[Artemisia] What thieves look for

[tangl]

I have personally spoken to a former theif about SCA stuff. I wanted to know if our house was the sort of place that a thief would target. As a SCAdian, I have often heard folks say stuff like, "Any theif who walks in here and sees all the swords/thrones/armor/fill-in-the-SCA-blank will turn right around and leave."

But according to this fella, whom I call a "security expert", that couldn't be farther from the truth. Thieves see stuff like that and think, "MONEY!" What spooks a thief is seeing an alarm box on your wall. He told me you can buy those fake ones and that they actually work because a thief that sees those doesn't know if it's real or not, so they leave and look for an easier target.

My expert also told me a dog is a deterrent and that close ties with neighbors is your best defense. A ring of theives can pull up to your house during the day, while you're working, and clean you out in a matter of hours,and get away with it by doing one thing: driving up in a moving truck. Unless your neighbors know you and know you are NOT moving, most folks won't even note the name on the side of the van.

He also told me something else that was quite unsettling. He said he could walk in to a house and assess it in less than a minute. If it looked viable and had more value than just a quick poke around the master bedroom for jewelry, he'd merely leave everything alone and come back later, when he knew he had more time. If he was just going to take the portable valuables, he could rob the place in less than three minutes.

SCA stuff only intimidates us and timid straights. Thieves don't care about your accomplishments or status, just about what they want that money for.

Maitresse Tanglwyst de Holloway
Barony of Arn Hold
Kingdom of Artemisia

-If you can't be a good example, at least you can be a horrible warning.~ Catherine

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