Lock Bumping, Part 2-Scott Couch

A new burglary technique may surprise you.

The threat is called Lock Bumping.

It's a way to get in your house without a door key and get out without leaving a trail.

We're not showing people exactly how to do it, but the bad guys already know.

Now, lock makers and others are fighting back, and that's good news for you.

Wilson County locksmith Mike Griffin, demonstrating how the locks on most mid-state homes can be beaten with a tap.

Griffin says, "I learned 12-years-ago when I first started locksmithing. It's not a common practice that locksmiths's use. It's not one that they teach people. You can do it with very minimal equipment. You just don't want a lot of people learning how to do it."

But people are learning how to do do it, thanks to an internet underground.

People can can learn how to beat the locks on many houses.

We won't give specifics on exactly how it works, but it involves a special key.

Fred Holdbrook with West End Lock Co. says, "I've seen em' I went to the Bowling Green flea market and there was a guy selling them."

Corporal Bill Storment with the Gallatin Police Department heard about lock bumping for the first time from us.

Because it's new and leaves virtually no trace, lock bumping is largely below the law enforcement radar, which means there's no way to gauge how prevalent it actually is.

Cpl. Storment says, "I think having this knowledge will maybe influence a little bit more how you address it when you do investigate a burglary where there are no signs of forced entry."

Law enforcement aside, lock companies are already fighting back.

Master Lock has a patent pending on anti-bumping technology.

Several other companies are doing the same.

Ron Harrison with Harrison's Lock Company says, "I consider it the Cadillac of the industry unless you go with an electronic lock."

Harrison's lock service in Lebanon likes Medeco high security locks to keep
bumpers at bay.

He says they are pick and bump resistant, engineered at every turn to keep crooks out.

Harrison says Medeco locks are used at both the Pentagon and the White House.

Harrison says, "Whenever Al Gore was here, that's what they put up at his place, the guard sheds. They sent the locks here already keyed up and had us go up there and put them in for them."

Wilson County Inventor Brett Fulford has come up with a low tech way to prevent lock bumping.

It's a device that can be attached to any door with a deadbolt.

Once the lock jaw is set, the lock can't be opened, not even with a real key.

Fulford says, "The deadbolt lock is now more robust. It's serving the purpose it was really intended to serve and that is to keep the bad people out."

This device only works when you're inside the house but only costs a fraction of what you'd spend for a high security lock.

Food for thought to combat a new threat to your home and family.

The locks on most residential homes are what locksmith's call grade 3- the lowest level.

The high security locks we showed you are grade one.

A grade three lock is about $25.

But a grade one lock, like the Medeco, will cost you about $150.Lock Bumping, Part 2-Scott Couch