Need advice Bad neighbor stories

[Jeff White]

We had a rash of thefts from vehicles two years ago. Not a single car was broken into. When I apprehended the kids responsible, they told me that they just walked up and down the streets looking for unlocked vehicles. People left cell phones, purses, change, cameras, firearms....all kind of valuable things in their vehicles because they lived in a small town and things like that don't happen here :banghead: .

Lock your vehicles. I would bet that if your sister had locked her her car, nothing would have been taken. Breaking windows to make entry creates noise, opening doors with a slim jim or other tool takes time, especially with all the electronics in the doors of newer vehicles. Sounds like a typical crime of opportunity, locking your vehicle and removing valuables from it would have stopped it from happening.

Now I know someone is going to say that "I shouldn't have to inconvenience myself by locking my stuff up, people shouldn't steal." But in my opinion that is simply failing to accept the reality of the world we live in.

Jeff

 

[Mad Chemist]

You can't leave a gps and an ipod in a locked or unlocked vehicle and not expect them to get ripped off.

 

[rrruuunnn]

if this kid is still constantly casing areas. i hidden camera would catch some interesting footage.

 

[LightningJoe]

call the police and tell them what's been going on. LET THEM do their job.

Dealing with this kid isn't really their job yet. We don't pay enough taxes for them to hire enough cops to prevent small scale pilfering.


Not sure how to deal with the kid at this point. But he'll either get better or worse. The 17-year-old who steals your GPS may become the 18-year-old who breaks into your house or the 20-year-old who mugs the old man down the street.


The 12-year-old will develop, too. Maybe he'll enter the priesthood. Or maybe he'll turn out just like his brother.

 

[gallo]

About 8 months ago, one Saturday late night, my dog was barking frantically in the backyard. I turned on the lights, saw nothing, and called the dog into the house. The following day at the corner of the fence was a laptop. I reported it to the police and it was my neighbor's. Some punks had opened his car and taken an ipod and laptop. I'm not sure why they slipped the computer under my fence, perhaps they heard the police. If they tried to retrieve it, the dog didn't let them.

Police advise: lock you car, report all incidents, keep your car inside the garage if possible.

 

[exar]

Wow. Just out of general principle I never leave my GPS in my truck. Ever. Unless, of course, I want it gone overnight. Those things are the prime targets these days for theft. So small and very valuable. They will not hesitate to break some glass for them, either. $300 to $1000 is just too tempting for some.

I feel your pain, though. I had about $2000 of original copy CD's stolen from my Mustang at the time. Yep, I live in the country and left doors unlocked when I was a teenager. Never leave my doors unlocked now anywhere.

 

[bcp]

Put this in their yard.

 

[Deanimator]

My car is visibly full of books. It apparently scares potential thieves. I once accidentally left a Walther PPK/S in the car, IN CHICAGO. Nobody came near the car. Scared of the talking marks, I guess...

 

[testify4]

My car is visibly full of books. It apparently scares potential thieves. I once accidentally left a Walther PPK/S in the car, IN CHICAGO. Nobody came near the car. Scared of the talking marks, I guess...

A friend of mine leaves his Bible on the dashboard of his car since he often needs it for church and Bible study. I joked with him that it's a nice theft deterrent, since he leaves his doors unlocked but nothing is ever missing.

 

[Jeff White]

In some neighborhoods they'd steal the bible. One of the things taken during the theft spree I mentioned in my earlier post was a bible that was in a pretty ornate leather cover. I do think that they didn't know it was a bible when they took it though.

Jeff

 

[SUWANNEE MAN]

Does anybody remember what Sgt. Hartman said in Full Metal Jacket about Pvt. Pile's unlocked foot locker???

 

[blackcash88]

i have an old laptop that doesn't work anymore and i'm going to strip the guts out of it and put a cell phone inside the computer. im going to leave my car unlocked with the laptop in the front seat. when they steal it the police should track the cell phone.

Yeah, that will work for about 10 minutes right up until they figure out it won't even turn on, much less work. They'll just dump it somewhere. You "might" get lucky if they're stupid enough to throw it away in their own garbage.

 

[blackcash88]

Ask the cops to stop by the neighbors and ask to look through the kids' rooms.

Only if the parents are really, really stupid and agree to an unconstitutional search of their home. Legally, the cops would need a warrant and, unless there were pictures or video, there would be no probable cause for a warrant and search. No evidence.

 

[bdickens]

Something about if it wasn't for people like you we wouldn't have any theives.

 

[SUWANNEE MAN]

... so the motto of the day is an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure... lock the dang doors. keep the garage door down.