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Not joking: Precisely one day after my last post, above, my apartment was burglarized! WTF? They pried open a window and just busted through the screen. Stole my iMac (paid $2,100 in 2010). Luckily I bought renters insurance a week ago, but I still have to pay an annoying $500 deductible.
The police officer took 90 minutes to arrive. (911 call at 6:30; he arrived at 8pm.) He said it was his second break-in that day.
I recently spoke to a police officer who said there had been a rash of property crime (she wouldn't say where), so all the neighborhoods were being patrolled at night.
Some neighborhoods get it more than others. Those located near a poor section of town get hit regularly. Residents learn not to leave windows open at night (this makes air conditioning a must, and some can't afford it) or during the day. When there's construction or remodeling going on in any neighborhood, the workers sometimes case the homes in the area on their lunch breaks, and look for opportunities. I've lived here 10 years, lived in two different neighborhoods, and twice have had to chase burglars out of the house. Several neighbors were robbed in one neighborhood where I lived.
yes, we HAVE an alarm system and two dogs that bark however there were two problems 1) people can take quite a lot of your items prior to police responding. it's not like your alarm goes off and the police magically appear and 2) we had a large, loud humidifier going and the dogs must have been snoozing in the back room. when i got home, our bedroom door was shut which i though was strange. in retrospect, the perps probably grabbed my jewelry and then the dogs heard them and began running down the hall. they shut the bedroom door to prevent the dogs from hurting then and got back out the window. if it were not for our 2 dogs, i am sure they would have gotten to the rest of the house.
We lived in SF for almost a decade and left last year largely because we were fed up with the crime (and all the drunk drivers). We have lived all over the country both rural and in large cities, and have never had to deal with so much crime. Had two house break ins, one mugging downtown while walking in a nice neighborhood, car has been keyed, graffiti on our adobe walls, etc, etc.
I have to say the SF police were always very kind and helpful---they are always understaffed and underfunded. MANY crimes go unreported because they have slow response and too many crimes.
Some tips they told us:
We already had house alarm, but they said to put alarm signs in back and side areas, use motion detectors with bright lights that go on. Learn how to use pepper spray and take it with you on mountain hikes and walks to town. ALWAYS stay alert while walking around. Start a neighborhood watch group (which we did.) Get license plate and car description on suspicious cars.
Good luck to you all and hope our experiences won't be yours.
We lived in SF for almost a decade and left last year largely because we were fed up with the crime (and all the drunk drivers). We have lived all over the country both rural and in large cities, and have never had to deal with so much crime. Had two house break ins, one mugging downtown while walking in a nice neighborhood, car has been keyed, graffiti on our adobe walls, etc, etc.
I have to say the SF police were always very kind and helpful---they are always understaffed and underfunded. MANY crimes go unreported because they have slow response and too many crimes.
Some tips they told us:
We already had house alarm, but they said to put alarm signs in back and side areas, use motion detectors with bright lights that go on. Learn how to use pepper spray and take it with you on mountain hikes and walks to town. ALWAYS stay alert while walking around. Start a neighborhood watch group (which we did.) Get license plate and car description on suspicious cars.
Good luck to you all and hope our experiences won't be yours.
Thanks for the thoughts.
Yeah, that was my next question: What good is an alarm if none of your neighbors do anything when they hear it? It's not like the police are going to arrive instantaneously (as someone else suggested). It took my copper 90 minutes to arrive, and when he did, it looked like he was walking into a restaurant. He made a half-assed attempt to dust for fingerprints but then told me everything he was finding was my fingerprints (but how did he know what *my* fingerprints were?).
I'm going to get visible cameras. My guess is they'll discourage at least some burglars, and the deadbeats that are brazen enough to ignore them will get caught on film. There are some great wireless cameras available now, and they don't break the bank.
Yeah, that was my next question: What good is an alarm if none of your neighbors do anything when they hear it?
It wakes me up so I can be alert while I walk around my house with a firearm.
Some alarms do discourage intruders.
Some neighbors (like me) will call police if awaken by an alarm, some neighbors look out the window...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sean Kellogg
I'm going to get visible cameras. My guess is they'll discourage at least some burglars, and the deadbeats that are brazen enough to ignore them will get caught on film. There are some great wireless cameras available now, and they don't break the bank.
Those work well, to a degree. And they are a bargain these days.
Yeah, that was my next question: What good is an alarm if none of your neighbors do anything when they hear it? It's not like the police are going to arrive instantaneously (as someone else suggested). It took my copper 90 minutes to arrive, and when he did, it looked like he was walking into a restaurant. He made a half-assed attempt to dust for fingerprints but then told me everything he was finding was my fingerprints (but how did he know what *my* fingerprints were?).
I'm going to get visible cameras. My guess is they'll discourage at least some burglars, and the deadbeats that are brazen enough to ignore them will get caught on film. There are some great wireless cameras available now, and they don't break the bank.
I've thought the same thing about alarms and didn't want to spend the money or sign a three year contract to get a system. I thought of getting one of those wireless door alarms to blast if someone came in thru a door. Where I live now I have a phone list of most of the neighors and can call if something is odd. Unfortunately not the guy's number who accidently left his garage door open. I came home late and saw it open and had to work up my nerve to go knock on his door at midnight. I knew I'd feel bad if his motorcycle and tools were gone in the morning if I hadn't tried. He was very happy I did and I was glad to be facing a sleepy man and not a firearm.
When I lived in Eldorado a house with a alarm down the street would always be going off "intruder alert, intruder alert, intruder...." As far as I know it never was a break-in. If I had such an alarm I'd at least ask my neighbors to give me a call if it was going off. Our neighborhood never organized out there because it felt very safe.
I put cameras (not wireless) up until the hard disk broke and I'm still trying to get my money back from Harbor Freight. Do not buy from them. Last winter when someone went thru the cars in the neighborhood after a snow storm the police wouldn't follow the obvious tracks so I figured if someone broke in I wouldn't be able to get the police to look at the video anyway so I didn't replace it. But I like the wireless idea as a deterrent--much simplier.
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