Man in Black w/ mask in back yards, options?

[2ADMNLOVER]

Put warning signs around your yard saying you won't call the cops .

However , the yard is booty trapped and if caught , the perp will be a YouTube star of gay bondage films .

If he still hangs around your yard then you have problems .

 

[indiucky]

I open carry my outside lights.

When we bought our little farm house out in the country it had been vacant for five years...There was a large security light but it was off and for the first couple of months we left it that way...Black...I mean mammoth cave black out there at night....It was good for stargazing but we decided to pay the extra $6 a month to have it turned back on...When we did it changed the whole ambiance of the place...After about a month we contacted them (southern Indiana electric) to see if they could give me a switch to where I could turn it off when we were there and they said no...I spoke to my three neighbors..(The only ones in 3 miles of gravel road) and told them I was thinking about having it shut off again....

They agreed with you....I remember one guy said, "Rick, it's your house and your business so you do what you want but I promise you...Everybody in this County knows who you are, what you do, and when you all are here...With that light on every time I drive by your place (which is a bit, he farms fields both up and down the road from me) I can look over and tell within an instant if somebody is there or if the door has been messed with....I can promise you this...If you turn that light back out after folks now know you all live here a couple of days a week you WILL get broken into...Not if but when...The light has been on ever since...When I want to star gaze I just cross the road to the field......

Just my 2 cents to your 2 cents making us 4 cents ahead....

 

[rhino]

All my Burglaries have been with lights off. 20 years of practice here.

Maybe I'll have a Burglary with lights on, but so far, outside lights are always off.

You must be pretty good at it if you've been burglarizing for 20 years!

 

[actaeon277]

All my Burglaries have been with lights off. 20 years of practice here.

Maybe I'll have a Burglary with lights on, but so far, outside lights are always off.

My neighbor to the east had his house broken in with lights on, he was not at home.
My neighbor to the west had someone attempt to break in to his house, while it was occupied. It was lit from his house, and mine.

 

[actaeon277]

My neighbor to the east had his house broken in with lights on, he was not at home.
My neighbor to the west had someone attempt to break in to his house, while it was occupied. It was lit from his house, and mine.

And I'm not saying lights are a bad idea.
I am saying that they are not a magical device that prevents ALL theft.

 

[Dead Duck]

All my Burglaries have been with lights off. 20 years of practice here.

Maybe I'll have a Burglary with lights on, but so far, outside lights are always off.

Same concept with most my brothers ugly dates.






Heed his warnings. Kirk would know about these things.

I grew up in a city environment but it's all just as easy in the country. I've know thieves and they don't like lights, they don't like dogs or even evidence of a dog (HINT), they don't like TVs on all night, they don't like things locked up and they don't like your things put away, they don't like open exposed areas.

They do love darkness, and quiet, and open or unlocked doors, and your stuff openly displayed, and hiding spots.

Don't make it easy for them.
After all the deterrents you can think of doing, if they really, truly want something of yours, they will eventually get it. It will just take them longer to get and be nosier than they'd like.

I knew about a young teen on a bicycle that once shattered a car window because he was out of matches to light his cigarette and he could see a lighter on the dash.

Guys will be on the lookout during the day while driving, bicycling, walking all to spot places of interest for later "hits". Like people moving into a new place and watching the movers and their loads or garage and barn doors wide open and they'll look in to take an inventory. (I've seen guys walk past places and slow way down to do this). For the handymen, they can hear your power tools, compressors, pneumatic tools, etc...

Now days with methheads, I'm sure it's worse out there.




Try to think as a badguy (can be hard) and walk around your property during the day and especially at night. Don't tell your family what your doing so they act natural inside. You'll be surprised at what you find. Bushes he can hide in, access points, easy in/easy outs, watching your family inside through a window and you and maybe even your neighbors wouldn't be able to see him standing there. Now go farther out and look back at your house with some small cheap binoculars. Overkill? Maybe, but I know guys that did this in my past.

Oh, and watch out on stormy evenings.
They normally like it quiet but a natural noise like rain and thunder will mask any noise they can make. How many of you just blow off the bumps in the night during a storm?
Ya, I thought so.

 

[Alpo]

You have to go with "call the authorities".

But if we are honest, some are thinking "white phosphorus" or "phosgene".

I'm guessing that your neighbors have rules against those things. Call the cops.

Phosgene is a bit much, plus it hangs around for hours and can bother the lawn. Willy Pete is my vote.

 

[indiucky]

You must be pretty good at it if you've been burglarizing for 20 years!

The only pic they ever got of him....

 

[24Carat]

With no comment on the "music," how many of us are mentally removing the black outfit and helmet?

With my teeth !

Yup

^^^ What he said ^^^

Yes. Is that wrong?

Wrong? I'm already smokin a cigarette and I don't smoke !

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

With my teeth !



^^^ What he said ^^^



Wrong? I'm already smokin a cigarette and I don't smoke !

You'll go blind...

 

[kiddchaos]

Multi Layer is best.

I installed some see in the dark WIFI cameras in the back. They works great because all you need is power in the location you need.

Boy was THIS is an eye opener. There were more people walking thru my yard at night then I ever knew. Nothing of mine was ever missing, but jeez. So I decided to do something about it.

I hooked up a PC in the garage. Put WIFI on it, and then got some super loud ampified speakers and put them up under the awning of the outdoor garage in the back. I set up some remote control software.

So when I see someone in the back yard I don't know, I remote into the backyard PC and start playing WAV sounds. Sometimes I play animal noises of large African animals. or sometimes Clint Eastwoods "Get off my lawn". If that doesn't work, I load up some gunfire WAVs. The result is hillarious. Had one guy literally fall over himself on the ground trying to exit. They all EXIT quickly.

Lol!

My old neighbors had something like this.
http://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Barking-Secure-Watch-Dog/dp/B00CXAL8QU

 

[EricG]

An evil dog?

 

[singlemalt]

I believe the sound of a 12 gauge pump shotgun being wracked is universally understood as "get the heck off of my lawn"!

 

[edporch]

Since a certain demographic group is allowed to hide their faces, it ought to be either OK for everybody, or not OK for anybody!

 

[GIJEW]

Turn on your outside lights and LEAVE THEM ON. That way you won't have a prowler problem.

Not saying to leave things dark, but leaving the light on for the burgler isn't much of a deterrent if no one is around or up to see

 

[Droogie]

How about something like this?

Glow Stick Perimeter Alarm | The Riverside Center for Education

 

[cosermann]

And I'm not saying lights are a bad idea.
I am saying that they are not a magical device that prevents ALL theft.

That's what the research seems to indicate. Effect seems to vary by area/culture.