Defending Against the Door Blitzer
Safety Tips to Guard Against the Door Blitzer
You are mentally and physically vulnerable when focused on locking or unlocking the door to your home. While most people go in and out of their homes all of their lives without being blitzed by an assailant, some people have had to face this violent threat.
There are steps you can take to mitigate vulnerabilities against the door blitzer. This section will assist those in developing options and confidence around the doors to their residence. More often, women face verbal harassment in apartment complexes when arriving or leaving their residences. This can escalate feelings of anxiety for personal and home safety. In other cases, predators “casually” approach victims who are arriving home or leaving to get closer to them before attacking.
Ten Options for Defending Against the Door Blitzer
1. Assess the angles toward your door from positions where door-blitzers might hide.
2. Constantly scan your environment as you approach your door or before you unlock it as you are leaving.
3. Angle your body and leave space to maneuver when unlocking the door. Angling your body allows you to use peripheral vision to check for a potential attacker and guard from being rushed by surprise. An assailant lying in wait will likely time his rush when you are focused on aligning and inserting the key into the lock or pushing a combination code into a keypad.
4. Face the most likely avenue that an assailant may approach, such as a corner, walkway, or hallway, or where a group of people may have watched you pass by. A corner door usually has one approach for an assailant. A door centered in the middle of a corridor has two avenues of approach or three if the door is close to a T-hallway.
5. Assess distance and time if a potential assailant is approaching you. Consider whether you have time to unlock the door, push inside, close it, and relock it. Each lock can take one to three seconds to work. If you have two door locks and or a security door, this is plenty of time for a door blitzer to reach you. When you are scared, with adrenaline flowing, making fine motor movements, like finding the keyhole, is more time-consuming, possibly adding a second or two. As a general time-distance rule, assume that an average person can rush 5 yards or meters in half a second. For example, an assailant 15 yards/meters away can reach you in 1.5 seconds, which is about the time it takes just to unlock the door.
6. Rushing to enter the house may be dangerous. If an assailant rushes toward you, you may become injured as he shoves his way through the door while you are trying to lock it. He can slam his weight with his momentum into you and the door. Chances are your head will be knocked on the door, and you will fall to the ground inside. He may land on you, causing further injury or recovery time.
If you fear being rushed, assume your boundary setting posture taught in the Model Mugging basic course, and confront the threat to de-escalate the situation. Becoming suddenly loud may startle the assailant, breaking their predatory mindset and attracting attention, which can create a possible fear of interference in his mind. Simultaneously, you are physically ready if he does rush you.
7. Maintain space between the door and your body, which allows for distance to spin around if rushed, so your face, head, and body are not shoved against the door. If you have time to turn around, you can drop your belongs or toss items at the attacker’s face, following up with strikes to his vulnerable areas.
If you have time, maneuver into a balanced position outside your door, at least three feet away from the door. Being three feet away from the door enhances your maneuverability and options if an attacker were to blitz you. If you are carrying something, drop it and assume your ready stance as taught in the Model Mugging Basic Self Defense Course.
8. Drop your belongings or toss them at the blitzer’s face. When blitzed, holding onto your belongings occupies two of your personal weapons and may detract from your balance. Holding items in your hand slows your reflexes and movements, and you get caught on the edges of the door when trying to enter. Dropping them on the ground to deal with the threat but dropping them to the opposite side, the door opens. You do not want to impede the swing of the door or trip on them in the initial stage of the attack.
9. Spin naturally inward and toward your center if you are rushing to open the door and do not have time to enter and lock it. Spinning inward and toward your center. This permits your inside hand to maneuver for a strike because your outside hand is likely to be pressed against the assailant’s body. Using the inside hand to strike makes it harder for the assailant to defend against your strike. Depending on which side of the door the locks are located and which hand is dominant for unlocking the door. Your keys may be used as an improvised weapon when turning toward your center. Your free hand may be either hand that depends on the side of the door where the lock is located.
Once the door is unlocked, you need at least a 20-25 yard/meter distance from the assailant to get inside and lock the door before they reach it, and more distance if they have a running start. Confronting the situation may be better as you can use your voice to attract attention. Your voice will be muffled from the walls of your home if he blitzes, shoving the two of you through the door you are trying to enter.
If you are maneuvering through a metal security door, more time is needed to pull the security gate open, close it, and then lock it. These steps may take even longer if your security gate does not lock smoothly. An advantage of a security gate is that it slows a violent offender down, as they must stop the forward momentum from their sprint and reverse direction by pulling the door outward. He cannot ram through it; however, opening the security door also takes longer for you to get inside as well. Once inside the gate, quickly close and lock the primary door, then call the police.
10. Arm yourself if you are proficient with a weapon. After locking an assailant out, if you have a firearm, now is the time to get it, as it can become an effective equalizer. Always call the police immediately (not a boyfriend, husband, father, etc.). Having the police make contact with you can be a deterrent for the criminals hiding in the area, which may also protect your neighbors. When safe, share your scary situation with your neighbors so they can be aware of the assailant’s description and be more vigilant in their neighborhood watch.
Safety Summary
Ten Options for Defending Against the Door Blitzer
- Assess the angles toward your door.
- Constantly scan your environment.
- Angle your body and leave space to maneuver.
- Face the most likely avenue of approach by the assailant.
- Assess distance and time.
- Rushing to enter the house may be dangerous.
- Maintain space between the door and your body.
- Spin naturally inward and toward your center.
- Drop your belongings or toss them at the blitzer’s face.
- If you are proficient with a weapon, arm yourself.
Other Apartment and Home Safety Crime Prevention considerations:
Walking to Your Home
Options for defending against the door blitzer.
Is a burglar inside upon arriving home?
Safety While at Home
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