Beyond The Panic Room Of Security

The thieves who recently walked away with an Encino couple\'s multi million dollar art collection, which included a Marc Chagall and a Diego Rivera, should not have had a prayer.

In a universe where wealthy people pay millions to protect jewelry, yachts, cars, Oscar statues, and wine collections, experts say that the real crime is that the criminals get away with the goods so incredibly easy. You can even recover your vehicles with a low cost GPS locating system installed in your vehicle. The moment that the thieves enter your property, then they should be detected, documented and deterred.

This scenario might include an outdoor camera flash and a booming voice telling the intruders they have been photographed, which is typically a strong deterrent to burglary. If that does not do the trick, then a recorded voice can announce to the thieves when they enter the house or touched a painting. This type of system is armed and ready to fire, so that you are out of harm\'s way you may want to leave immediately.

Whether for the ultra rich or regular folk, security experts tool boxes are brimming with devices, which some being simple, while others are some high voltage, every thing from a good ten dollar window lock to a nuke safe underground hide out that costs millions. You can have a moat with alligators if you want or you can have a vicious barking dog on a loudspeaker, and some people have tried recordings of guns being cocked. You can even have a net drop down on home invaders.

Recently commissioned it the design of a Bat Cave, which is designed to protect a car collection. The design included a waterfall in front of the garage, which parts, Red Sea-like, when the owner arrives home. The door opens, a steel plate slides out of the garage, and the driver pulls onto it. The plate then slides back into the garage and onto a turntable that pivots to the car\'s parking spot on a platform, two feet off the ground. Of course, this is slightly expensive at two and a half million dollars, it is a cool idea.

Some of the most sophisticated systems being built today are intended to protect people, not property. One client wanted a design of a two story, subterranean shelter that could withstand nuclear, biological, and chemical attacks. That shelter design included a pizzeria, a theater, and enough food and water to last years. One individual wanted a putting green for golf in his nuclear shelter.

Beverly Hills luxury real estate agent Bob Hurwitz listed an Encino home for sale whose previous owners included a recording industry titan who put in a safe room lined with Kevlar. It was hidden behind a wall that opened, just like in the movies, by touching a certain spot on the wall. A Montecito client not only dedicated one entire room to a bank vault for the family\'s valuables, but also had a thirty six million dollar underground tunnel that led to a secret guest house.

The goal, security experts say, is to set up layers of protection that might include shatter-proof windows and bullet-proof doors. Inside the house, some owners create what is called a safe core, such as an upstairs bedroom that has the locking of one or more special doors, are sealed off from the intruder. A safe room typically has one opening and is fortified with a solid core or steel door and has three inch screws in the door hinges, heavy duty lock strike plates and a strong deadbolt lock. It is equipped with an alarm pad, a cellphone, a flashlight, a first aid kit, food and water.