The economy and theft/security

[jonlb]

I may be completely paranoid here but have any of you seen a spike in theft after the economy tanked. I live in south central Kentucky and our unemployment here is over 12%. Lately I've been hearing of one break in after another. Two days ago a friend of mine was broken in to and lost almost $50,000 worth of tools and farm equipment. After that I was already a bit on edge and last night I saw two trucks behind our 60x120 farm/toy building. this was at 1:30 at night and as I walked outside one vehicle flashed its lights and they both took off. nothing was taken but I guess I'm just becoming more aware that this kind of stuff happens a lot.

opinions thoughts experiences

 

[FatFndr]

Theft, previously not a problem in my area has taken a jump in the last 2 years with the influx of illegals as well as one of the highest unemployment areas in the United States. We have upwards of 5 pages in the newspaper every Friday of foreclosures and Sheriffs sales. My alarm company just left after upgrading my system to include windows on the 2nd floor and detectors in my garage. Paranoid - probably, protected - definitely and angry. Angry that I should have to go through this process to protect cars/parts/property that has taken me DECADES to accumulate - and some a$$hole who probably has never had a real job with a future thinks he is entitled to my stuff and shouldn't have to work to get it.

 

[Brad54]

I may be completely paranoid here but have any of you seen a spike in theft after the economy tanked. I live in south central Kentucky and our unemployment here is over 12%. Lately I've been hearing of one break in after another. Two days ago a friend of mine was broken in to and lost almost $50,000 worth of tools and farm equipment. After that I was already a bit on edge and last night I saw two trucks behind our 60x120 farm/toy building. this was at 1:30 at night and as I walked outside one vehicle flashed its lights and they both took off. nothing was taken but I guess I'm just becoming more aware that this kind of stuff happens a lot.

opinions thoughts experiences

You don't really need someone to point out that you averted a theft, do you? You should have called the cops immediately.
You also should have gone out there with a shotgun. And no, I'm not kidding.

I've talked to enough police officers to know that the current economic situation is driving crime up. They've also all advocated concealed carry permits.

-Brad

 

[porschedude996TT]

These people are like leaches on hard working people...

 

[autowerks9]

I just upgraded my alarm to arm all windows and roors on every floor. I use to never lock my garage and shed. Now I check the locks every evening.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I just checked the statistics - burglary here is down 14% from last year.

 

[krusty the clown]

i don't have a theft problem......i'm heavily armed and easily pissed.


there was a spike in buglaries around here last year though.

 

[Number21]

Crime has been VERY bad lately in the industrial neighborhood where my shop is. I work at night and I keep getting pulled over when I leave at 4:00AM for being "suspicious". (I own the place damnit, quit pulling me over!) At least the cops are keeping an eye on things.

I'm building an electrified razor wire fence behind my shop any any noise I hear I'm out there in a second with a .357. I put up signs around my building that say "Warning: Experiment in progress, BIOHAZARD, Do Not Enter!"

 

[MD11]

I don't know if it's the economy or a theft of opportunity that caused close to $20K or mostly Snapon, Knipex and Wiha and 3 power tools to be lifted along with my SO tool box from my home garage in a gated neighborhood in Phoenix, but I do know that it REALLY pissed me off when it happened! I am still in the process of replacing all of it and while I love having all new tools, I don't like the $350/yr increase in my home owners insurance!

 

[little d]

when the chow/blue healer barks, i get the gun, best alarm system going! and entertaining also, i swear that dog smiles when he scares the beJesus outa someone, he,he,he.

 

[the spyder]

I made a huge mistake months ago, I was selling something on CL and had the person over to pick it up. During our transaction, I needed to fetch a cable for the item from the shop. I stupidity let him follow me in to our shop. My wife came in minutes later to tell me (infront of the person) the doc called about my surgery and it was still on. Over the next 3 days I was outta commission, $6k in Snapon tools walked out of my shop. They took my ONLY snap on box at the time, and of course, it was packed to the brim. I did not have it under insurance yet and was denied the claim as I purchased nearly everything from friends/CL/no receipts. Police called/emailed the guy but never followed through. Bastards.

Sooo moral of the story, DO NOT LET PEOPLE FROM CRAIGSLIST IN YOUR SHOP. Meet them outside. Meet them at a local store. Just not at HOME.

I am still replacing these tools, every time I see a deal it seems to get snatched out from under me (Even on here).

 

[Toolhorder]

I installed a camera system to go along with my original security system (doberman)
I love having a camera system. I can scan around my whole house at a glance of the monitor and it's recording to a DVR so I can make a DVD for evidence. If I'm not around I can go online and look at my cams since they are connected to my network. All that being said if my stuff disappears I'd be pissed then I'd just make a $70K order from Snappy the minute I got my check from my homeowners insurance.

 

[Toolhorder]

I made a huge mistake months ago, I was selling something on CL and had the person over to pick it up. During our transaction, I needed to fetch a cable for the item from the shop. I stupidity let him follow me in to our shop. My wife came in minutes later to tell me (infront of the person) the doc called about my surgery and it was still on. Over the next 3 days I was outta commission, $6k in Snapon tools walked out of my shop. They took my ONLY snap on box at the time, and of course, it was packed to the brim. I did not have it under insurance yet and was denied the claim as I purchased nearly everything from friends/CL/no receipts. Police called/emailed the guy but never followed through. Bastards.

Sooo moral of the story, DO NOT LET PEOPLE FROM CRAIGSLIST IN YOUR SHOP. Meet them outside. Meet them at a local store. Just not at HOME.

I am still replacing these tools, every time I see a deal it seems to get snatched out from under me (Even on here).

Everyone take this as a lesson and take photos, video, document your tools. It doesn't matter where you got them you just need to prove you have them. It's hard to deny a claim when you have the above.
I never let anyone see what I have in my garage. I close the door when I'm in there.

 

[the spyder]

Its the damdest thing. I did end up getting some $$$, but I did not have a complete set of photos. And im a damn hobby photographer!!!! It was just a kick in the ***, one of two many lately which has made me consider getting out of the local car community. I am always the fellow fixing friends cars/ect. What really bugs me is I havent found them! I have checked pawn shops, CL, ebay, ect. The ******* kept them and is probably USING them.


It actually has made me want to develop a personal asset tracking system. Once its in testing I am planning on giving free memberships for testing to friends and people on forums like this. Hopefully I can make something good come of this. Well, other then the cool camera system I have planned to install...

 

[bmwpower]

All you guys that lost entire boxes, how the heck do you supposed they took the box? trailer?

 

[Number21]

Damn, it's a good thing most of my stuff is from Harbor Freight.

 

[jake00]

All you guys that lost entire boxes, how the heck do you supposed they took the box? trailer?

flatbed tow truck

 

[CarCrafter]

Not sure if the economy is the reasoning, but the #%$#$% need to be caught or engaged during the commissioning of said crime and executed and disposed of accordingly

http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20091113/News01/311139994/1052/News01

 

[G-force]

If you're outside city limits, fire some warning shots in the air next time. The criminals might consider if it's worth dying for.

 

[bmwpower]

flatbed tow truck

But that has got to cause a ruckus, no?

 

[Red Green]

All you guys that lost entire boxes, how the heck do you supposed they took the box? trailer?

flatbed tow truck

It can be done with a regular tow truck. I lifted a Mac Tech 1000 top and bottom out of a pickup at the same time when I bought the tool box.

 

[the spyder]

Mine was just a top box, could have easily been carried by two guys. Shop is a old barn, easy to get in to. Just a bad situation that I knew was coming eventually.
My two other boxes were untouched.

 

[nissan_crawler]

You don't really need someone to point out that you averted a theft, do you? You should have called the cops immediately.
You also should have gone out there with a shotgun. And no, I'm not kidding.

I've talked to enough police officers to know that the current economic situation is driving crime up. They've also all advocated concealed carry permits.

-Brad

Why call the cops? They would be long gone before the cops even thought about getting there. No info, no proof, no point.

A few months ago, some tweakers decided to try and rob some construction equipment across from me. The guy that owned the property went after them, didn't see them hiding, and they started running toward my property. An AK-47 convinced them it was in their best interest to head the other direction. They swam a lake, ran through an apt complex, and the police (guy had called them) caught them heading down the street.

Two armed felons from a town 60 miles away...people who claim their neighborhood is "safe" have their head buried.

 

[Torque1st]

Forget the shotgun if you are out in the country. If you see trucks out near your barn in the wee hours put a few 30-06 rounds thru the engine blocks, then call the sheriff.

 

[MD11]

All you guys that lost entire boxes, how the heck do you supposed they took the box? trailer?

My last box wasn't a big one, it was a KLA2407 which weighs some 200lbs empty, but It was chuck full of SO tools, including full sets of 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2" sockets,ratchets, torque bars, extensions, etc.. I had the 1/2" impacts and the cordless driver.. Makita drill, Bosch saw (jig type), and over $2500 in SP wrenches.. as well as the $1500 in Knipix and $500 in Wiha... I estimate the loaded weight of the cab was over 600lbs.

These guys rolled the cab out of my garage BETWEEN both cards without so much as a single contact mark on either car, AND, they didn't know how to turn the brake off on the caster so they left a set of drag marks down the driveway across towards the neighbors house (in front) where the appear to have loaded it up.. I assume there were 4 of them and they hoisted it.

Both my neighbors are police (one is forensics and one a detective), and it happened between 9pm (when i went in for the night) and about 2am when my cop neighbor came home and rang my door to tell me I left my garage open.. in that short window, the took it, making what ever noise and nobody heard them, not even my Dog (which was asleep in the back of the house)..

Today, I have a much bigger box (KRL7022) and I have purchased two Masterlock commercial grade hardened steel chains and two commercial grade locks to attach it to a concrete re-inforced steel pipe in my garage.. Between the 1000lb weight of the box, and the chain I figure a) they can't get it between the cars, and b)they can't move it!

I pray I am right.

With that said, take the advise and take photo's of EVERYTHING... cause many of my receipts were unavailable for the insurance company and thank God Farmers worked with me to make it all 100% but they didn't apparently have to... they want receipts or pictures, empty boxes, or some other proof.

 

[CarCrafter]

an ak-47 convinced them it was in their best interest to head the other direction. They swam a lake, ran through an apt complex, and the police (guy had called them) caught them heading down the street.

hoorah !!!

 

[CarCrafter]

If you guys don't plan on moving your boxes for some time, take the dam wheels off and put it elsewhere. I'd like to see them try and lift a couple thousand pounds out.

 

[sstruckguy]

If you guys don't plan on moving your boxes for some time, take the dam wheels off and put it elsewhere. I'd like to see them try and lift a couple thousand pounds out.

Hahahaha..extreme, but very effective.

I live in western Kentucky and have seen the same spike in home burglaries and similar boldness by the bad guys. My small but prestigous neighborhood has a retired sheriff and a retired state cop in it. Even with that well known fact, our neighborhood watch group, suggests and enforces, a "shoot first, call the cops second", mentality.

It seems to be good advise, all the way around.

 

[jonlb]

Well guys I feel better knowing that others are dealing with the same problems. I took pictures of most of the stuff in the buildings and even in the house and burned them onto a cd. I'm currently sleeping with an ar-15 and beretta close by and considering leaving the doors open and the lights on down there tonight LOL

 

[Number21]

If you're outside city limits, fire some warning shots in the air next time. The criminals might consider if it's worth dying for.

Fire warning shots into the ground. Never shoot into the air. But I agree completely, ventilate the bastards.

 

[rpsurfr]

I was at a pros shop today. A few days ago someone took his truck, which was hooked to a tailer which had a Packard chassis in it. Worth a bundle, they cut through 3 chain link fences. He recovered it but is making a very secure place to try to stop them. They may get in but will not drive out. Needless to say the post I think is timely. In my neck of the woods the crime has moved to where there is something to steal so lock your building, chain your trailer and make it as hard as you can to slow em up. If they want it they can get it but if it is hard they will run out of time..

 

[nissan_crawler]

If they want it they can get it but if it is hard they will run out of time..

Like I explained to my neighbor when he asked if I thought the chains and locks on my trailers made them theft-proof... "no, but why would they bother when your trailer is 20 ft away unsecured?"

 

[bmwpower]

Lol...
http://southjersey.craigslist.org/grd/1462146160.html

 

[rikmeister]

adopt a large cat like a lion or tiger and have him live in your garage. i guarantee no one breaks in and if they do you will not have to feed the cat that day. hehehe.

 

[rikmeister]

ihave brinks for my alarm system. cheap to install but is like 30.00 20.00 a month there after.

 

[whaler2001]

This has been a huge concern of mine since losing my job and working from home (mechanic)

I try and park something, preferably an automatic, in front of the doors to my little building that my tools are in every night so they won't open. It gives me some piece of mind. My shotgun does too, but i'm a pretty sound sleeper.

 

[Lippyp]

Yeah, burglaries have gone up over this side of the pond too, but we're not allowed guns. I always keep my garage and shed locked, I have automatic security floodlights and my trailer has a tow hitch lock and is chained to a phone pole. in the back garden. A bigger problem over here has been fuel thefts, particularly from trucks. They just drill a hole in the bottom of the tank, take what they can carry and let the rest run away (diesel) They have also been atrgeting domestic heating oil in rural properties, the really well organised thieves have a big van with one or two of those pallet based tanks in the back and an electric fuel transfer pump to move the oil. That and metal thefts, just a couple of weeks ago the publicly owned building next to me was having some work done on it so was surrounded by scaffolding, dumb idiots didn't fence it off and someone got up there one night and took all the lead flashing from the roof. The post office next door to that building has had that happen twice in the last 18 months.

 

[Brad54]

Why call the cops? They would be long gone before the cops even thought about getting there. No info, no proof, no point.

Call the cops to make them aware that someone with a big cube truck was casing a place... then they know what to look for if it happens again. It gives them a lead. And if you call them right away, they MAY stumble on the creeps while patrolling that night.

I say this realizing two things: When seconds count, the police are only minutes away (which is why you investigate these things with a pump 20 gauge loaded with buckshot); and that even when you DO do their job for them, there's a chance the police won't do anything (Like the Polk County, Florida, sheriff that told me he didn't have the time to track down my stolen truck parts after I gave him the license tag of the guy driving around with my one-off, documented parts. Gave him the tag TWICE, no less. "You're not the victim anymore, the insurance company is because they paid you for your loss." But I digress...)

-Brad

 

[boro_boy70]

and that even when you DO do their job for them, there's a chance the police won't do anything (Like the Polk County, Florida, sheriff that told me he didn't have the time to track down my stolen truck parts after I gave him the license tag of the guy driving around with my one-off, documented parts. Gave him the tag TWICE, no less. "You're not the victim anymore, the insurance company is because they paid you for your loss." But I digress...)

-Brad

I would follow the truck and take the parts back yourself. Let the guy call the cops, you can't get in trouble for taking parts that you own.(provided you have absolute proof that they are your parts) And as a bonus when the cops get there let the guy explain to them where he obtained your property.

 

[bahamasair]

Here armed robbery is so common now most victims don't bother calling the cops (who are worthless). They mainly target women, My wife was held up as she tried to pull into the driveway the night before new years last year and the cops actually caught the fuckers. I got it on camera but they didn't want a copy and she did ID them in a lineup. They were caught in the stolen car with all my wifes id etc that they took and one of them pled guilty right away and was given 4 months. We are still going to court for the other one. My wife had to go to a shrink and take anti depressants for months before she would even go outside at night and they gave the scumbag 4 months. I told one of the cops what Id like to do to them when I see them again at the trial and he gave me both of their addresses and just told me to be careful. One of them is locked up again for more armed robberies and causing harm but the other one is out and I plan on stopping by.
Regular theft is out of control here too. I install gate motors and they have been stealing them too. Someone tried to break into my neighbors Friday night while they were sleeping and **** is one of the highest crimes here.
I have cctv cameras, Electric fence, Pit Bills and a bunch of guns but none of that keeps my wife safe when she is out.