Security Ideas

[N80]

Last week I went to do a little yard work and couldn't find my Stihl string trimmer. A little later I could not find my newish Echo chainsaw. I remembered that I had left them underneath my screen porch in the back yard. It is an area you can walk under where we keep gardening tools and a potting bench etc.

I live in town. Typical small city with shady trees, homes around 100 years old and a college nearby. Unfortunately 3-4 blocks in either directions are shady neighborhoods....what my kids call sketchy. There are very few break ins on our street but thefts of opportunity happen a few times a year.

Two neighbors had cars broken into during the night of July 3. Lots of fireworks going off, etc. That is probably when my stuff was stolen

So the moral of the story, as my wife has reminded me many times, is not to leave my stuff unlocked. It should have been locked in the walk in basement which you can access from the back yard.

But, the thief had to walk between my cars and my neighbor's cars down our shared driveway. The neighbor has a motion sensor light which would have come on. Our houses are no more than 20' apart. Then he would have had to gone through my gate or jump over the fence. There is a mercury vapor light on a pole in my back yard right were he would have gone through the gate, so it is fairly well lit (and probably made things easier for him. My point in all this is that whoever this person was did not mind coming well into my 'territory'. This stuff was not visible and a long way off the street. Either someone was just poking around looking for stuff to steal or they knew it was back there. I'm a little concerned about my neighbor's yard crew.

Anyway, other than locking my stuff up, what else can I do?

I may add another motion sensor light. Some suggest a camera. Other neighbors have done that. It is useless. No one ever get's ID'd.

I've thought about a motion detector alarm that goes off in the house. I'm sure most of this stuff happens at 2 am. I just wonder if that would drive me crazy with every cat or raccoon that wanders through.

Any other thoughts?

 

[MikeInEburg]

Prevention of theft should be the goal. Locks, locks, locks. A hoodie can make cameras useless. Not that I practice what I preach...

 

[Tractor Seabee]

In our area the sheriff loves it when people install cameras and record. Their statistics show that having identifiable persons or cars exponentially increases their success.
My local deputy recommended we put in one that is obvious for intruders to disable while a more concealed one (or more) records the action. Alarm systems that also turn on all cameras also help. They do not like to respond to raccoons or the neighbors cat so the cameras can prevent calling in a nuisance alarm or rule out a prowler did it.

We just moved back to town so in the process of installing cameras and alarms. Crime rate here is higher than in the country we left.

Ron

 

[N80]

I might consider a game camera since I could use it down on my property in the country. Motion sensor alarms are cheap so I'll probably do that. More lighting. And of course lock everything up as mentioned.

I would like to have a motion sensor alarm that also made a noise of some sort outside so the perp would know he'd been detected. I do not see that feature on most driveway type alarms.

Another car got broken into down the street. That's three cars in one week. All of them were older cars. All had window broken. None of them had anything of significant value stolen from them. If they had alarms, which I'm guessing they did not, no alarms went off. I'm assuming on a modern car the alarm would go off if window broken.

Anyway, as usual my homeowner's deductible is $1000 so I will not need to make a claim. The Echo chainsaw goes for about $300 new. Not sure about the Stihl string trimmer. They go for about $300 used on eBay. I'm guessing closer to $500 for the solid shaft model like I had.

 

[Citydude]

I would suggest a fence to block easy access. Thieves hate fences and dogs.

 

[fishheadbob]

Make a stencil, get a can of spray paint. Your stuff becomes a lot less desirable when it's identifiable. Sure the paint can be removed, but that is extra work for the crackheads and it leaves an obvious spot.

 

[frugalangler]

Make a stencil, get a can of spray paint. Your stuff becomes a lot less desirable when it's identifiable. Sure the paint can be removed, but that is extra work for the crackheads and it leaves an obvious spot.

And pawn shops hate markings like that, so even more so of a deterrent, since that's what thieves steal tools for is to pawn for cash.

 

[N80]

Already has a fence. Yes, I plan on marking my 'stealables'.

 

[rswyan]

... I've thought about a motion detector alarm that goes off in the house. I'm sure most of this stuff happens at 2 am. I just wonder if that would drive me crazy with every cat or raccoon that wanders through.

Any other thoughts?

I have three of the HF infrared motion sensor alarms ... two here in the house and one that is located in the shop (a masonry block building) that is over 400' away ...

The transmitter in the shop is strong enough to set off the receiver alarm down here at the house :thumbsup: ... it's also sensitive enough to pick up mice ...

 

[rswyan]

And FWIW, about a year or so ago the local police in the area were able to catch a band of juveniles that had committed a couple of burglaries in the area simply because the last place they hit had a camera system with a recorder ... :thumbsup:

 

[JPRambo]

I have in the past, wired a buzzer into my motion sensor lights to sound whenever the motion sensor was triggered.

 

[Gunny]

Get a security light with two bulb fixtures, screw in a two outlet adapter on one side, screw in the bulbs, plug an alarm into one of the outlets on the adapter.

 

[TN8Man]

Get a security ip camera that will alarm and send you emails with video captures when video motion is detected. Then when you get the email notification you can then log in a view the camera video in real-time. My cameras has 2-way audio also so I can hear and speak through the camera. My camera also has night vision and I can control the camera viewing position. I also have motion flood lights on all corners of the house and on my deck. An intruder might be able to disable the camera but not until they first activate the alarm and video/picture capture that's sent to you via email. You can be notified no matter where you are via smart phone.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

I've been using a pair of Amcrest IP2M-841 IP wireless IP cameras for the better part of a year. The video is pretty sharp both day and night, they have the ability to send photos and videos over the internet, and to send notification emails when they sense motion. I don't use those features, preferring instead to do the same with a laptop that monitors all the cameras and other sensors, but the Amcrests are less than a hundred bux each and would give you a good start for not a lot of money. You'd have to mount them inside the house looking out a window or in some other sheltered location though, as they're not intended for outside use.

I also have a pair of Dahua IPC-HFW4300S cameras that are waterproof, and have them mounted under the eaves. They've also been very reliable, but each requires a wired Ethernet connection. Again, not very expensive and good bang for the buck.

The cameras are only supplements to a real security system that is monitored by ADT. I don't think the camera based technology is reliable enough yet to trust with calling the police, but it is good enough to confirm an alarm signal, use for checking up on things when traveling, or provide images to help identify someone that came onto the property without my permission. Or even someone that pokes around, perhaps where they shouldn't be, when they've been invited over.