freaklikeme wrote:
Wait. We have options to choose our local thief? I choose the inept ones who have lengthy criminal records because they can't do anything without getting caught.
That was an attempt at rhetorical humor, if there is such a thing.
Bottom line: We do not get to pick the other team's players. The bad guys get a vote, too, no matter how well we "plan."
True, I tend to be very negative about man's inhumanity to man, whether the effect is upon one's property, or upon one's person. (For those not yet "blessed" with being a victim of a mere "property crime," the psychological effect of feeling violated can be painfully significant, and can linger.)
RexGig0 wrote:
That was an attempt at rhetorical humor, if there is such a thing.
Bottom line: We do not get to pick the other team's players. The bad guys get a vote, too, no matter how well we "plan."
True, I tend to be very negative about man's inhumanity to man, whether the effect is upon one's property, or upon one's person. (For those not yet "blessed" with being a victim of a mere "property crime," the psychological effect of feeling violated can be painfully significant, and can linger.)
While I think most people are just fine and dandy, I’m also skeptical enough to not trust anyone off the bat.
With crime that I could fall victim to, I believe the key is that those kinds of crimes all fall under the category of “picking the easiest and safest targets.” So, I have to make it harder to target me compared to targeting another person/car/home.
In that regard, there are two main threats I can’t really control: cyber crime is much easier than regular theft, so that’s a higher risk; and I’m not getting any younger, so I’ll look like an easier target over time compared to other potential targets.
I swear by leaving the exterior of my car in the most filthy and unkept state so nobody would ever assume I have anything of any value inside. Anything of value gets covered up with a filthy-looking hoody. It's the photography version of the "Anti-Theft Moldy Sandwich Bag".
Last I read, San Francisco was averaging around 100 car burglaries each day. On SUVs that have a highly tinted back window, thieves are breaking side windows, to get a look at the rear storage area.
Yes, San Fran is ground zero for car break-ins. I was on assignment there in early 2015 and had $200K of gear stolen at noon on a Saturday in a nice part of town. Never heard anything from the police after I filed the report. It's only gotten worse since then.
There have been cases of people breaking into cars stopped in traffic, which is next level. My brother lives there and he won't even leave sunglasses in the car. So, definitely be cautious there and really in any populated area. If anything is left in the car unattended, there is a good chance you could lose it.
I got so lucky when I was in San Francisco with my buddy a decade ago, when went to downtown SF straight from the airport with all our bags in the car and we couldn't find parking and it was raining so we decided to go our friend's place who we were staying with about a hour north. He told us if we had found a spot ALL our stuff would have gotten taken lol. Next time we went we had nothing in the car and left the windows cracked so they wouldn't break anything.
When I visited San Fran about four years ago, people had signs in their parked cars saying ‘the car is unlocked, there is nothing of value in here, please don’t break anything’.
And this was in Pacific Heights!
Living in a city anymore, it just feels like it's a given that your car will get broken into. I've had four break-ins and one grand theft auto in the last 14 years. It sucks. The wild thing is, I never keep anything of value in my cars, but alas. The most recent occurrence happened while in Seattle a couple of weeks ago. The thief was unsuccessful in gaining entry but damaged my passenger window so badly it had to replaced.
At any rate, all of this is to say, I would never keep camera gear or anything of any value in my vehicles ever.
Desmolicious wrote:
When I visited San Fran about four years ago, people had signs in their parked cars saying ‘the car is unlocked, there is nothing of value in here, please don’t break anything’.
And this was in Pacific Heights!
In Vancouver I ended up leaving my windows open in an underground lot. Leaving doors unlocked was not good enough as my windows got smashed anyways. Opening the windows and taking my registration out of the box did the trick.
freaklikeme wrote:
We have options to choose our local thief?
Do not forget to ask him for receipt. You have constitutional right to be robbed once per year (twice if it the election year, though).
There's a reason I don't live in the big city any longer, I have no patience for the allowance of petty (and often not-so-petty) theft by the powers that be. If I'm visiting a city, I keep my valuables, including my cameras, on my person as much as possible.
If I have to rent a car, I try to get one with a trunk instead of an SUV. Take every precaution and have full insurance in case those precautions fail.
Reading reports of people completely airing out their cars to avoid break-ins is surreal to me, when here, you're likely to catch an early grave for doing so.
chez wrote:
In Vancouver I ended up leaving my windows open in an underground lot. Leaving doors unlocked was not good enough as my windows got smashed anyways. Opening the windows and taking my registration out of the box did the trick.
When I used to live in Venice my soft top Jeep Wrangler got broken into by slashing through the side panel. This is a panel that has a big a$$ zipper on it so he could have just unzipped it.
After that I would leave it unlocked and with nothing of value inside. Once every three or so months I'd see in the morning that someone had gone through it during the night - but there was nothing to take and thankfully no damage done.
You all seem to live in a dangerous world. I used to let the Ferrari spend the night in the street on occasion here in Paris and not in the richest parts of town and nothing happened other to it.
Well, this is not true: some broke into it once but it was in a locked, opaque box in a closed parking in a nice part of town just to steal the car radio which was nothing special so it has more to do with the bragging rights than anything else.
Nowadays, I park a normal car a nothing happens neither.
Well, after buliding padlocked box with 1/3 inch braided cable, etc, I have decided not to leave my gear in the care as all, as so many of you suggest. I will just have to grin and bear the equipment as I trek around.
pmeheut wrote:
You all seem to live in a dangerous world. I used to let the Ferrari spend the night in the street on occasion here in Paris and not in the richest parts of town and nothing happened other to it.
Well, this is not true: some broke into it once but it was in a locked, opaque box in a closed parking in a nice part of town just to steal the car radio which was nothing special so it has more to do with the bragging rights than anything else.
Nowadays, I park a normal car a nothing happens neither.
"Nothing happened to my car, except it was broken into and had the radio stolen"
pmeheut wrote:
You all seem to live in a dangerous world. I used to let the Ferrari spend the night in the street on occasion here in Paris and not in the richest parts of town and nothing happened other to it.
Well, this is not true: some broke into it once but it was in a locked, opaque box in a closed parking in a nice part of town just to steal the car radio which was nothing special so it has more to do with the bragging rights than anything else.
Nowadays, I park a normal car a nothing happens neither.
Do you leave your gear in your car when you park it? That’s what we are talking about.
Desmolicious wrote:
Do you leave your gear in your car when you park it? That’s what we are talking about.
Of course not. Well maybe a few times but people were telling horror stories where you need to leave your car open, glasses open with a note telling there is nothing to steal.
I'm just amazed.
RoamingScott wrote:
"Nothing happened to my car, except it was broken into and had the radio stolen"
Thanks for the laugh
When you own such a car, replacing a glass and the radio is no big deal compared to what could happen. Just a minor inconvenience and not even something significant budget wise.
pmeheut wrote:
Of course not. Well maybe a few times but people were telling horror stories where you need to leave your car open, glasses open with a note telling there is nothing to steal.
I'm just amazed.
When you own such a car, replacing a glass and the radio is no big deal compared to what could happen. Just a minor inconvenience and not even something significant budget wise.
So you don’t leave your gear in your car and your car was broken into and robbed one time.
But you don’t care because no big deal to you is pretty much the gist of it.
Fair enough, but others do care and don’t want to have to deal w smashed windows etc.
It’s not just about money but also inconvenience. What did you have to do to get your Ferrari fixed? First off you had to clean out all the broken glass. Did you file a police report? How much time did that waste? Did you file an insurance claim? Did you call someone to get your car or did you drive it to a garage to get fixed? How long did it take them to fix it? Etc etc.
All this stuff is just a pain in the a$$ to deal with even if it didn’t cost any money - but of course it did! Or did you just have a personal assistant take care of everything for you?
