When you are victim to a personal crime, it is your right to be notified by law enforcement upon release of the perpetrator.
Booby trap devices are dangerous and illegal because of possible injury to firefighters and children.
I even saw one where a guy, after repeated break ins and inaction by police, wired a shotgun to the front doorknob. He even left a note outside to that effect. Burglar must have gotten comfortable hitting his place repercussion free until then. Burglar went the way of the dodo, but the homeowner went to prison for life. Cuz that's "justice."
Actually, it worse than that. Booby trap devices are likely to get a homeowner charged with a felony, even if the person being injured or killed by such devices is a criminal, who broke into the home to steal, do property damage, or worse. There is case law on this, and it unfortunately does NOT favor the homeowner. The real reason to not booby trap a home has nothing to do with puppies, babies, or fireman. It has everything to do with whether or not you want to spend the next decade fighting lawsuits and felony charges for protecting your home.
I don't know which is more frightening: the prospect of a break-in, or that an otherwise rational person would even think it's a good idea to booby-trap their house. A safety deposit box is sooooo much simpler and less expensive.
From most of the examples I have read about, people tend to booby trap homes that they aren't currently residing in, like vacation homes, investment properties, maybe homes they inherited from a relative, condemned buildings, etc. I totally agree, $100 for a Bank Box + $100 (or so) for HWI policy will cover $10,000 worth of coins for a year.
I leave/left the wiring details to the security firm who installed the items. They also had papers which appear to show that the system is completely legal in the state where I presently reside. The mats have regulators to control the voltages, but I do not think you can kill a person with them. Usually placed beneath windows, or in front of door openings. Some can look like an everyday rug! Several options exist: when a certain amount of weight is placed upon the "rug" it can trigger the alarm, or a silent signal, or a shock, my discretion.
Correct me if I am wrong. But cannot certain disasters cause banks to lock down their systems and stop access to their safes. Terrorists activities and runs on banks? I've heard that back in the 1929 crash many banks locked down. Yes??
I live in Communnisota where coins are hated by the state so much, selling them lands you slightly less jail time than refusing to retreat from a burglar. And Yes, I have had a break in.
If you must know, the electric "mat" I have is in the back, outside my sliding glass door. A bear came through the screen last year (made a mess in the kitchen). The mat is high voltage low amperage. However, at night it will stop an intruder. The mats placed under the windows are set to set off alarms when stepped on. The 12 gauge is for both (bears or thieves) as it has high base, 1 1/8 ounce slugs in it. The law used to read here in my state, that the intruder must first break in or enter two doors or windows (or a combination) before shooting. If not, it is advised to drag the body inside and make it appear that he/she entered two entries. A peace officer advised me of that. Otherwise one could get sued for protecting one's life, home and property. If one is experienced, one can typically NOT shoot to kill but to maim.
There is definitely a risk allowing a bank to protect your items, but you have to decide which risk your're willing to take. The stats on home invasions, robberies, burglary, fires, is going to be much higher in residences vs commercial banks. Plus with banks, you have sophisticated video surveillance in the lobby areas built in. Yes, many people have that at home too, but not all. Inconvenience is a downside to the bank box option, but as long as live fairly close to the branch, and maybe chat-up the tellers a bit, it's really not that big of a deal to get in and out often.
Well, another poster on another forum related different advice: "Don't try that. There's no way you'll fool our CSI teams." There are technical methods to limit the amount of current delivered in a shock, so the mat you describe is possible. I'm just not sure it could be made to work through a normal pair of rubber-soled sneakers. And I'd really hate to be the engineer responsible for signing off on a safety analysis before it goes to market.