Security options for a woman living on her own

My wife's sister lives alone in a suberban house. She has a fully enclosed garden. She was on the phone the other night, looked out the window and there was a guy standing there. She thought it might be someone she new, opened the door and called out, the guy then ran away. She has since had an infra red light installed which should help. A dog is not an option. Does anybody have any ideas how to make it safer.

My husband is away a lot, so I can sympathise as a woman in a house often alone (albeit with two dogs here) We have flood lights with a motion detector. With two barky terriers in the house I actually tend to keep the sensors turned off, but that would be an idea to make the place safer at night. Also, our house has a neat panic switch installed right over the bed headboard. If I or the dogs hear anything, then I can flick the switch and all the outside lights come on. I've only used it once, and scared the poor guy who was delivering flyers at 4am <grin>.

A movement activated light is cheap.
It might also be worth reporting it to the police in case there is a pattern of men stalking through gardens locally at night.

I'd advise your sister NOT to open her door unless it is someone she knows and was expecting.

Too bad a dog is "not an option". It's the best security system there is.

Obviously check out the garden. How did the guy get in there? Cultivate thorny plants around the borders. Avoid leaving ground level doors and windows wide open, put down the blinds after dark, close curtains, buy some tear gas (maybe illegal here?) and have it to hand at likely point of entry. Put up a beware of the beast sign even if you don't have one. Talk to the neighbours. Unpleasant but be reassured by the fact the guy did run off. He obviously didn't want a confrontation, maybe "just" a peeper.

It sounds very scary to find a strange man standing in your yard. What I would recommend is she ensure that no one can see into her house in the evening and all the windows and doors are secure with good locks. He may just be a peeping tom.

She may also want to think about leaving the lights on timers when she's away from her home and even at night upstairs. You never know what was motivating that fool, but I would not want to live in fear in my own home. Is there a security firm that can come out and assess her home security and give her some tips about securing her home better?

If she sees him again she should immediately call the police or even consider making a report for this incident as that's trespassing.

A friend of mine put a type of foil on my lawyer's ground floor windows, which turned them into kind of a two way mirror . . . He can see out, but people looking in can only see a reflection. I have a ground floor flat and will have this done as well since I hate having the metal blinds down all the time when I'm there alone.

I also have a cheep little alarm attached to my back door. When the switch is 'on', the alarm sounds when the door is open.

Thanks for the thoughts folks. I've been thinking that I'll try to purchase some fake CCV cameras, make them obvious. Set them up with a flashing red light. There must be something on the market. I'll also put up a sign saying cameras in place. I figure if they think they might be caught on film it should do the job. I suspect it's a local peeping Tom.
My wife had a similar experience somewhere else years ago. She got the guys car number and found out it was a well respected local male.

The best for home security. Non-leathal, so it is more likely an untrained and scared home defender will actually use it.

FYI, I have no idea whether this is legal in Germany at all. Probably not.

If that should be gas, I'd be careful with it. If you ask the police, all-too often the one using the gas
gets hurt as well (as you are usually very close to the aggressor), or the gas is even turned against
them. I think the light and the camera (even fake ones) are a good idea. Or perhaps a "barking" motion
sensor - no actual dog, just the noise if anyone enters the garden? I would
definetly report the case to the police, there might have been other, similar incidents in that neighbourhood!

Here's another thought. How about getting a few of those annoying garden gnome figures with motion sensors that make various noises? You can get gnomes that whistle or play music, dogs that bark, frogs that croak, and even cows that mooooo. Lots of other animals to choose from, too. Scatter a few different ones around the yard.

But I'm not really joking - they make great sentries and will scare off anyone trying to silently sneak up to a house. Not horribly expensive, either.

Maybe the intruder was looking for rabbits.

Whistling gnomes more likely...

Absolutely call the police!
Years ago, my roommate and I had a Peeping Tom. We could actually hear him breathing outside our windows at night (as we were getting ready to go out or go to bed). Then, one winter night, I heard him breathing outside the window above my bed. We called the police and they were there within minutes and told us there were footprints in the new snow under our windows and that they 'have a pretty good idea who it is' (ie a known Peeping Tom).

Call the police next time. You don't know what this person's motives are.

DONT get a pepper spray because it tends to smoke everyone (including you) in the area. Pepper gels are easier to point into the face and stay put for a longer duration (seen it done and works great).

In this case I would suggest a floodlight hooked up to a motion detector, cost efficient and effective.

There is the option of booking me. I'll put on my camo and wait till the guy shows up (he'll wish you'd gotten a dog).

This guy was probably just a wanker anyways.

The woman should buy herself a Doberman and only feed it Weißwurst that she dangles between her legs. Keep the dog hungry and don’t forget to keep it well chained when her boyfriend comes round.

Be careful, but don't start living in fear, that would be my advice to your sister-in-law.

Put spikes on the top of the fence around the yard.

flame thrower... better to be safe in a situation like this

That is quite unnerving.
Buy a stun gun
and a paintball gun with the velocity turned right up. Those things hurt!!

Edit: wasn't you by any chance "Spookyfella" ?

The thing about using a weapon is that you need to be very skilled with it, otherwise it just ups the ante in any kind of confrontation, and can be used against you.

1) Try to scare off and deter any would-be intruders / attackers
2) If you see one, hide and call the police -- don't try to fight him off!

Buy this, put it in the garden, focus spotlight:

http://www.designtoscano.com/product/garde...e+-+db383020.do

... also bockwürst and black pudding just incase the stalker isn't caucasian

Well practice using the paintball gun, attach a stun gun to the end of it like a bayonet.

Or get into Krav Maga classes.