User Panel
Posted: 5/19/2003 12:45:17 AM EDT
Having just read several threads relating to items being stolen from people's houses/cars, and from talking about the same issue yesterday with some friends, let me reiterate:
[b]There are NO "good neighborhoods"!!![/b] I don't care how nice, upscale, safe, or rural you think your area is. There are thieves everywhere, and your stuff isn't safe unless you've MADE it that way. If you have anything of value in plain sight in your car right now, and it's parked outside, you are tempting thieves to steal it, and eventually, they will. If your garage door is unlocked right now, don't be surprised if your bicycles, tools, GUNS, or whatever else of value you keep there isn't there tomorrow morning. If your doors aren't locked, anyone could walk right in to your house and surprise you. Please, start acting like you were living in Public Housing, and SECURE YOUR ENVIRONMENT. I know; I'm guilty too, sometimes, but I hate reading about you good folks losing stuff that you worked hard to earn. Please, be more careful, and remember that you aren't immune. Your best defense against thieves, burglers, and violent criminals is to secure your homes and your other property. The less attractive your stuff is, the more likely they'll go after someone else. And, for those of you who live in Texas, you aren't shooting anywhere near enough of these folks... -Troy |
|
I agree!!!!
I don't care if you are in a gated community, etc!!! There are good amount of 2 legged vermin and scum in this world who want everything for free. Be safe, be aware..and be armed!(and train with them!) Take that personal choice to defend yourself without being paranoid! |
|
Exactly, Troy. I realised a couple of years ago that I can't have nice things! I've had two stereos, an entire CD collection, and 5 sets of valve caps stolen from/off my car. I always keep everything out of plain sight, but on two occassions, I forgot to remove the face plate of my stereo, and wouldn't you know it, BAMMM, gone the next morning. Once, it actually happened on a date! I know have a shitty stereo, almost all CD's in my car are burnt, or backed up, and I no longer try to keep valve caps on my tires. Oh, well, one day I'll catch the fuckers, and they'll feel the wrath, but until then, I guard my shit like it's a child.
|
|
I always found it amusing that people who live in "Good neighborhoods" think they are immune from crime.
Let's see: Its two in the morning. I am a dirtbag looking for stuff to steal. Do I: A) Rip off my equally poor neighbors crappy stuff. or B) Drive down to the nice, upscale neighborhood and steal their nicer stuff. -Z |
|
Absolutely correct. I worked as a security guard for 5 years at the most exclusive gated community in Honolulu. There was one road in and out for 500 homes ranging from $1,000,000 to $20,000,000. Some of these people had kids who were spoiled rotten with BMW M5's, CL 55 AMG Benzes, X5's and the like. These kids wanted to be gangsters so bad that they would steal from their neighbors' homes just to commit a crime. Unfuckingbelievable. The yard service, construction, and painters would also steal from each other and the homes they were building/servicing. Seems like not a week would go by without a report of tools being stolen. If that place isn't secure, no neighborhood is.
|
|
My stepdad lived out on a farm all his life. He never locked any doors,and even kept the keys in their ignitions! When my mom and him finally moved to the city,it took a long time for him to shed those habits. At least he did'nt have to learn the "hard way"!
|
|
Some scumbags break into your car even if nothing is showing.
Scumbag/s took: - About USD 10.00 change from ashtray - Worn out air freshener - Can of pepper spray/mace It brings a warm fuzzy feeling to me when I hear of people who shoot these bastard thiefs. |
|
I live in the country, small farming town. I always lock all doors, set alarms, store guns in safe, etc. I have a big scary looking dog, and watchful neighbors.
I still worry when I'm gone for any length of time. |
|
I am responsible for my safety, my families safety and our personal property.
I have set up security and procedures around our home to protect it the best I can. |
|
I am reminded of something that happened at Basic Training at Fort Polk.
Drill Sergeant Prigmore was hollering at us about the importance of locking our footlockers. He said,"Any time you have 50 men living in the same barracks...." We all thought he was going to finish with, "..you'll have at least one thief." But he said, "...you will have 50 thieves!" Sad, but almost true. |
|
Really wouldn't expect a seemingly self-sufficent, weapons oriented, "heightened sense of awareness" group to be so frightened of everything, everywhere. So constantly scared . . . what a miserable life.
Pretend that one's home is "Public Housing"? That those who live with, and around us are all potential thieves? How neighborly. [rolleyes] I'm quite protected, I'm quite secure, and so is my family. We don't cower like this. Just not enough time to live in a self-imposed prison/bunker. (Then again, I live in a "make my day" state.) The need, I think, is for a greater sense of community; and not this type of "you aren't afraid enough!" message. IMHO |
|
I live in a town of about 1,025. I don't know of anyone who has had their car broken into in this area; although a friend of mine did lose some CD's when he left his car in Green Bay overnight. We don't lock our doors--I am not sure if we even still have a door key--nor do many of our neighbors; that being said it would only take a couple of robberies to shatter that trust we have in our community, and have everyone out in a mob hunting down the theif with pitchforks and scatterguns.[;)]
You guys are going to go crazy when I tell you that I work for a guy that has 5 vehicles(two of them are less than 2 years old), he [b][u]always[/u][/b] leaves the keys in the ignition and he doesn't own a garage--he keeps them parked in a parking lot by his house 24/7. [shock] |
|
Take a look at the sort of neighborly suggestions that can be found at AR15.com today:
[url=www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=187037]Ahh yes, to piss off the wrong neighbor, which song shall I play next[/url] |
|
It's not about "cowering in the corner with your gun", it's about using some commonsense and securing your location.
I don't sit in my living room with the doors unlocked. I don't leave my garage door open. We carry burned CD's, mainly so we don't scratch up the originals, but theft comes to mind too. I alway lock my cars. I secure my fence gate with a padlock. My wife doesn't drive with her purse sitting on the seat next to her. When shopping, we hid the loot under a shade in the back of the SUV. It doesn't take paranoia or living in fear to ratchet your security level up a LOT. Most thieves are creatures of opportunity. Just don't offer such inviting opportunities to them. [b]ARndog[/b] - you are living in Mayberry buddy. Enjoy it while you can. The Real World will be coming your way one of these days. Just wait until some town kid gets hooked on drugs, and the lock & key business will get very, very busy in Mayberry. |
|
Quoted: Really wouldn't expect a seemingly self-sufficent, weapons oriented, "heightened sense of awareness" group to be so frightened of everything, everywhere. So constantly scared . . . what a miserable life. Pretend that one's home is "Public Housing"? That those who live with, and around us are all potential thieves? How neighborly. [rolleyes] I'm quite protected, I'm quite secure, and so is my family. We don't cower like this. Just not enough time to live in a self-imposed prison/bunker. (Then again, I live in a "make my day" state.) The need, I think, is for a greater sense of community; and not this type of "you aren't afraid enough!" message. IMHO View Quote My thoughts exactly. If there is no reason to be fearful of theft, why lock your doors? I lock my car when I am in an area that I am unfamiliar with or I feel I have reason to--not when I am among good people and friends. |
|
My Paranoia is the only thing that kept me from loosing my Corvette one night.
I lived in a "good neighborhood", but I lived by a school. I'll never make that mistake again. Bored kids get into trouble. They cut the lock on my car cover, smashed the window, but gave up and just stole the radar detector when they saw the Club on my steering wheel. The poor bastard with the Jeep Cherokee they stole wasn't as fortunate. That was one of two cars I had broken into. I've have other crimes committed against my household as well. Probably didn't help living in Maryland, America's Most Robbed, where even "good neighborhoods" get hit. |
|
Well, there are "bad" neighborhoods AND "good" neighborhoods. I've lived in both.
In good neighborhoods, they still break in to your house, car, etc., though not as frequently. Those who do this sort of thing tend to be more professional about it. If you live in a good neighborhood but are near, or between two bad bad neighborhoods, the scumbags from one bad neighborhood may pass through YOUR good neighborhood to vist their scumbag friends in the other bad neighborhoods. On they way, they might stop by to rip you off. In bad neighborhoods, there are lazy, drug addicted scumbags, who will smash in your windshield, crawl through your backseat to get to your trunk, and steal your jack and a couple of road flares, which they try to sell just a few feet away from the car, and then buy crack. They'll also piss on your front door, take a shit on the side of your car, and litter. So, yes there are indeed good neighborhoods as well as bad neighborhoods. |
|
Quoted: So, yes there are indeed good neighborhoods as well as bad neighborhoods. View Quote Troy didn't say there weren't bad neighborhoods, just no good neighborhoods. Meaning, no neighborhood is 100% safe. As you said, bad folks travel into "good neighborhoods". A "good" neighborhood is just much less bad than a "bad" one, but it's never 100% safe. |
|
Quoted: I live in a town of about 1,025. I don't know of anyone who has had their car broken into in this area; although a friend of mine did lose some CD's when he left his car in Green Bay overnight. We don't lock our doors--I am not sure if we even still have a door key--nor do many of our neighbors; that being said it would only take a couple of robberies to shatter that trust we have in our community, and have everyone out in a mob hunting down the theif with pitchforks and scatterguns.[;)] You guys are going to go crazy when I tell you that I work for a guy that has 5 vehicles(two of them are less than 2 years old), he [b][u]always[/u][/b] leaves the keys in the ignition and he doesn't own a garage--he keeps them parked in a parking lot by his house 24/7. [shock] View Quote That sounds a lot like where I live. I've been here for 18 years now, never had any thing stolen, I leave the keys in my truck at night. My wife locks the front door when she retires, the back door is unlocked, but Rebel is back there, I dunno, it's rough, but somebody has to live here.[:D] |
|
Let's not go to extreems on this.
No need to cower. Just use a little common sense. |
|
Quoted: I leave the keys in my truck at night. View Quote I have an idea for you - call your insurance company and find out what they pay if your truck gets stolen. I'll wager $0. |
|
Quoted: My thoughts exactly. If there is no reason to be fearful of theft, why lock your doors? I lock my car when I am in an area that I am unfamiliar with or I feel I have reason to--not when I am among good people and friends. View Quote There are always strays in your neighborhood. Why not be secure? I'm glad that there are people who don't secure their stuff....then they'll leave mine (secured) alone. [rolleyes] |
|
Quoted: Quoted: I leave the keys in my truck at night. View Quote I have an idea for you - call your insurance company and find out what they pay if your truck gets stolen. I'll wager $0. View Quote I know, I know, but really, this cul-de-sac is so off the beaten path, everyone knows everyone, everyone has dogs and guns......... |
|
Quoted: There are always strays in your neighborhood. Why not be secure? I'm glad that there are people who don't secure their stuff....then they'll leave mine (secured) alone. [rolleyes] View Quote Right. Reminds me of a joke punchline: "I don't have to outrun the lion: I only must run faster than you. . . " IMHO |
|
Not to feed Troy's rant but there are no good neighborhoods for crooks commute!
When I lived in Houston during the boom and highest crime rate in the country, the more expensive neighborhoods were the most dangerous. Having lived all around the country, I have found the subway systems to be a wonderful crime control tool. With enough access to mass transit the junkies will sell their cars for drugs. Crime will be less in the outlying suburbs. Take a major city with no mass transit and you aren't safe anywhere. I live on a steep hill with a private drive and don't ever get tricker treaters let alone crooks. Crooks are lazy! Make it easy on them and you are a victim. Tj |
|
I'll go further from my above post with examples:
Three neighbors that live across the street, and around the corner were robbed. The reason: The theives went around the neighborhood checking car door and fence gates. If it was unlocked they stole everything they could touch. One neighbor looked his cars and gates after the incident...the other neighbor got robbed twice more by the same group that got out of jail (twice). Another: My neighbor that live next door to me (78 years old, and lives alone)had her back door partially broken down. They took a sledgehammer to the doorknob. They heard her in the house and abandoned the robbery before they broke in the deadbolt. Do I live I have nice neighbors? yep...is there scum around yes. If you get robbed because your not securing your property your are stupid.....trusting, but stupid. |
|
Quoted: [b]ARndog[/b] - you are living in Mayberry buddy. View Quote Yep. This town is out in the middle of nowhere--during prohibition gangsters from Chicago used to come up here on vacation to avoid the man for a while.[;)] Everyone knows everyone in this town and they are starved for gossip: if [u]anything[/u] happens here--good or bad--everyone knows about it by lunchtime. [:D] Enjoy it while you can. The Real World will be coming your way one of these days. Just wait until some town kid gets hooked on drugs, and the lock & key business will get very, very busy in Mayberry. View Quote Yep.[:(] |
|
Some of you fuckers (no disrespect intended) are nuts. It's almost like it makes you feel better to think you don't have to secure your stuff.
My wife's family owns a 450+ acre farm in southern Indiana, where we camp frequently. You can get a hell of a long way off the beaten path down there...and when I get out of visual range of the campsite, I put any valuables in the truck and lock it the fuck up. |
|
Quoted: Some of you fuckers (no disrespect intended) are nuts. View Quote You may be right. It's almost like it makes you feel better to think you don't have to secure your stuff. View Quote You [b]are[/b] right. |
|
Thanks Troy, and I agreed.
Unlucky for me, I had to be a victim before I could realize it. Not anymore, I had everything in lock vault, put up an alarm system, and been more aware of the surrounding. Hide your stuffs! |
|
Quoted: It's almost like it makes you feel better to think you don't have to secure your stuff. View Quote Yes, it does. To be able to take the feeling of security you have in your own house and extend it to your entire town does give many people a good feeling--a feeling that you are among people that trust you, and they know that you trust them. To show that you are unwilling to trust others--especially people whom you know and see damn near every day--not to steal the crap you have in your car gives people reason not to trust you in turn. A good community of people can be like an extended family: they help each other out when in need, they aid in a common defense, and they [u]trust[/u] one another. You do trust your family right? Well imagine if a family member violated that trust--it would hurt quite a bit--yet you are willing to trust them absolutely until that moment arrives and gives you reason not to. Why would it be impractical for a small community of people whom know each other well to extend that same courtesy? |
|
A cynic believes no one is worthy.
I'm a realist - I believe that some people are worthy, but many are not...and I have no way of knowing which type may happen upon me or my stuff at any given time. Same reason I CCW. I don't expect to have to shoot everyone I meet, but I do know that the possibility exists that someone I meet in the course of a day may need some shooting. I don't suffer from this knowledge, or live in fear...it's just the way it is. I don't get mad at mosquitoes for biting me, it's just their nature. I avoid them or kill them, as necessary, but I don't worry about them. See the difference between intelligent caution and paranoia? |
|
Quoted: . . . My wife's family owns a 450+ acre farm in southern Indiana, where we camp frequently. You can get a hell of a long way off the beaten path down there...and when I get out of visual range of the campsite, I put any valuables in the truck and lock it the fuck up. View Quote On this note, it is my recommendation to anyone who regularly leaves a vehicle at a trailhead, to scatter some shotgun shells and beer cans around the interior of the car. In my experience, this discourages potential thieves. ARndog, I think that pleas for a greater sense of community are lost on many contributors to this thread. These are people who don't feel safe in their own [i]"living" room[/i]. They are intrinsically insecure, and I'm not sure that they will ever feel safe. Pitiful. The issue with many isn't modesty, or making sure that there are no piles of family heirlooms or antique treasures left out beyond the fence overnight, but a fretful, uncomfortable, timid lifestyle. |
|
Quoted: . I think that pleas for a greater sense of community are lost on many contributors to this thread. View Quote No, I recognize that strong communities are a great value, but I've spent the last 11 years in Maryland. Folks are too busy to do anything but give you the "wave" when they see you. Houses turn over ever two years on average. Neighborhoods are large - my townhouse community had 75 homes, with 58 on the adjacent street. Given these conditions, you are lucky to know the folks in the 4 other townhouses in your building, and a few others in the "community". Observant people get a feel for what cars belong there, but that's about it. There just isn't much opportunity for community - most folks aren't looking for it. |
|
IMHO: I think the movie/producer was Bowling for Columbine by the nefarious, pompous, ridiculous Michael Moore. I would have gone on, but I couldn't think of any more adjectives.
I'm also a little paranoid about having my house broken into. Every night before I go to bed, I make a sweep of all the doors, windows and gates, then set the alarm and sleep soundly. Although I'm paranoid, I don't live like a mushroom. I am just careful and aware. If I'm in my yard and I see someone walk by who doesn't look familiar, or a car cruises slowly by with disreputable-looking people, I make eye contact and mentally note descriptions in case "something" happens later. I have a reminder board in my garage where I'll write down a license plate number if I get that "feeling." If I left my garage open or car unlocked and something was stolen, I certainly wouldn't whine about the unfairness of it; I'd kick myself in the ass and make sure I locked up next time. On the same note, sometimes things just can't be helped. Two weeks ago my wife and I went to the beach, parked right on the street at a meter, and when we returned we found the lock cylinder punched in. Broad daylight on a busy street. Nothing was stolen, and no other damage to the car. Cost me 150 to get it fixed, and the mechanic said that the dumbshit probably wasn't able to get in because of the way he did it. Kind of gave me a chill, because although I was thinking about leaving my gun in the car, I took it along in the beach bag. Just the possibility of it getting stolen.... No need to live in fear; just be prepared. |
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.