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What method of entry does your department use to gain entry on Residental Lockouts?

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All depends..Usally in the summer most residents leave a window open on a second floor if they have one. And we have a rabbit tool (Bunny Tool) to enter. Recently some of our guys have learned through the lock method. The least amount of damage possible is the best method. Here in Canada we dont lock the igloos were all to nice to steal from each other :L)

Look up Nate Demarse and ask him or Andrew Brassard both from Brotherhood Instructors LLD about forcible entry.
Fire Axe ! They are on all our trucks.
We attempt to gain access via an unsecured window or any other non-damaging way. If unable to do so, we recommend a locksmith - available for under $100 in our area.
I wanted to make some 12 inch square, 1/8 thick plywood with 1 inch of closed cell foam glued to the inside and a h*** in the middle to screw them together. Find a door with small panes of glass, punch it out to reach a lock and sandwich two over the whole when you leave.
Either an unlocked window on 2nd floor or more commonly a slip tool ( I think thats what its called, basically a 10 inch long thin piece of metal with a notch in it) That works really well on 9 out of 10 houses in our distract, most of our homes are old and theirs just enough of a gap to slide that tool into the door frame.
-As a standard policy the City of Albuquerque Fire Dept. will not perform this service and has not for many years due to the unfortunate criminal aspect as well as the inevitable law suites that have resulted from minor damage while gaining entry.
-Just the way life is in the big city.
While it's rare that we get called for just a lockout, we do get called quite regularly for well being checks (good size elderly pop.). Law enforcement is automatically added to the response due to the concerns mentioned by others, and they stand by while we gain access. More often than not, there is an older sliding glass door that can simply be lifted off fhe track and taken out. Even if the door has a pin, a lot of times it'll fall out if you bang on the door frame several times. Lately though, we've been trying to develop further training on through-the -lock methods, as there's really no excuse for our guys to not be trained, especially with the number of these calls.
Why not use a Knox Residential box? It is UL listed against attack and since there is usually no law enforcement access to the knox key there are no 4th amendment issues.
Our department responds on this type of call. The usual method if there is no window unsecured is using our smoke ejector hanger. This is really its sole purpose on the rig. Place it in the jamb and spread the door away from the jamb. If the door has a dead bolt that is secure we suggest a lock smith or as a last resort force the door either with a pick set, through the lock or taking the glass.
We try to accomodate residential lockouts when we can. We will try to locate a residential knox box if available, then we will try an open or unlocked 2nd floor window, then a K-tool, other than that and if no threat exists, we will recommend a locksmith for single private dwellings and the building maintenance personnel for the high rise apartments or commercial buildings in our district. If there is a reason to believe or a threat of a sick or injured person, smoke, or water flow alarms, then we will force the doors by conventional means.
We will attempt a window off the fire escape if it is accessible but often times the windows have security gates which will cause a considerable amount of damage. We will the go through the lock if it is a traditional lock out where the occupant has summoned us directly. If we have been called by a 3rd party for a possible condition or a welfare check we would normally use conventional forcible entry, and would request the P.D. if they are not already on location. This is a service we still provide in the biggest city.
my dept goes on these types of calls. we would look for a open 2nd floor window to gain entry that way. pd is on scene with us. try not to do any damage or do as little as possible. sometime we will use a spatula to force a window or door jam.

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