Ex-burglar gives safety advice in case of a break-in. ‘She’s speaking from experience!’

Nobody likes imagining the worst-case scenario of a home invasion, but ex-burglar Jenjen Gomez (@jenjen.gomez03) had a list of safety recommendations and precautions everyone should follow. Jenjen was a cat burglar in her heyday, and she had the mugshots to show for it.

“If they break into your house during the day, they’re coming for your stuff. If they break into your house at night, they’re coming for you. Even if they’re not coming directly for you, they know your home, and they don’t care, so they’re coming for you,” Jenjen said at the start of her clip. Burglars generally break into homes to steal valuable items. While most assume that these are strangers breaking into homes, there are also many burglars who are familiar with their targets.

Regardless, Jenjen enumerates several precautions and steps that should be taken in case a burglar breaks in at night.

Precautionary preparations before a break-in

Prior to a break-in, she says people must buy several motion-sensor lights for their homes. These should be placed by the staircase, doorway, or anywhere that a burglar might walk by. Amazon, TikTok, and other online platforms sell these types of motion-detector lights, so it shouldn’t be difficult to purchase any. The second precaution Jenjen suggested is to get a personal, handheld alarm that makes a loud noise.

The third suggestion she gave is to make sure that the Ring, Wyze, and other indoor CCTVs are working and filming. She prefers Wyze cameras because they record upon sensing motion up until 120 seconds. Moreover, Jenjen revealed that her home cameras have a siren. She believes that homeowners should know how to use the feature if their devices have it as well.

For her fourth precautionary suggestion, Jenjen said that people should be prepared to dial up emergency settings on their phones. They should set their home addresses in advance so that when they ring 911, emergency services will know where to go.

Lastly, Jenjen says that a spare key to the car must be in the bedroom. It shouldn’t be placed somewhere at random, since the car would enable a quick getaway.

What to do in an actual break-in, according to a then burglar

“Immediately contact 911. You don’t have to say anything. Just slide your phone for emergency services. It’ll send your location, and it will send the police right away,” she advised. For those who took Jenjen’s precautionary advice, calling for help has never been easier.

“The lights that turn on downstairs should be very triggering for a thief. They don’t like lights, and they don’t like noise. You want to startle them from the beginning as much as you can,” she said.

“Next, get your key fob and set off your car alarm. After you’ve contacted the police, set off the alarms that are connected to your security cameras,” Jenjen told TikTok. There will be a lot of noise, and while the homeowner might be under stress, the robber will be in so much more. They don’t know why there are so many alarms being raised—they might not even know if they’re tripping on anything they shouldn’t.

“What you need to do next is to get your personal alarm, and you need to set it off, and then you need to go with your kiddos to a different location than where the alarm is,” she said. Jenjen is basically advising people to distract the thief. If they throw one of the handy alarms to another room, the intruder might follow the sound of that noise instead.

For those with two-story homes, Jenjen tells TikTok to stay on the second floor. She explains, “Do not go downstairs. Hold the higher ground, because you have a better vantage point when you are up there.”

However, for those who are on the first floor of the house at the time of the break-in, Jenjen tells them to get out of there immediately. Essentially, the priority should be to stay safe, not confront the burglar.

Experience is the best teacher

After giving out these tips, social media praised Jenjen for her advice. Some poked fun at her, saying, “She’s speaking from experience!”

Another joked, saying, “Thanks girl! Does this count as community service?” People in general were shocked by Jenjen’s credentials. Some online were even critical of her past. But if she’s sharing tips to help people get to safety—and it actually helps people—then consider it community service.

(featured images: Jakub Zerdzicki, jenjen.gomez2.0, Mikael Dubarry)

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