to prepare that mental awareness if it could happen? And obviously, there's a lot of great products out there that can secure your home. Of course, shout out to Boss Security Screens as well. But in reality, there's far more other considerations than somebody just breaking into your home. And so, I'm excited to share those tips as well today.
James Kerr: Yeah. So I really like what you're saying, which is we got to plan for these things, we got to prepare for it. And whether we're individuals or we have a family, especially with a family, they may be at a loss about what they should do. As kids, I remember in school, we did fire alarms all the time. All right, let's line up. Or we even used to do, this will show my age, is when we'd have these alarm drills you'd have to crawl under the desk.
Wayne Nichols: Oh, wow.
James Kerr: Like there's impending bombs or something. We had these drills. And so I guess what you're suggesting is, we need to plan and prepare and maybe train, especially with kids. So, what should our kid do if the house is on fire? What should we do if there were [inaudible] person trying to come through a window or something like that? And not in a fearful way, but just in a prepared way. Do you do that with your kids?
Wayne Nichols: I do, James. And it's tough because obviously my experience, the things that I've seen or everything I'm going to talk about today and experience, it's all from calls for service, it's all from investigations I've worked. And of course, I worked in an online undercover capacity for many years, so my kids unfortunately, have to deal with my hypervigilance. I don't like to use the word paranoia, hypervigilance with their app usage, how they communicate with their friends online, through their cell phones, through their apps. It's a constant struggle. So, that's been more of a difficult struggle because that to me is more real, but I have had those discussions.
Years ago, again, as a police officer, I would be in plain clothes, I would be out with my family, I would see kids. And I remember having to tell my kids, "Hey, unfortunately, it's the price of doing business as a police officer, we may encounter somebody that recognizes me or wants to say something to me or perhaps be a threat." And so my kids and I talked about, "Hey, if there's ever a time we're on public and I see something or I tell you, "hey, I need you to go to the car or I need you to do this."" It's not like why would you do that, explain why I would that.
In the house, I got to tell you, one of the things that I've had to teach my kids is how to be impolite. I want to back this up, what do you mean by being impolite? And one of the good point I think is, you think about when somebody knocks on your door and there's this immediate reaction that, "Hey, commons sense says I should answer the door." And that's going to be a good thing but also it can be a bad thing. I think with kids sometimes though, there's this fear, there's this fear of, "Well, I don't want to answer the door because if I answer the door... " My kids are somewhat younger, they are able to stay home with each other by themselves. But there's this fear of, "Well, if I answer the door or acknowledge the door, then I'm going to be impolite because I'm not going to open the door or I'm going to expose that I'm home alone."
And so it was really interesting because I had to explain to my kids the thought process of a criminal or somebody that's trying to gain access to your home. And a lot of times, it starts with a knock on the door, it starts with just that criminal seeing if somebody's home. And it's interesting because, if somebody is trying to break into your home, typically we do see a knock at the door first. Now, they're hoping that nobody is home. Well, that's a problem for your kids who... Again, obviously during these last year of COVID times, parents are not necessary working remotely, but their kids are certainly home alone, and they're going to school remotely. And so I had to lay it down for my kids, "Listen, I get that you may not want to answer the door, I get that you may want to acknowledge that, "Hey, who is it?"". The problem with that though is, if you don't acknowledge that person at the door, you may very well be telling that person, that criminal that "Hey, nobody's home." And now they think, or they're hoping at least, if they are going to make a decision to enter your home, that they're going to do so to an empty house.
And so, I had to explain that scenario to my kids. And it's a little fearful for them, but it goes back to what said, It's okay to impolite. You can acknowledge the door and if somebody say, "Well, I'm so and so." You don't have to do anything more than that. You can say, "Sorry, not interested, or you know what? My dad said no we're not." So it's this mindset where some kids are just paralyzed in fear of answering the door. But we almost have to talk to our kids about, "No, it's actually important to acknowledge who's there." Impolite as it may be, you're not going to do more than just say, "Who is it?" or, "Hello?" I think that's an important variable that parents should be discussing with their kids, and maybe even themselves.
James Kerr: Yes.
Wayne Nichols: I don't answer the door sometimes, you look through the peephole and you're like, "Oh my goodness, this is going to be a salesperson or this is going to be somebody trying to..." Anything, and so you don't answer the door. But sometimes it's actually important, impolite as it may be, to at least acknowledge that person and say, "Sorry, I'm not interested."
James Kerr: So, what I'm hearing is, and what I've seen [inaudible] is walking around like these people should be walking around testing a doorknob or trying to open a window. And you're saying what they're testing then is whether something is unlocked?
Wayne Nichols: It's a little bit of unlocked. From my experience, I just see a lot of people that will just knock at the door. We've seen surveillance, I've watched countless hours, and even let's say, a criminal intended to break in, they'll knock at the front door. They may not necessary test the door immediately, they just want to start by knocking. And then if they get no answer, maybe to them it's like, "Well, I'll start checking doors, I'll start checking windows. Maybe I come back in a couple of minutes, maybe I start making my way to the backyard." You don't quite know what their plan is. But I've seen videos, I've encountered witnesses who answered the door. And when they answered the door, the person said, "Oh, I'm looking for Felix." Just a made-up name. And of course the home owner goes, "Well, there's no Felix here." And the person says, "Oh, sorry, wrong house." And they walk away. It could be as simple as that. That person basically was prepared to say, "Okay, well, if somebody answers, I'll give a fake name." And maybe that doesn't draw any more suspicion. Maybe it's not, maybe it truly is wrong house. In this day and age though, not likely, how many people knock on your house looking for the wrong person?
James Kerr: Yeah. I've once made the mistake where, someone was knocking on the door and then I opened the door ajar, and the person forced his way in.
Wayne Nichols: Wow.
James Kerr: I made the mistake, I acknowledge the person was there, answered it. And I opened it like, how may I help you type thing, and the person actually forced his way in. So that was a big learning point for me. Just because I'm acknowledging who's at the door or saying hello to that person doesn't mean I have to actually open it a little bit to do that, right?
Wayne Nichols: Right. And James, it goes back to the point, it's okay to be impolite. We as a society want to do that, you acknowledge who's at the door, the person says, "Well, my name is John." And you're like, "Okay, I'll open the door." Because that is almost the expected next step. And that's the mindset that even an adult has to take on. It's like, "You know what? I'm going to talk to you through a door, I don't feel comfortable opening the door." State your business through the door. It's like, "Oh, I hate to be impolite." But you almost have to be in this day and age.
James Kerr: Yeah. Yeah. What are some of the things that we can do as homeowners to just project that we're less vulnerable than maybe the other house down the street?
Wayne Nichols: Yeah. We've talked about this at great length. For me, I am really big about simple changes. And so landscape lighting, it sounds so simple and yet... I see a lot of my neighbors on my street, and they either don't have it or the lights turn off rather early in the evening. You got to remember, the criminal element, they want to, if you will, lurk in the cloak of darkness if you will. They want to target a home, they want to approach a vehicle in the driveway that there's no lightning. And so for me, it always starts with good lighting but also running that lighting very much into 3:00, 4:00 in the morning.
Another thing too is, it's not necessary... When we think about burglaries and we think about people violating your personal space, oftentimes it can start with just your vehicle in the driveway. And I'll tell you, this is going to segue into a really great tip, and this is something that my wife and I... I still have to get on her about. But, not every criminal is trying to get into your home. They could just be walking up and down the street checking door handles, trying to get into your vehicle. What's their expectation? Is it the change in your door handle? Is it maybe a laptop or a bag you left behind? You don't really know, but obviously something as simple as locking your door to your vehicles, parking in the garage.
James, I'll tell you a big one right now. And again, everything I talk about goes back to experience working either at the patrol level or at the investigative level. But we're seeing criminals now who not only will find an unlocked to your vehicle, but if you have a garage door opener on your visor, and they're clicking that button, and it could be 2:00 in the morning. Imagine hearing your garage door roll up, so whether or not you park in the garage or you don't. I go back to the conversations my wife and I have, I have to remind her like, "Hey, if you parked in the driveway, make sure you don't leave your garage door opener clipped to your visor because, again, you can secure your house all you want, but if you leave your garage door opener and they gain access, to sense, are they trying to get into your home or they're trying to get into your garage? You don't know. That's a scary though, imagine hearing your garage door open at 2:00 in the morning.
James Kerr: Yeah. So light it up, because bad guys are like cockroaches. They prefer to operate in the dark, so you putting the flood lights up, maybe motion sensitive lighting, just keep it all lit up. Think about these weak links like the car parked in front, you might not worry about it because it's not inside the home, but make sure it's all locked up and it doesn't have easy access into the home like the garage openers, right?
Wayne Nichols: Yeah. Absolutely. And again, I certainly don't want to give the impression that I've got a beacon of light, you look at my house and it's like the Clark Griswold house. But it's sensible decisions, making sure that your porch lights are working, making sure that you don't necessarily turn off your front porch light until... And I've got home automation throughout mine, so it's been fairly easy because everything just happens with a click of a button or setting a timer and leaving it. But yeah, I'm big advocate of proper lighting and I have surveillance as well. It's interesting because you mentioned the motion sensors, and I have motion sensors. But one of thing that's interesting about the motion sensors is, I'm seeing... And of course, a part of your neighborhood watches on your Facebook or if you're in the Nextdoor app, you see a lot of surveillance footage where criminals are now more understanding to these motion based lights. There's this thought process where, if a bad guy approaches your driveway and this light pops on, that they're going to immediately just walk away or scurry away.
And I think in reality, the bad guys are counting on, "Well, if it's 2:00 in the morning and a light went on, maybe there's a notification that went to somebody, but I'm just looking to see how fast I can get in and get out of this car." And so, again, I don't want to minimize the importance of that motion based lighting or cameras, but at the very end of the day, you should make sure that you're not relying solely on that. And that simple practices like locking your doors, parking your car in the garage if possible. Honestly, I've got two kids, I love them, I have to remind them to make sure that they've locked the back door or they've locked the front door. I have to make the extra check because at the end of the day, kids are kids, and I have to be the responsible homeowner and making sure that everything is locked up. So it's a routine that we have.
James Kerr: When everyone is getting ready for bed, you sweep the house to make sure to test all the handles, make sure the doors are locked. Screen-
Wayne Nichols: Yeah, because we have front security gates and so we're in this great weather where it's nice to leave our traditional doors open. We've got french doors so it's nice to leave one of those open. So at the very least, I got to make sure that security gate is secured and so on. It's kind of like every night it's like a mindset, and I'm not saying that our viewers or our attendees don't have that same mindset. But again, at the end of the day, that's what the bad guy is looking for, the path of least resistance, an unlocked door, a back security gate that doesn't have a lock on it, it just swing open. And those are things that... Minimal small changes, very cost efficient to make those upgrades.
James Kerr: Yeah. Elena, I want you to keep the noise down over there, you're really talking too much. But I'm glad you're here because a perspective from your side may be different than ours. I think, and this is maybe stereotypical that the comments we see online when we show a video of someone trying to breach, it's not uncommon for the male to say, "Well, bring it on. I'm ready for them, I'm locked loaded." The female perspective is different than that. That's why, typically, I wanted to hear a bit more from Elena in terms of her concerns about security.
Elena Ledoux: We'll for me, I actually know 100% that chances of me defending myself successfully in a direct combat are not great. So [crosstalk]
James Kerr: You're small and weak.
Elena Ledoux: Yeah, I know. And so I don't actually open the door. So if somebody comes over, we have a security screens and before that we had security door. So I just walk up and I'll look through it. I also have a benefit of being an immigrant and an outsider, even though I've been in America for 20 years, but I wasn't brought up in a culture to be polite. So it's not like... I think Americans are very much... Mothers teach their children to be nice. It's like, "Be nice. Be nice. Be nice." And I think as we brainwash our children over the years, then the really want to be nice, they really want to be polite. Well, that doesn't happen necessarily to that extent with Russians in post Soviet space. It's like, we're also nice, but that's not a default setting where somebody knocks on your door, you automatically pop out. So-
Wayne Nichols: Interesting.
Elena Ledoux: Yeah, I can see from the outside, there's a bit of a cultural thing where I can be okay with not opening the door for someone. So, let' see. I do feel like the most critical element is not to have anybody in my house to begin with in terms of intrusions, as opposed to dealing with them on inside. The other day we watched, Home Alone, and it seems like a lot of fun, but that's like my worse case scenario, having a little kid trying to defend himself against somebody who's in the house. And funnily enough, I don't know how old is that movie, like 30 years old, 40 years old, I don't know. It's 30, probably there. 20 years.
Wayne Nichols: 1990, it came out. 1990.
James Kerr: Wayne is a movie buff. He knows all [crosstalk].
Elena Ledoux: Oh, great. Amazingly, as you guys were talking about automatic lights going off and stuff, they had that and if you remember there was one scene where all the neighbors Christmas lights would go on automatically and all these burglars are sitting in the event and they already know that. They thought it through-
Wayne Nichols: Yeah, exactlty.
Elena Ledoux: ... and most people don't give a lot of thoughts to that. But actually those guys whose job it is to rob your house, they actually did think it through. They are familiar with technology probably better than we are, and they know how to disable it and how to deal with it. So, I think I just don't want them in the house. And the other options of for example, a dog, or have a dog. And its definitely making a lot of noise, but it could be taken out pretty easily just let me, so both of us who want to stay on the other side of the door.
But then of course, moving past the home invasions, and we have a lot of violence against Asian, especially Asian women. Somehow, this cowards they don't really attack the men, especially young healthy men. They don't want to be karate-chopped or just destroyed at the spot, so they go after women. And if, probably in all the years, in like two decades in U.S there's probably two, three times where people would harass me openly. And I would actually confront them. And I think what's interesting to me, it was like a complete sense of shock and surprise because they expect me to scurry away. So when I actually stopped in my tracks, turn around and walk up right to them and be like, "Can I help you? Is there a problem or an issue?" They had completely just melt down.
So that was my experience, because I'm trying to disabuse them of that notion that you can do that through an Asian woman and get away with it. So they need to really be all like this older Asian woman who knocked somebody out. I think she was an all-in-use. We need to do more of that just confront them with a direct, I don't want to say violence, but a strong pushback. And I feel like if people who are not Asian women and not elderly Asian women, if you see that out in the wild, go ahead and walk up to those people. You don't have to be violent, you just be firm. It's just like same thing as when it applies to bullying, it's one of the tips, like James has a book on bullying and for children. How do you confront them? What stops bullying? And actually research shows that, just one person standing up for this person who has been abused, is enough stop the bully.
So it's the same principle. We need to stand up for ourselves as Asians and as Asian women, especially. And I think if there's a community who is supportive of us, who can just say, "Hey, this is not cool. Stop it." And then that's pretty much enough, because those people they're not the bravest, they're not the smartest, but at the same time, they're not the most courageous people either, otherwise they wouldn't be doing this. So it doesn't take a lot to stop them, but I do feel like if there's a person like that, who's a coward or bully and also racist, but at the same time deranged, could be on alcohol or drugs like meth,` amphetamines or something. So they don't really assess what they're doing really well, then what am I going to do? I hate to say that, but I have to be extra vigilant when I'm out and about-
Wayne Nichols: Absolutely.
Elena Ledoux: ... walking around especially in darker, I'm walking up to my car. I went shopping day to day, and on the way back, it's a huge parking facility like six stories. There's a lot of cars but there's not a lot of people. What am I going to do? So I have to think through something like, and when it does happen, if somebody does attack me, I better have some sort of plan in motion, otherwise, it's my take and do as this. So that's where I think the safest thing to do is not be in that position at all, like not be in the parking lot by yourself in the middle of the night.
James Kerr: Great.
Elena Ledoux: I've attended networking events for women Downtown, Las Vegas. And on the way back it was getting dark and I was just walking across the streets through the different random parking lots, and I think I was very fortunate. I made a mental note, do not ever be in this position again. This is you just putting yourself out there. We used to live in Hawaii and if there's an ocean, if you throw yourself into the ocean in the middle of the night and just to swim out there into that territory where there's all kinds of creatures, it's on you than it's not if the shark ends up eating you for breakfast or for dinner. So you got to remember about where are you placing yourself in. That's how I view it and I'm not always successful, but so far nobody threaten me. So I think that worked some extent.
Wayne Nichols: Well, one of the things that Elena I liked that you mentioned, and again, this goes beyond the home, it's safety tips in general. You talked about walking to your car and having a plan, I think it's one of the things. And obviously, you're a very confident woman, I think it's one of the things we get to talk to our kids about as well. How many times do we see kids just completely buried in their phone? They're walking, they're texting, they have no real situation awareness. And that's something as a parent that I've had to really work on with my kids because you give them a device, they're going to use it more than we're ever going to use it. And so I've had to talk to my daughter in particular, and say, "Listen, when you're going from point a to point B, you can't be walking, you can't be on your cell phone, because, again, if a bad guy is out there looking to target somebody with ease." They want somebody who is oblivious as to where they're going, they're fumbling for their keys, they're not even really getting into their car or they're actively texting with both hands.
And so, I like that you mentioned that you're very situationally aware, your head's on a swivel and you're vigilant. And that's really important. I would like to think that a lot of adults do have that mindset. It's actually really it's the teenagers, it's the kids that maybe have never... My kids don't watch the news, so the only exposure they have to these horrible events that you're talking about, and obviously it's absolutely horrific to what's going on right now, you see these hate crimes that are occurring across the nation. It's just horrific.
But how much do our kids really know about these events? Do we as parents shield that from our kids? And it's almost like you have to make a decision, how much do you really talk about these horrible events to our kids? And you have to, I think broach the topic. You have to at least say, "Listen, you got to be careful when you're doing this, or you got to be more aware because this is what could happen." And so that's the scary thing is, as parents in today's society, we can no longer hide these horrible events from our kids. We have to be a little bit more forthcoming and tell them why we're explaining these horrific things that may be happening out in the real world.
Elena Ledoux: I wasn't very clear about that, and I think it's a really difficult subject because my eight year old, for example, he's just learned about races and he's half and half, half white, half Asian. I don't know how I would tell him, "Listen, just because you're Asian, there's some people who's going to try to kill you or punch you or something or hurt you." His immediate reaction would be, "Actually, I'm going to try to hurt them myself." So it's a whole different discussion. They also had a really hard time when they had mass shootings, especially the ones in Las Vegas. And I remember I was picking him up from elementary school, and I was thinking like, "This is my worst nightmare." I actually ended up pulling him from school altogether. He's been homeschooled for a couple of years now because I know chances of that happening are extremely small, but I couldn't bring myself to think how he would do on his own in a terrified state, and everybody's being murdered, people are running around. I just don't want that kind of memory for him at all.
And I didn't even know how to explain to him. He didn't know what was going on when I was picking him up, both kids saw the flag at half-mast and they're like, "Oh, what's happening?" And I really didn't know how to explain that. So, my reaction to just pull him away from that and just keep him at home, which is a shame, because he's very social kid. So, at the same time, would I rather his social skills to suffer, or would I rather be murdered someday in his elementary school class. However, if he does go back to school, what are the tips? What should we do as parents besides explaining, "Hey, by the way, if you see a guy with a Samurai sword or a gun walking around and the hallway, try to move away from that." But what can we do because it seems to be getting more and more frequent?
Wayne Nichols: Yeah. It's definitely. Did you ever think you'd have to have a discussion like this with your kids? And I completely empathize with the struggle of, how do you relay this what's now a normal trend in our society, as far as mass shootings? I'm actually a part-time instructor for the college of Southern Nevada here. And I never thought in a million years that I would have to, at the very beginning of a semester, remind students where the exits are, remind them what to do if there were to ever be an active shooter. It's tough. I do like that schools over the past years have really changed their policies on students having cell phones. You remember when cell phones first were out, and schools were completely like, "You cannot have that cell phone." They have guidelines and rules regarding when you can use that device.
But I lik the idea that my daughter, she's a junior high kid, I like the fact that she's got her cell phone. It's tough, Elena, I wish I had the answer to give you. I think even when our kids went back to school this week, it was something that my wife and I, it's one of our biggest fears. And obviously the younger your child is, the more vulnerable they are. I think it really comes to bigger social issue. One of the things that I have held at the school district too is the higher standards of security. I'm really impressed of recent, having gone to my daughter's junior high, having gone to my son's elementary school, I'm really impressed by the security protocols that are rolled out. No one's getting past that front office area, I'm seeing doors are locked.
And so, one of the things that I think that you can do or any other parent, is really hold your child's school to that standard. Ask those hard questions like how... Like for example, at my daughter's school, they have to wear lanyards, and if you don't have a lanyard you're going to be in trouble. And my daughter, my daughter's friends have gotten in trouble for not having a lanyard. They don't quite grasp, "What is this a lanyard, dad?" I'm like, "But you understand that's how the school." When they look at somebody, they immediately know whether they belong or they don't belong. And so Elena, I would go back to holding your child's school to that standard, asking those questions. I think often we as parents just assume that there's protocols in place, we don't know what those protocols are. And so I think just asking the hard questions is really where it begins to offer you, if any, peace of mind.
James Kerr: Yeah.
Elena Ledoux: Okay. There was a person that I once met. His business was basically consulting schools on safety. And that was maybe a couple of years ago, so it wasn't as bad I feel like as it is today. He was doing like a structural assessment to see how really in their protocols. So I ask him, "So how safe are the schools?" And he was just like... He didn't give me the answer I was really hoping for. And when I was picking him up from school, I was always... They do have that front desk area and they have the doors that lock automatically. But at the same time, there's a regular glass, so all he has to do is just shoot through the glass.
James Kerr: And [inaudible] e do see more interest from schools in the security screens as a way to manage this situation. Back to school district in Texas, just purchased a couple of 1000 screens for that purpose, just to mitigate the risks. So I think in the end, what we're all saying is, Yeah, it's a rough and tumble world and it's can be dangerous. And we want to equip our kids to be independent autonomous young fine adults. And we want to do it at the right time. We don't want to do it too soon to spoil all that innocence. But at the same time, we don't want to release them into the wild, unable to stand up for themselves. And all of us agree that there are really two modalities. One is where we're surrounded by threats and we cower in fear, and it's a terrible way to live. Or we kind of take a prudent sensible approach towards security and we equip ourselves with the skills and the confidence or whatever, to stand up to that, like how Elena stands up to those bullies.
And that really is the purpose of what we're doing as a company. And in these presentations is, how can we approach this world in a way that is upbeat. We don't want to lock ourselves into the home and not be able to live fulfilling lives. But at the same time, we don't want to do dumb things like put ourselves in a situation where we could get hurt or injured just out of ignorance.
Wayne Nichols: You've hit it on the head, James, it's really a balancing act in today's society. How much do we expose our kids and our family to the truth of what could happen out there, and by doing so, do we basically paralyze them in fear? And we don't want that as well. So, it's a balance, and I'll tell you as a parent, on top of being a former law enforcement, it's even more of a struggle for my wife and I because we don't want to scare our kids, but we want them to really be understanding of what's going on in the world. And so it's really tough, it's a bigger topic. It's not just home security, it's going to school, it's going to your workplace and feeling safe. One of the things that I've seen is, when traumatic events happen, and Elena, you mentioned just walking to your vehicle. And you have mentioned you've experienced just horrific things said you or people approached you based on your race.
One of the things that happens is, even if the event that happened to you outside of your home, you immediately think about, "Well, I want to be safe in my home." And so that's the focus that I talk about with friends and family and colleagues. I understand why a mass shooting or I understand why something in the news would really get you thinking about, "Well, at the very least, I want to be safe in my home." That's what I'm eager to collaborate with James with is really just these tips. Because there are a lot of things that I think individuals don't think about on a daily basis. And so-
James Kerr: You want to get into some of those right now?
Wayne Nichols: Yeah. So let me get on... Again, I talk about prior experience with calls and investigations. I'll tell you a quick story. It really changed my thought process about registration and insurance. We'll start off with that. So years ago, I remember as a young patrol officer, a little bit less gray hair, still somewhat distinguished. I remember responding to a local casino in Henderson referenced somebody's car being stolen. And it was just the nicest lady ever. Think about a somewhat older lady, she was there to play bingo. She had this big brown purse full of bingo daubers. I remember the call like it was yesterday. And so she comes out from playing bingo and her car had been stolen.
And so I'm taking the information, obviously in that type of situation, we're just going to put the vehicle into our local database. Obviously, if it's discovered, we'll know it's stolen. And so I'm talking to her and she had her keys with her, so she didn't quite know how her vehicle was stolen, but not uncommon for people to steal a vehicle without keys. And this is the eye-opener. A couple of hours later into my shift, I get another call for service. I wasn't on this call, but I see this same lady's name. And now she's at home reporting a bugler. So I'm like, "What's going on here?" Sure enough, the individual who had stolen her car. That was the worst part of her day at that point. Well, when she actually gets a ride home, it turns out the criminal who'd stolen her car, guess where he went thereafter.
James Kerr: The home.
Wayne Nichols: He went right to her home and in the criminal's mindset, he probably felt confident that nobody was going to be home because he stole the car from a local casino parking lot. And how do you think he gained access to the garage? Was with the garage door opener. And how do you think that he knew where to even go? It was the registration insurance in the vehicle. That call happened more than maybe 10+ years ago, maybe longer. That call, you talk a lasting effect, it really changed how I leave information on my vehicle. Now the obvious question is, "Wayne, you know what? You'd to have your registration and insurance in your vehicle?" And I say, "No, you don't." You have to have it with you when you're driving.
And so something as simple as that call, I along with my wife and our family, and everybody I talked to you about the story, I encourage people. You wouldn't think if your car got stolen from a parking lot, that somebody would have the mindset to then go to your house and try to target your home. That's unfortunately what's happening. And so something as simple as not leaving your registration and your insurance, not leaving any identifying information about where you live in your car, could really thwart those efforts. That's something that I've been talking about with students and I've done other presentations and you typically see... James, I saw your eyes go up. It's like, "Wow, registration, insurance in my wallet." Or Elena, registration, insurance in your purse, not necessarily in your car. That to me is really something. Again, it's never happened to me, but I just remember experiencing that call for service. And I always pass along that story. Because again, you're no longer finding criminals who just want to get into your car or take it, they're looking for perhaps a bigger score than that.
Elena Ledoux: Oh, wow. I wonder if there's a [inaudible] sentiment where if you project the confidence, for example, like outside, that you're going to be less likely to be mugged. But is there something how you can project some sense of more fortified house, or what can you do to deter people from even thinking about breaking in? Is it true if you stick a alarm sign in the lawn or have a viewer of dog or something? What are some of the tips that actually work in real life?
Wayne Nichols: It's a great question, and I love the segue because I've actually had this very discussion with my kids. As working adults, my wife and I, my kids were a little nervous the first couple of times we left them home. And we didn't want to, but the very logistics, it had to happen. And so, one of the things that I had to express to my kids was "Listen, anything is possible. But look at some of the things that we've done to really minimize that risk." And so we have security screens on our door. One of the things that I did was, I brought my kids outside and of course like, "Oh dad, dad is doing this cop thing again." But I bring my kids out to the street and I tell them, "So, I want you to look at our house. And then I want you to look at neighbors, both sides of the street. And I want you to tell, which one do you think is going to be more difficult to break in?"
And they didn't quite grasp that concept, but then I began to point things out. I'm like, "Okay, do you see the security doors on our house? Do you see that we've got visible surveillance cameras on the exterior of our home?" Things like that. That's also the mindset of a criminal. So Elena, you hit it on the head, whether you have an alarm or not, sometimes just that sticker in the window, sometimes just that little placard in front of your house could really make a bad guy think twice. For me, it's fortification, so it's security doors, it's a product line Boss Security Screens, it's cameras, it's great lighting, it's not parking your car in the driveway unless you have to. Those, is really the foundation.
Elena, I wanted to ask you a question earlier you had mentioned. We talked about, what would you do if somebody was in your home? Let me ask you a question, Elena, and for our viewers as well, what would you do if you had surveillance cameras, and you heard something in your house, would you immediately go check and investigate what that strange noise is?
Elena Ledoux: No.
Wayne Nichols: Or would you turn to your phone, would you look at the app or look at the cameras on your phone?
Elena Ledoux: I would definitely not go. I've watched enough horror movies that I'm definitely not investigating that. What I did is actually I went to talk to my husband and I was like, "You know and you..." Because when he's at home, I'm not worried about it. He's just like a fourth degree black belt, he's just here to expell all these other things. If there's a noise, he'll go investigate that, and he's fine. But if I'm by myself, what I did is actually talk to him and I was like, "You got to do something that I don't have to worry about it." And so we went through these options like, what about the gun? What about the dog? What about the alarm? And so, I really didn't have good options because...
The gun, I actually know how to use a gun and I'm mentally prepared to actually defend myself. And I know from law school experience that somebody's in your house in the middle of the night, you allowed to just take them out. And I think I'm willing to do that, especially if there are my children inside the house and anybody else I care for. So I want to protect my life and my home, but I really don't want to do this either. So what I would probably do, I would call 911.
Wayne Nichols: Yeah. Absolutely.
Elena Ledoux: So I would probably call my husband first of all, if he's not at home, but if not, then I would call 911 and have them deal with that, have actual police officers and professionals. We have animals at home and I have a cat, so sometimes he makes a noise as he tries to open the doors sometimes. He's weird, he [inaudible] jiggle the door handle. So I have to really understand what all the noises are that are happening regularly downstairs. So if there's something unusual, I know something is wrong. I actually had a friend of mine in California, she had two little girls. And when her husband was away, somebody broke into their home, some meth or crackhead or something. He took a lawn chair and he smashed the patio door, the glass door and went in. And he took the ax and he was trying to chop his way. They went into the bedroom, went to the closet, lock the door and he was trying to chop his way through the wall.
And he was on Facebook posting messages, like "This person is trying to murder me and my kids, Oh my God." She called 911. And she posted the actual surveillance video of the guy doing this afterwards. And there was blood everywhere, here with her favorite night gown and sheets and the house. It's surreal. So I think the best thing to do is call 911. And we had a discussion with another police detective last weekend, and I was like, "I would be hesitant to call 911 because I want to sound stupid." But he's like, "Don't. Don't do." He's just like, "We love going out and helping people. And I'd rather you call us and that'd be false alarm than something that happening." So now, that gives me additional peace of mind that actually calling 911.
The only issue sometimes with making those calls is that, I feel like police department is probably overwhelmed with the amount of crime happening. And so I'm not sure how fast they can actually come out. I have a maid service and we had a house vacation at the house that when the maid showed up, they noticed there is burglary in process in the broad daylight. Because the criminals know that there's actually a vacation at the home and so sometimes people are not there so you get robbed multiple times, not just one time. And one time it was while we were there, they approached and so they freaked out, they call 911. And I think it's been probably... I can't remember. It's been like 40 minutes before the police was able to come out. They said, "Stay away and make sure you're not... don't go in." And stuff like that. But that made me think if I were to call 911, how fast would they actually come? I know that fire department and if you call with a cardiac arrest or something, they come up pretty much instantly. But [crosstalk].
Wayne Nichols: It's a great point, the how calls are prioritized. Typically, if you came home and you suspected your home had been burglarized, and you call 911. The questions that the call taker may ask is, "Are you currently in the home? Are you currently in real danger? That might dictate the delayed response time, because you're not actively in danger and the calls for service are always based on priority. Now, if you're in home and somebody is actively breaking in, I feel confident that the call for service would be elevated to a higher level, and that officers are going to get there. One thing I want to bring up Elena, and we'd go back to just experience. I bet either of didn't know and I think our viewers might be surprised to know, but did you know in Clark County, they have begun rolling out the text ability to 911.
James Kerr: I didn't know.
Wayne Nichols: This is really game changer and I got to give a shout out to my former police department, the Henderson Police Department. They were one of the first agencies in Nevada to roll this feature out. And essentially, it's just what it sounds like. You are now able to text 911. So I would ask our viewers, "Did you know that?" Because to me, you think about if you're home alone and you do hear that sound downstairs, and you're paralyzing fear and maybe you have surveillance cameras, maybe you see something that should not be there. Obviously calling 911 is a priority, but wouldn't the ability to text 911 be just as more important?
And so that's huge. That's something that we've had to talk to my kids about. Imagine kids thinking that they have to make a physical phone call. And so this program in Southern Nevada, Clark County, Metro is rolling out, North Las Vegas, all the major agencies are rolling out this new feature. It is really catching on throughout the country as well. And so I know we've got some viewers that'll be watching from other States-
James Kerr: Such a great idea. Does it triangulate the location? So let's say, I'm able to send out that I'm hiding in the closet. Does it capture locational information or do I also need to text that?
Wayne Nichols: So there's a couple of variables. When you call 911, more often than not, the call taker, the agency is able to track your real-time location because of that physical phone call. What's happening with the technology regarding Text 911, because your phone number is displayed, there is some real-time research the call taker can do. But obviously, you want to state your emergency, state your address. Because here's the deal, your phone number might be associated with your address. And if you're making a text, that may not come across as far as real-time tracking, so you'd always want to relay your current location. So I'm not exactly sure if a text message can convey your real-time location, but even if it could, if you're in an office building, I don't think it would convey what floor you're on, what room you're in. So-
James Kerr: Right. Yeah. Hiding in the closet type thing. Yeah.
Wayne Nichols: Exactly. Right.
James Kerr: Be explicit.
Wayne Nichols: So again, not to scare our kids, not to scare our loved ones, but this is also a conversation that should take place like, "Hey kids, did you can text 911? Did you know that this is something you should do and so, you had better obviously know your address, you had better be able to state what's going on." And it's amazing how fast we can text it them, so maybe even more efficient than actually making the physical phone call.
James Kerr: And then the 911 dispatcher is able to text back?
Wayne Nichols: Absolutely.
James Kerr: Yeah. That's great.
Wayne Nichols: Yeah.
Elena Ledoux: So what do you suggest, so let's say I'm at home by myself or with kids and let's say, it's the middle of the night and there's a noise downstairs. And then it seems like actually somebody tries to break through the door and let's say, I don't have security screens or any fancy machinery to protect me or a dog or a weapon. What should I do? First of all, of course, call 911, and then what? Where should I go or lock myself or what's the protocol? What's the optimal behavior?
Wayne Nichols: So for me, I'm just going offer my experience as a parent. I've got two kids in the house, let's say I'm able to confirm that somebody is actively either trying to break in or is already in my home. As a parent, I think everybody's first reaction is going to be, get right to their kids. Obviously if your kids are in different bedrooms, you may have to tell your kid to get up or you may have to go into one bedroom, bring another kid in there. But absolutely, I think multitasking is really going to be important. You're either texting 911, you're calling 911. And you are essentially fortifying yourself in that bedroom. Are you putting the chair in front of the door? Are you putting a piece of furniture?
I think that is the first step. I also go back to, sometimes we're often paralyzed in fear, but maybe that bad guy is breaking name doesn't realize the noise he's making. Maybe he doesn't realize that you know that he's there. And so it's a personal decision, do you yell out? Do you yell out, "James get the gun." Or, "I know that you're in the home, the police has been called." Maybe something like announcing yourself. It's really a decision you have to make. I also think it has to do with the size of your home. If you live in a smaller home, you may be comfortable yelling down like, "I know you're there, the police have been called." If you live in a bigger home, you actually might be more fearful because you don't know exactly where they're at.
For me, I go back to some things that I've implemented in my life, security cameras. I don't want to live under the watchful eye of a camera, but we do have security cameras in my home, my kids have the app, we can actually pull it up on our TV and see it realtime.
Elena Ledoux: Inside the home?
Wayne Nichols: I'm sorry.
Elena Ledoux: Inside or outside of the home?
Wayne Nichols: We have them inside and outside. And I tell you, when I first got surveillance cameras installed, my wife wasn't really thrilled. She didn't like the idea of cameras inside of our home. And these are not cameras that are in any personal spaces, but for me, my goal was, "Let me get a few cameras inside of the home that face entry points, so a backsliding door, family room that has a series of windows, our front double doors." That was my focus. I don't have any intention of putting cameras at the living area, upstairs of our home. But it sure is nice that if you hear something, like you mentioned, it could be your cat, it could be an ice maker, it could be a windy night and so there's more unusual noises.
I personally like being able to quickly pull up my application and see my cameras realtime before maybe I make the decision of calling 911 or driving my kids. And so knowledge of course, in this situation is always important. I got cameras. James, I'm excited down the road to talk about this, we've mentioned it in passing. I really do think, in addition to fortifying your home with a great product like you offer, cameras should also be involved in your decision to protect your home.
James Kerr: I agree.
Wayne Nichols: What a great way to distinguish what's going on when you're not there.
James Kerr: What cameras do you have at your home? You use Arlo or Nest camera?
Wayne Nichols: Yeah. So I'm using a little bit of both. So I have a camera system in my home, it was installed by a professional installer. Some of the variables when you buy cameras is, how do you run power for those cameras? How do you store your recorded footage? These are all kind of decisions you have to make. And of course, depending on what you're looking for, what the price options. Now I do have Arlo cameras as well. These things have just been phenomenal, their battery power, the battery life is super impressive, but more importantly, they have a free version. So you're not paying your monthly subscription, which is really important. When I recommend products to my friends and family, I don't want to mention something or promote a product that's going to cost you this ever reoccurring monthly fees. There're some great options out there. I've got personal experience with cameras out there and so I'd love for that to be a topic.
James Kerr: Yeah. Let's keep that as a topic for the next live. I think there's a lot of good talking points there about what kind of solution would fit best for what person. To three things I wanted to underscore in all the conversations we've had, the first is, studies show that when there's a plane crash, for example, there's a moment where everyone herd mentality, they realize something happened, but they're not sure what they should do. And they sit there kind of paralyzed until one person takes action. And then everyone else jumps up and takes action. So the thing that I would reiterate is that if there is a problem that you take action right away, don't delay. And I like what you suggested about, don't be afraid to ask for help, call 911, right away corps... Now you can text them right away.
And then the third would be, Elena carries herself with confidence and we've discussed this a few times. She feels that some of these people who are responsible for hate crimes are really not willing to stand up for themselves. And I don't feel that way. I feel like any threat, whether it's in your home or on the street, even as that threat appears to be small and neak and a small threat, we should always treat it as if it's a... Treat every mouse as if it's a lion, because you'd never really know-
Wayne Nichols: Yeah. Good point.
James Kerr: ... that person that doesn't seem like they're going to do anything if you talk back to them, may just do something. And all it takes is one person to do one thing, to ruin the whole day. So those are the three things. If something seems like it's going South, take action right away, be the first to do it. Don't be afraid to ask for help because you'll need it. And then treat every threat, even if it looks like a mouse, treat it like a lion, worst case isn't kind of [crosstalk].
Elena Ledoux: You had a security tip for children from, I guess, post-Soviet space and time when everything broke down as a chaos and lawlessness on the street, so like a post apocalyptic scenario. My dad told me when I was a little girl that if someone will ever harm you, I will find that person, and I will just completely destroyed no matter where they're, even if they're going to end up in prison, they're gone. So I had a very strong understanding of that no one is supposed to hurt me, as a child and even to this day. And my dad is over 70, and I still believe that's the case that something, wherever it's happen to me, he will probably kill that... I don't know, it's not going to be pretty, for sure. And I think that alone really helped me with just knowing that there are people, even as a child and even as an adult, that you are entitled to your bodily integrity, you are entitled to freedom, you are entitled to not be harmed.
You should be entitled to feel safe in your home. You should feel like that's your right to be safe on the street, that's your right to be especially safe in your home. And I feel like if we don't have that, that's a horrible way to live.
James Kerr: Right.
Elena Ledoux: Shame. But perhaps just telling your children that, "By the way, this is completely wrong and I we do everything in my power to make sure that person gets punished." So they have that in their eyes, so criminals can read it off their face.
James Kerr: Yeah, but it shouldn't translate into a license to be-
Elena Ledoux: [crosstalk]
James Kerr: Because that my wife is going to kill you, isn't going to stop me from being killed. So it's nice to have that, it's very powerful to have that support structure, but like you said, when you're walking from that event in Las Vegas, stark out Mr. Miyagi, you don't want to be anywhere where the punches are. The best way not to get hit, is not to be anywhere where the punches are. So even though I have that support structure, I still don't want to be anywhere where that punch is. Anyway, this is a great time now to wrap this thing up. Wayne, this has been awesome. Thanks so much. And let's do the, Security Camera, maybe next weekend same time?
Wayne Nichols: Yeah. Absolutely. And what I would ask of any viewers out there, or anyone of this watching this, throw some questions our way because I'm gonna try to cover some great ideas, some great topics. But we'd love to hear back from you as well, what kind of concerns, what kind of systems are working for you? And so it'd be great to have a great discussion, but where also some feedback. And so of course, Elena, I want to thank you for being with me today. I was excited to hear your perspective as well. And James, once again, a super, super pleased that you invited me to speak with you. And I hope to be able to connect with viewers down the road as well.
James Kerr: Yeah. Thanks for everyone. We'll see you this time next week.
Wayne Nichols: All right. Thank you so much everybody.
James Kerr: Bye.