Well, add me to the list of people whose houses have been broken into. I came home from work and backed into the garage like normal. Nothing looked wrong. I went into the house and the first thing I noticed was the door to the basement is hanging wide open. I know I didn't leave it that way, so I walk over to the living room. My TV is gone, a PC monitor is gone, speakers and subwoofer are gone. Went upstairs and in the bedrooms all the drawers are pulled out and thrown around, contents dumped. So I call 911, get transferred three times, and get the cops out. They do their thing and leave.
I could see the whole break in by looking at the evidence. There were tire tracks in the grass beside the house where they backed their vehicle up. That side of the house is blocked by trees. There's a back door to the garage that is totally invisible from the road. (I only have one neighbor and they can't see my house. The rest is all woods.) They kicked that door in and then kicked through the door from the garage into the house and proceeded to trash the place. It looks very obvious they were interrupted by something, but I have no idea what. I have 2 computers in the living room. All the cables had been taken out, but they were not taken. I have one of those Black & Decker battery tool sets, and they had them all collected in the case, but left them in the basement. The outside basement door was left open, so for whatever reason they had to leave from the basement rather than a door that would have taken them out right to their car.
So, their total take was a TV, monitor, speakers, and about 30 dollars. They didn't find a laptop under my bed (an on call laptop for work) and they didn't take any checks, which tells me it was a couple of young punks.
So my responses to this are going to be phased (I wish I had done all this before!)
Phase 1 is to beef up my perimeter defenses. Door jamb reinforcement, dead bolts, and window film will help keep them out. Move my raised garden beds to the spot where they backed in (I was going to do this anyway). This way any car will be more visible to the road.
Phase 2 is to get my Elk set up and working and on the internet. I have just a couple sensors set up for testing, but that's as far as I ever got.
Phase 3 is video cameras to cover the entire house and yard.
I want to build a TV stand, and I'm going to take my media PC and mount the components in the stand somehow. The TV will be somehow attached to the stand which will be attached to the floor or wall.
This is a bummer. I almost had enough saved up to put in hardwood floors, That was my next thing to get done. Now I need to replace TV, speakers, and monitor. So much for flooring :hesaid:
I could see the whole break in by looking at the evidence. There were tire tracks in the grass beside the house where they backed their vehicle up. That side of the house is blocked by trees. There's a back door to the garage that is totally invisible from the road. (I only have one neighbor and they can't see my house. The rest is all woods.) They kicked that door in and then kicked through the door from the garage into the house and proceeded to trash the place. It looks very obvious they were interrupted by something, but I have no idea what. I have 2 computers in the living room. All the cables had been taken out, but they were not taken. I have one of those Black & Decker battery tool sets, and they had them all collected in the case, but left them in the basement. The outside basement door was left open, so for whatever reason they had to leave from the basement rather than a door that would have taken them out right to their car.
So, their total take was a TV, monitor, speakers, and about 30 dollars. They didn't find a laptop under my bed (an on call laptop for work) and they didn't take any checks, which tells me it was a couple of young punks.
So my responses to this are going to be phased (I wish I had done all this before!)
Phase 1 is to beef up my perimeter defenses. Door jamb reinforcement, dead bolts, and window film will help keep them out. Move my raised garden beds to the spot where they backed in (I was going to do this anyway). This way any car will be more visible to the road.
Phase 2 is to get my Elk set up and working and on the internet. I have just a couple sensors set up for testing, but that's as far as I ever got.
Phase 3 is video cameras to cover the entire house and yard.
I want to build a TV stand, and I'm going to take my media PC and mount the components in the stand somehow. The TV will be somehow attached to the stand which will be attached to the floor or wall.
This is a bummer. I almost had enough saved up to put in hardwood floors, That was my next thing to get done. Now I need to replace TV, speakers, and monitor. So much for flooring :hesaid:
Here's the thing, if they left stuff behind, they are probably going to come back for it. And, if they got good stuff, they will wait for you or insurance to replace it, and then come back for it. My sister-in-law has been robbed *THREE* times this year. Most likely the same people all three times because they kicked in the same door, at the same time of day, and stole the same stuff every time. She won't listen to me and turn on her security system (yes, she has one, but it's powered off, long story). Neighbor on the street behind me, robbed 4 times in the last year. Same things stolen every time, house broken into the same way.
