[Artemisia] What thieves look for, be a hard target

[earlalan at srv.net]

Greetings All,

Tangl's comments are pretty right on.  Most residential burglaries happen
during the day, when most people are out working.  And typically the bad
guys "case" the house first.  Locally we've had a few bad boys who went
into unlocked garages at night and went through vehicles inside the
garages.  Amazing what people leave in their cars in their garage!

Be a hard target.  Use motion lights, dogs, alarms and good neighbors, as
Tangle suggested.  Remember the bad boys don't think like you do, so
trying to "understand" them is usually futile.  They're basically another
species that looks alot like regular people.  And finally, the VAST
majority of money gained from crime is used to buy dope.

If you see anything goofy or suspicious in your neighborhood, GET THE
LICENSE PLATE of the suspect vehicle.  This is really critical.  Much
intel can be gained from that plate by the police, but if you report a
dark brown little Ford.......well, there's a lot of them running around.

Good luck!

Alan

>
> 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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