Thieving Mongrels

[UIZ733]

Were broken into yesterday. Mongrels broke a window after climbing on water tank. May have been spooked as only thing taken was $2000 worth of camera gear. Police have been excellent and have said that basically if they decide they are coming in, they will come in. Neighbours saw or heard nothing. We are thinking of putting in some kind of a deterrent that would alert the neighbours if nothing else. Any feedback on this; http://www.bunnings.com.au/products_product_nelson-alarm-home-alarm-system-kit-2_1727.aspx or similar products appreciated.
Regards P

[mystq]

I know it's a bad felling, leaves you gutted  :'(

[Black Diamond]

That's bad news mate, I hope they catch the bloody Tip Rats.

Cheers BD

[Duchess]

Last Friday, my home was broken into as well. I was lucky, they only wanted cash, took my ipod, spare car keys and some fuel. However, they did take my hand held UHF, which really sh*ts me as I know that they'll just chuck it somewhere, once they've decided its useless. They also did try to steal the Chevy (thank goodness its broken down in my garage), took a bolt cutter to the padlock on the Ducati but the padlock won and was too tough but stole the cutters anyway and then later used them to cut their way into the local town pool fence and trash the joint (makes you feel real good when you know something you owned helped commit another crime!) The best one was them taking my deceased husbands credit card after going through his wallet, which I had cancelled years ago but well, you know, was hanging onto for the sentimental value, if nothing else...

Anyway...I got lucky and found all the car keys, along with someone else's keys, down by the lagoon out the back of my place, where the poor buggers had stopped to have a drink from the water bottles they also pinched from my pantry...as thieving is a thirsty business, apparently!

I hate what it has now turned me into...a person who is now spending more time locking things away. Today for example when the forensics people came through the house, I spent more time finding the key to unlock something to get to something that then had to be unlocked...you get the picture..."Look what this has done to me" I said to the other woman, who sympathised.

We've been looking at surveillance cameras, especially those that you can access via the web whilst you're away and are motion sensing. They also record to an SD card. The only advice I have had on them is from a police officer who said to make sure that the picture is clear. If it is a crappy picture, they can't get distinguishing features of the criminals off it and so are rendered useless.

I also think that that siren that makes a bloody loud noise would also be a good idea. They won't like that going off!

I am beginning to think that technology is what will beat these people in the end...GPS trackers and cameras...they're coming up as very good deterrents and information gatherers.

[bullfrog]

I like the Asian way, get caught stealing & have a hand lopped off. Bet re-offending rates are pretty low. Gunpowder is also supposed to work well I'm told......

[speewa158]

X2 Bullfrog
1st up aganst the wall come the revolution    
These dosey bastards that wont buy there own gear really turn the guts .
Might be a good case of 2 bags of Rapid set & 2x 20 L buckets & a RIVER
Sorry you have had to go through this

[Stozz]

Having had cars broken into away from home, I know that gutted feeling.

I hope they catch the mongrels that did this to you.

We have always had one of these at our house (see pic), and it has been a good deterrent so far.  Someone once climbed our back fence and tried to bolt across the back yard.  Our last bluey took a piece from his jeans and kept his shoe as a souvenier.  Haven't had trouble since.

Latest bluey is 30kg, grumpy and doesn't like strangers 

[singo-26]

I like the Asian way, get caught stealing & have a hand lopped off. Bet re-offending rates are pretty low. Gunpowder is also supposed to work well I'm told......

x3
Lead deficient, Needing an urgent injection.

[bullfrog]

No argument from me Jamie, even got a big , deep river here too . Must be from a country upbringing, but I have absolutely 0 tolerance for scum who interfere with someone else's gear.  

[craigtempo]

F*&()^%G  RSOLS

sorry to here that UIZ and duchess ...............................

craig

[D4D]

That sucks, sorry to hear that.

For house security the trick is to make your house look harder to get into than your next door neighbours. Most of these low lifes are opportunistic. Visible deterents could be a dog, signs, cameras, sirens/strobes. If you're going to fit an alarm no point having it local, get it monitored. Don't bother with wireless too many false alarms. When planning sensor location make sure they don't get direct sunlight during the day. Most houses can get away with 4-6 sensors to cover most areas. Should cost about $1000-2000 for a full system and about $1/day monitoring. We also have remote on/off rather than keypad this has the benefit of a panic button which when pressed will inform the monitoring company of duress and call the cops.

[gibbo301]

I got one of these getting a bit old now

[MDS69]

Further to what D4D said I am about to add arm/disarm witha remote but our keypad has medical, fire and police buttons that send different signals on the back to base monitoring. Also one of the zones is a smoke detector so if a fire happens when we are away and automatic signal is sent so the firies can be called.

[Janbo]

Sorry to hear that, these mongrels are vermin and need to be treated as such.....

[noel_w]

Go ahead punk
No.. Thats too good for em

[Butsy]

Alarms were great when they 1st came out, but they are not used correctly now. People turn them on, but leave the cat and dog inside - which set off the alarm. They also leave windows open, which blows the curtain and sets the alarm off.  When 1st out, everybody rushed to the neighbours house when they went off because they thought the house was being broken into. But now...what do you think when you hear the alarm - bloody alarm going off again, I'm going to go over there and pull the plug.  Crooks are only in your house for a few minutes in most break ins and grab the easy trade/hock stuff so they can get drugs. Most stuff stolen is kept in the same spot in everyone's house - the kitchen bench, the hutch, bedside table or dressing table or hallway cupboard. The alarm is not really a deterrent. Good deterrent is a decent sized dog, like a cattledog and it should have a bit of mongrel in it. Also key locking screen doors instead of latch locking. You have to make it hard for them. Security screens are the best start but if they want to get in they will. They want to make the least noise possible when entering, that is why small windows are broken instead of large ones.  Speaking from 20yrs experience in the blue suit. But I know one thing, if I found them in my home, they would end up in hospital for a few weeks because they tripped and fell down the stairs.

[D4D]

That's why you have a monitored alarm, if the alarm fires the control room can tell you what sensor was hit and how many hits. This helps determine if it was a false fire or someone is actually moving around in the house. You can blind the sensor so animals can walk freely through the house without firing the alarm. The other item to install is screamers inside, they're designed to affect your balance. I have multiple in our house and you cannot stay inside when they are firing.

[rockman]

Not good news for you .

My first thing they have to get past is approx 75kgs of very unhappy puppy ( and very quick on the ground ) .
Second is the new dog , 50 kgs of a very pissed off dog ( never seen anything guard this well and under 1 year old ) .
Third is the mum of the first ... 60kgs of unhappy mum , bit slow but like all old people , just plain cranky .

If they get past that , keep whatever as a trophy ... you deserve it .

[Bird]

Keep an eye out at the local crime converters....

also look at proper security with back to base monitoring. it isnt that expensive these days and your insurance company may actually give you a discount of around .0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 of a % to offset it.

[crackacoldie]

We were told by the  , after e were broken into years ago, that if they are organised, they try the sae premises after about three months.  The same amount of time it takes for the insurance company to replace your belongings.  Unfortunately the  were right in out case, however, some well laid trip wires for a few weeks paid off and the forensics got plent of blood for testing .

Sorry to here that you have had to go through this guys, left me feeling that my personal space had been invaded.

  Cracka

[jaycamrie]

Not good news for you .

My first thing they have to get past is approx 75kgs of very unhappy puppy ( and very quick on the ground ) .
Second is the new dog , 50 kgs of a very pissed off dog ( never seen anything guard this well and under 1 year old ) .
Third is the mum of the first ... 60kgs of unhappy mum , bit slow but like all old people , just plain cranky .

If they get past that , keep whatever as a trophy ... you deserve it .

  i like this approach

[mystq]

Alarms were great when they 1st came out, but they are not used correctly now. People turn them on, but leave the cat and dog inside - which set off the alarm. They also leave windows open, which blows the curtain and sets the alarm off.  When 1st out, everybody rushed to the neighbours house when they went off because they thought the house was being broken into. But now...what do you think when you hear the alarm - bloody alarm going off again

.

Very well said,,

[UIZ733]

Thanks for the comments. We were done 18 months previously also (A LOT STOLEN). Police have said that the new trend is they (oxygen thieves) turn up in tradies ute with bumblebee vests and most people think they are legit...fixing your windows doors etc. Something to keep in mind.

[Bird]

When 1st out, everybody rushed to the neighbours house when they went off because they thought the house was being broken into. But now...what do you think when you hear the alarm - bloody alarm going off again, I'm going to go over there and pull the plug.

same as car alarms...

[9775Andrew]

Been in security industry for some years and can offer you this

Don't waste your money on cheap alarms. batteries go flat, not stable, false alarms etc.

Start at the perimeter
     Security screens (deter MOST opportunist thieves)         under $1000 would cover most homes well
     Senor lights (cheapest effective security you can buy) also convenient for you on dark nights      under $500 installed all round the house
     Don't leave break in tools about ..... ladders, shovels, steel bars ( to hit you with), that sort of thing
     
     GOOD security alarm. stay away from the big companies (IMO, have worked for all of them, all promisses no service once ya signed up)
around $1500 should get a good installed system, maybe cheaper these day (I have stayed away from domestic market for some time)
You can opt for monitoring (worth it ............ maybe) or I tend to set friends / family domestic up to call up to 3 mobile phone numbers of your choice. Rings one after the other until acknowledged.

Only benefit to monitoring is perhaps a discount on your insurance

    IF you go down the road of cameras you have to spend money, the cops advice was spot on, if the picture is washy it's a waste of time, better off putting in dummy cameras.

As a minimum, around 2 grand would buy you 4 little dome cameras and a DVR for recording, plus installation (ball park only) yes there is cheaper gear but I won't use it.

At the end of the day, if you have screens, sensor lights and a siren box (working or not) on front of your house MOST of the time the would be thieves will look for the softer neighbour. Unless they know you have something particular they want ie ducati. As for alarms I always advise they are deterant only , but DO limit the time spent rumaging through your draws.

I have been to house where the thieves have had a feed from the fridge and had a few drinks whilst there.

Having ski boats, bikes, trailers etc I don't leave them on the street to advertise, keep shed doors closed to minimise whats on offer.

Unfortunately that's the world we live in today

At the end of the day, people spend thousands on air con, plasma TV etc and complain about a couple of grand to keep it and potentially their families safe. 

take all info as my opinion only and do with it as you please, I always hated getting a call to install locks or alarms after someone is broken into and asking for money when you know they have just been gutted.

Hope that helps some of you