When the World Paused, Some People Started Paying Attention
In March 2020, as COVID-19 case counts climbed past 26,000 in the United States, health officials issued directives that most Americans had never experienced: stay home, wash your hands, avoid public transportation, maintain six feet of distance. Society ground to a halt.
For Bolo Stick founder Bill Barna, the enforced pause carried a familiar echo. After 33 years in law enforcement, Barna had seen how crisis often forces the behavioral changes that people resist under normal conditions. The pandemic, he observed, was doing exactly that — compelling people to slow down, reassess their priorities, and confront the gaps between what they intended to do and what they had actually done.
The Forced Reset
The government closed schools, gyms, bars, and non-essential businesses. Restrictions on gathering were imposed. Routines that had been on autopilot for years were suddenly disrupted. For many, the reaction was frustration — a sense of rights being curtailed and normalcy being stolen.
But Barna framed the moment differently. In his view, the quarantine period functioned less like a punishment and more like a time-out — a forced pause to evaluate the course being followed and identify where improvements had been deferred.
The parallel to security preparedness was direct. How many homeowners had been meaning to upgrade their door locks but never got around to it? How many school administrators had security line items that kept getting pushed to the next budget cycle? How many businesses had emergency protocols that existed on paper but had never been drilled?
The Science of Habit Formation
According to the European Journal of Social Psychology, it takes between 18 and 254 days for a person to form a new habit. The same 2009 study found that it takes an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic. The pandemic lockdowns, which stretched for months in many areas, provided exactly the kind of extended disruption that makes habit formation possible.
For those willing to use the time constructively, the opportunity was real: reassess home security, research protective measures, complete the deferred maintenance and safety upgrades that procrastination had pushed to the back of the list.
Security Gaps Exposed
The pandemic revealed a specific vulnerability in physical security planning. When schools closed and businesses shifted to remote work, the focus naturally moved to the home. Residential burglary data during the pandemic showed mixed trends — some areas saw decreases as more people stayed home, while others saw increases as economic desperation drove property crime.
What became clear was that most homes were poorly equipped to resist forced entry. Standard residential deadbolts — the primary defense for the vast majority of American homes — resist roughly 75 pounds of force. A determined kick delivers far more than that.
The Bolo Stick Residential door barricade, rated for over 4,200 pounds of force and manufactured from 1045 cold-rolled steel, addresses this gap directly. It installs in minutes, operates in a single step, and provides a level of protection that standard hardware cannot approach.
The Return to Normal Brought the Threats Back
As lockdowns lifted and people returned to schools, offices, and public spaces, the threat landscape returned with them.
The lesson was not that lockdowns prevented violence, but that populated spaces create opportunity for it. Schools, businesses, churches, and homes all require proactive security measures — not as a reaction to the latest headline, but as a standing practice.
"We must deny the desire to implement safety measures based on a 'knee jerk' reaction to stimulus."
The time-out is over. The question Barna continues to pose is straightforward: did you use it to prepare, or did you let it pass? For those still catching up, it is not too late to add layers of protection. Explore Bolo Stick products here.