Ed Brannigan

How burglars pick targets, told by a retired patrol officer persona

US homeowners, especially older people and people who live alone, who want low-cost habits to avoid being burgled or followed home (inferred from titles, descriptions and the about text; one title addresses seniors directly).

• Talking head
• A photorealistic older man with grey hair and a grey moustache in a navy fleece vest over a plaid shirt; the avatar is framed like a webcam speaker in a home office, and thumbnails cut him into dusk suburban scenes.

One threat per video, usually a numbered list (the habits, marks, sounds or questions burglars use), opened with a patrol-report anecdote, then the low-cost fixes; each description leads with the e-book link.

• How burglars choose a house
• Being watched or followed home
• Signs you live alone or are away
• Cheap home-protection fixes
• Doorstep and phone-call scouting

• [N] Gas Station Habits That Get You Followed Home
• [N] Things That Tell Burglars You [X]
• What 400 Burglars Told Me They Check [X]
• The [X] Burglars Use to [X]
• Why Burglars [X] (Even [Y])

The persona on the left, pointing at the scene in 8 of 10, against a dusk or night suburban house or gas station with a hooded figure in the background; a two- or three-word white all-caps headline across the top ("THEY'RE WATCHING", "THESE 9 MARKS"), red circles and arrows.

• One recurring threat: 15 of the 20 titles name burglars, and the 4 most viewed (95k–153k views) are about being targeted at home or followed
• Numbered list titles: 11 of the 20 titles start with a number, including 3 of the 4 most viewed
• A fixed, recognisable thumbnail: the same older man in the same clothes pointing at a night scene in 10 of 10 thumbnails
• Fast start: 623,873 views and 7,240 subscribers since the first upload on 2026-08-24, with 418,392 views and 5,680 subscribers in the last 30 days
• Long, story-led videos (median 25 min, about 3 a week) that open on a patrol-report scene, matching the 25-years-on-patrol about text