Jefferson

"In the world we live in, almost anyone can suddenly find themselves having to deal with deadly enemies who mean them harm. It might be an ex-lover or even a spouse in a marriage gone terribly wrong. Sometimes it's a fired employee, a jealous coworker, or some criminal who thinks you are a threat to his continued freedom because you happened to be in the wrong place at the right time to watch him commit a crime. Whatever the provocation, or the degree of our innocene, we can all imagine a situation in which the law can't, or won't protect us, and our only choice is to find a place to hide thrugh the night that the enemy won't know about."

While the use of safe houses can be a legitimate tool in crime fighting, police forces in many countries also use safe houses to keep secret certain illegal acts by police officers. Police agencies of tyrannical governments around the world use safe houses to hold prisoners for special interrogations, which include the use of torture. This allows the police and security agencies to maintain a facade of legality, as the use of a safe house limits the number of people who know who is being held without legal cause or who might even be tortured. Because the victims never see the inside of a government building, even if they eventually manage to escape, they cannot prove that the men who tortured them were police officers. This also makes it much more difficult for friends and family to discover where the political prisoner is being held. Government officials will always deny that the government security forces had anything to do with the disappearance."

"Anyone who offers his home as a safe house to fugitives, escaped prisoners of wars, insurgents, foreign agents, or illegal dissidents is engaged in high-risk behaviour that could result in the loss of their property, imprisonment, torture, and even execution. People engaged in dangerous activities have a natural tendency to change behavior because of the stress or fear of being caught. They cut off contacts with old friends and change their behavior, such as looking over their shoulders as they walk down the street or suddenly jumping whenever they are surprised by some noise or just the sudden appearance of an old friend. They stop inviting friends in for social events, turn down invitations as they would once have accepted, and avoid casual contacts with friends and neighbors. Then they fail to create and memorize believable cover stories for such changes in behavior. Such actions arouse suspicion and invite curiosity, which can lead to discovery.The more tyrannical the state, or the more dangerous the political, military, or law enforcement situation, the greater the likelihood that one's neighbors or local authorities will become suspicious because of changes in daily routines."

"The great majority of men and women who are involved in some risky covert activity are doing so in their own homes. Every day, millions of people around the world use their own homes to engage in dangerous or illegal acts, swap insider trading information, cheat on their taxes, drink alcohol when underage, or other things.Most people who are doing something illegal or dangerous behind the walls of their home know nothing about the basic security requirements of setting up a safe house, yet the great majority of people who engage in covert activities in their own homes are never publicly identified, prosecuted, or punished. For those who do not understand the basics of security, a private home can be the best safe house for both the occupants and for those seeking sanctuary. This is true even in countries without the protection offered by the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution."

This is what Jefferson said.