Can You Stop Someone From Looting Your Home?
Updated 5/18/2025
Inevitably, after every national disaster, riot, or crisis, we hear about looting. People without morals will steal other people’s things for their own gain and profit. They will steal anything that looks valuable. They will steal from stores, storage areas, and homes. The looters will probably be in groups and, more than likely, armed. They will believe they have the upper hand and will use that to their advantage.
Can you stop someone from looting your home? I believe you can with some advance planning and training. Some situations will be unavoidable, such as having to evacuate your home. However, there are ways to make sure you don’t make it easy for them to loot your home.
If you have to evacuate your home, do what you can to seal it up. Please realize that flood and water damage from natural disasters will weaken the structure, but you need to do what you can. Most people know when they will have to evacuate so take the time to do these steps before you leave:
- Board your windows up with plywood or plexiglass inside your home.
- Add outdoor lighting everywhere. You will want electric and solar lighting in case of power outages. If the looters can be seen from the road or the neighbors’ houses, you will be less likely to be a target.
- Put a deadbolt and a solid lock on your doors.
- Use 3 inch screws on your door’s strike plates to make it harder to kick in the door.
- Invest in shatterproof security film for your windows, especially on the first floor and basement windows.
- Barricade any decorative doors like French doors that are easy to kick in or break in.
- Pay special attention to any easy-access windows, such as basement windows. Make sure they are boarded up on the inside and barricaded with sandbags on the outside.
- Make sure the garage doors are down and locked.
- Put the valuables you are not taking with you in a locked, secured, and hidden box. If the valuables are too large, put them in a locked room or closet.
- Hope for the best. Hopefully, you will be able to come home soon and do what you can.
You should do these things whether you are staying home or evacuating. Some forethought may save you some agony later.
If you are home and looting starts in your area, you have to put the security of your family and home above anything else. You need to arm yourself and your family. You should invest in having an adequate amount of guns and ammo for anyone who can shoot in your home. You need to talk to them about firing warning shots and doing what they have to do to defend their home.
If you can, have other family and friends come over to help defend your home and your area. You will need to set up a neighborhood plan ahead of time to keep the area safe. You also need to make your elderly neighbors a priority in keeping their homes safe. Do not rely on the police to get to your home when the looters are in the area. They will likely be busy with rescues and other emergencies.
Looters will more than likely steal from unoccupied homes before they steal from occupied homes. You need to make your home look occupied or always keep an adult at home at all times when looters are in the area. If you are in a neighborhood, people should be actively moving around the neighborhood in order to look occupied. If you are in a rural setting, do not leave home unless you have to. Even then, only one person should be leaving the home while the rest of the family/friends provide security.
Even if you are home, you need to follow the steps above for leaving your home to make your home as unappealing as possible to steal from. Looters are looking for easy targets first. They want to steal easy things to carry and they don’t want to get caught. They want food, water, goods, and valuables. Some looters may be out looking for more than that.
Be aware that if the looters are desperate enough, they may not care if you are home or not. They may attempt a home invasion. You should try to defend your home as much as humanly possible, but you may have to flee. Please take into consideration your family when deciding to defend your home in the case of a home invasion. Their safety is worth more than your home. You are also no good to your family dead.
Looters are often driven by desperation and anger, but some are driven by profit and survival. They will have adrenaline running through their veins. If they have looted several places already, they will also have confidence on their side. A show of force may turn them away, and it may not. You need to be ready for both situations.
So, can you stop someone from looting your home? I believe you can, but not always. The cost of defending your home may not outweigh the benefits. You may have to evacuate and will not be able to defend your home. You may be able to defend your home with help from neighbors, family, and friends. No matter what, planning and preparation will be key for defending your home against looters.
Thanks for reading,
Erica
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