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Security isn’t about luck—it’s about strategy. In this podcast, we break down how to protect your home, family, and business from threats most people don’t even think about. We’re not here to fuel fear—we’re here to help you prepare.
Hosted by security professionals, Michael Johnson, a retired law enforcement captain with 29 years of experience and James Kerr an expert from Boss Security Screens, this podcast delivers real, no-nonsense advice. We know what truly stops burglars—not just locks and alarms, but layered security strategies that keep your home and business safe.
What you'll learn in this podcast:
✅ Why the concept of “layered security” is the only way to protect your property.
✅ Guns for self-defense: myths, reality, and what you really need to consider.
✅ How to build a safe space for yourself and your family while minimizing risk.
✅ Real-life stories of break-ins and assaults - and why some homes remain impregnable.
📢 Subscribe now and stay one step ahead of those who rely on luck.
🛡 Ready to take home security seriously?
Visit https://bosssecurityscreens.com/free-consultation for a free consultation.
now we're going to talk about the guy who's broke That's us There is a rule It's the 8020 rule It's the little things that are going to have that high return without the high dollar price tag Criminals are lazy Now something people always forget and this is probably the easiest stuff Think strategically when you're doing your security systems If you've ever been stopped at night by a patrol officer what's the first thing they do [Music]
all right Well hey welcome back everybody It's uh MJ Johnston and uh my good James Kerr James Kerr the owner of Boss Security Screens We're wearing the same clothes every day You're always in the same clothes Sleeping outside So we just got done with a fun segment right the unlimited Right Right The no holds bar blank check What do you want what do you want kind of security systems serenity rooms Now we're going to talk about the guy who's broke That's us That's us And so we're going to do some smart security on a budget Yeah All right 100 bucks 100 bucks Uh well I don't know that we're going to get it done under 100 but I think we could probably get pretty close cuz think about this The first level is just making sure that your doors are protected I mean those are really your most vulnerable They're the ones that are um a threat to kicks and and shoulders Most likely going to come in first That's where they're going to most likely come in first I mean if they break a window they got to crawl through the glass and you're going to hear and you're going to hear it Criminals are lazy So they're going to want to get in quick and they're going to want to get out fast And so if you really just start thinking about security in terms of the most vulnerable point which is your entry uh there is a rule out there I don't know if you've ever heard it It's the 8020 rule 20% of your investment right your security investment will prevent 80% of the crime Y So it's the little things that are going to have that high high uh return without the high dollar price tag So the simple things that we've talked I I don't know how many times we've mentioned it but the little things like putting in the 3 and 1/2 in screws that go into the door jambs all the way through and into the framing of the house Yeah cuz you mentioned most builders they're really cheap They're going to use the cheap screws the short inch and a half screws You've all seen them if you've done your own door knobs right they've got those tiny little screws that only go into the uh pine wood uh frame door Doesn't go deep enough And so this is really anyone can do that You don't need to hire a handyman right no this is all stuff And we've got videos already on how to do that So yeah So if you go out and look at some of the uh videos that we did at Home Depot which I really enjoyed I think we should do another segment like that They didn't kick us out right hey go do it Right Yeah Go check it out So let's get back to that 8020 rule If we can just do 20% of our investment and and get 80% return on our on our strategies now we're looking at the things that are like doors windows uh garages So we start with those small deterrence and then we then layer up from there And so it's not really that hard to get a build on a budget Now I know that uh we want to talk to people that maybe uh can't spend more than uh say a couple of hundred and maybe up to a,000 or $2,000 There's really a lot of things that you can do especially if you're handy at uh doing some of these things that do-it-yourselfer type thing or know someone who can do it or know someone that can help you out with it Uh but all of these security measures um are not difficult There's so many specific applications and we were just talking about them right one of my favorite is the doors stop Okay so that doors stop we were talking about it It's as simple as drilling a hole uh through the concrete right in front of your door uh your entry door And it's a very decorative piece So you drill this hole you put this nice grommet uh over the top of it and then you have a metal piece that inserts into the hole and then it arches up and rests against the door and holds it there and holds that kind of like when you used to hold the door shut with your foot Yep You know like little brothers trying to get in you hold the door front with your [ __ ] with your foot With your foot So it's So those are cheap Those are like 30 bucks They're they're very inexpensive and and very effective Very effective And uh the the nice thing about them is is that if the door itself gets breached right if the locks fail a door is going to flex So if they are kicking the door or shouldering the door the top part of the door is going to peel out and flex while the base is still being held And that's going to keep that recoil Absorbs the energy Does the recoil Um I remember this because we were in a SWAT team trying to get through trying to get through one of these doors and uh the SWAT team had the ram out and we were battering this thing and hitting it and kicking it and this door kept flexing We actually had to go to what we call um the uh lock shot where uh it's a shotgun that goes and it it takes the hinges out and then we're able to push the whole door system over and you have to shoot like three four times Yeah you got to blow those hinges out of the out of the door jam And I want to see that video Yeah So there's a lot of tools there that help us get in But that was the one time I'd ever seen a door that was difficult to get in And it was as simple as an in flooror um door stop which was just simply I mean you're never going to trip over it It's kind of inset in the floor It's designed to be in the floor and then when you want to use it it comes out up against the And there's two styles There's the kind you can put in and then there's of course the kind that flip up Um but you know when you're wanting to go out you can pull that out and it gets out of the way very easily We want to talk a little bit about uh maybe even the idea of financing some of these things Now I'm not a big fan of financing but some people do need to look at those options and um there are a lot of companies that will come out and help you But I do want to caution you on the idea Think about this You financed something for say 30 bucks over uh three years Yeah You could have probably just bought a $300 system that does the exact same thing gives you the same level Um but it it allows you to do a one-time purchase So I always want to caution people on the idea about on a that are really working with a budget is you don't want to skimp on these things because if you get an inexpensive or an unreliable system whether it's a camera alarm system or even the door locks themselves because some door locks are built better than others It's kind of like cars right you get your entry- level car or you get your Maserati Um there's there's a whole wide range in the quality of the materials therefore the strength right it's the same as in the screens right there's there's screens out there on the market right there's other there's other screens but they don't have the 12 x 12 mesh They don't have the strength They don't have the reinforced framing So we know that they are not as superior as what you build And the same thing goes for all of the products that are out there on the security market So I would urge all of you to think about purchasing something It might hurt a little bit might sting a little bit but get that initial purchase Make it a good purchase a smart purchase and then it's going to give you the return over time Mhm And and then you won't be replacing something two three four times because you bought something quality the first time It will pay for itself Yeah The last thing you want to do is rely on something that you can't rely on right and I know everybody wants to go with the most uh Gucci of things right all of I like Gucci It's a Gucci team but everybody wants to go out there and and and have the best of the best um smart locks and all of these really cool toys but they don't necessarily replace um the traditional locks So keep it simple I mean I I'm not a big fan of all the electronics that are out there you know cuz those kind of things have failure points Open door Wrong voice command Open door Hey rock [Music] Uh I don't usually fail when I walk over and I turn the deadbolt you know so I I have a high degree of success on that right um but it you know the smart features give you the option of being able to do things remote control and while you're away So those are nice features but u when you when you're talking about on a budget uh think about some of those camera systems that like Nest um Ring you know they're very affordable and they provide really good layers of protection for your home The same thing if if you can't quite afford um certain items maybe a film on the window is a step towards because you'll always have that film on the window It's not going to go away And then when you can afford that next layer of security now you've got just two layers they have to penetrate and break So uh think strategically when you're doing your security systems Uh what you do today should be like a foundational piece Build on it Yeah you build on every layer and everything that you add to your home That's really the key component everyone is making sure that you do smart Yeah design and smart purchases So we're going to fortify the entry points right either with the locking mechanism or and the screws on the doors And we're going to look at maybe a Ring camera very inexpensive Simply Safe is one brand We're not advocating for them but it's just an example of a an alarm system that you could set up pretty quickly and easily You don't have to know anything about alarm systems so that an alarm does trigger when someone does come through a door or slider or you know the other speaking of sliders I like that bar that pops down There's another example of a like low cost Oh that's yeah maybe 25 bucks Uh those are those are great and it it prevents people from being able to slide the slider over and get it into a position on the track where they can even get it out of the track So those um those uh bars are really really good Now something people always forget and this is probably the easiest stuff lighting lighting from a SEPTED perspective you know and I don't know how many of you know or remember but I am a certified SEPTED design professional So SEPTED is crime prevention through environmental design We talk about things like natural surveillance That's the ability to see things And when you want to be able to have a direct line of sight you need to make sure things like your landscaping is properly trimmed in the way Okay they got the 2 foot sixt rule where your bushes shouldn't be over 2 feet tall and the canopy of your tree shouldn't hang lower than 6 ft because that's going to block your field of view And those are those are almost no cost if you do it yourself So you want people who are walking by or driving by to be able to see suspicious behavior right absolutely Cuz the bad guys love the lower canopies and the higher bushes right they they love that They love to have those hiding spots Uh now the other thing lighting Um I bet you didn't know this but you can have too much light You had mentioned it Yeah cuz you can't see colors You can't see colors you get glare you get wash out So there's a delicate balance between having too little light too dim of a light that casts and creates shadows and hiding spots but then you have light that's too overbearing Now you've got the glare and you've got the effect where you can't look into the light Think about it like this If if you've ever been stopped at night by a patrol officer what's the first thing they do shine a light in your eyes They start shining lights Okay we have what we call our overheads We've got our spotlights We create what is called a wall of light Oh it's deliberate It's deliberate We do that because it makes it hard for you the driver to see us on the approach Well that same wall of light works for our advantage It's a disadvantage if you now see things So there's that delicate balance And I don't think a lot of people know that almost every police department in the country has a se a septed certified person and they offer that service for free Huh Contact your local police department Ask them to come out and do a septed review of your home Yeah it's
inexpensive You don't have to do any of them but they're going to come out and they're going to give you some really solid advice You're going to have an opportunity to talk to an officer about local crime rate You're going to be able to talk to them about local trends You know what's going on in the neighborhood and it's going to help you educate yourself So I would really urge everyone to think about SEPTED because it is one of the least expensive most effective methods out there to start reducing crime in your in your home and in your neighborhood Yeah that's awesome suggestion So when it comes to lighting we want good lighting We want good We want to be able to see either through our cameras or out of our windows or neighbors to be able to see what's going on And the bad guys are like cockroaches They don't like light in general right cuz they prefer to do things in the dark Yeah Well you you want to stand behind that uh concealability right and you know nobody wants to stand out there and be seen Yeah So the trick is get in get out before anybody notices Yeah I think we've laid out uh a pretty good foundation of what a person can do on a budget Uh just go out and make sure that you're looking at what options you have Don't make any rash decisions You have questions you got people that you can reach out to Uh we're always here And of course your local police departments are there for you if you need uh any help with a SEPTED review Uh so for this I think we've ended our uh our segment on how to build on a budget Yep And uh we want to thank you for visiting uh our podcasts and uh James take it away
Have a great day