Sleeping on the front porch

You read where there are so many rapes and they say to keep lights on, shrubs cut and lock doors and windows. When I was growing up those things were going on but not often. Kansas was hot in the summer time and on really hot nights we slept on the front porch on army cots. It was not much cooler but seemed like it was. When our children were young and it was hot we slept in the basement. That is still quite safe but front porches? Of course there were several of us maybe that made it safe.