Asking the obvious question - if they drove past other houses (recon/cruising or immediately prior to the crime), is it possible they were caught on someone’s camera?
I have never ratted out someone on this BB and hope I remain sufficiently in control of my faculties so that I never do.
Even if they did, what are the cops going to do?
Nothing
I’m not an alarmist, but Glen if you aren’t already planning to, a motion light and camera (real or not) may be a wise move in that location. Understand if the location is an easy one to breach that the baddies will wait a while until said goods are replaced with new and your guard is down to do it again.
As I mentioned, we have cameras and I’d add that they executed the crime directly under a motion light. I just got a range extender to make the cameras more responsive, and a permanent mount - the Arlos we have are on magnetic mounts otherwise, which means someone could just pluck them off and take them if so motivated. And yes, we swept the neighbors for camera footage. Nothing. And the next night, about six neighbors’ garages got tagged with graffiti. The only good part of this is that about a dozen of us have met for the first time, exchanged info, and we’re setting up a meeting with the local beat cop to discuss how to look out for each other effectively.
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Wow, so sorry to hear this Glen!
Sorry to hear this Glen! Awful news, regardless of what was stolen.
Best way is to mount a camera near the property edge that records vehicles coming and going. That way it actually captures a vehicle license plate and a good vehicle description. Of course, the car used may be stolen or has a stolen plate on it in which case it won’t matter anyways, but you never know. I recently helped catch some thieves that stole our neighbors mail. I caught the plate number, called the cops and, using Department resources (I won’t say exactly how), the officers found the vehicle in a different part of town and arrested them. Turns out they also stole a whole bunch of mail/packages from other people around town as well. A lot of people got their mail and xmas deliveries back.
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I’m sorry to hear about this Glen. The reality is that in most of CA urban areas - residential property crime isn’t a priority for law enforcement, prosecutors, or corrections. I got involved with our local neighborhood watch and patrols after we were hit with this too a few years ago. Garages, sheds, and cars are relatively soft targets for these burglars, who are mostly addicts looking for anything they can quickly monetize.
It’s surprising they took heavy/bulky items, suggesting they had a car/truck. The main profile to be alert to that our rangers (I am near a river) and sherriffs warn about is adults riding around on bikes, with backpacks. Usually, cars are less involved because they can be pulled over much easier if in those, due to the many more areas of regulation that criminals are likely out of compliance with (licensing, insuring, registration, traffic etc.) Suspicious bikers generally need someone to call in with a specific description.
A few months ago, I had taken the dog out for a 45 min walk and while I was gone a transient had attempted to climb the fence in my backyard (ignoring the gate) and then - defeated by its six foot height - had passed out on my driveway. A neighbor had observed, called law enforcement, and by the time I had returned home, a sheriff was rousting the person.
Pretty brazen and this neighborhood group should help in the future. But man, that’s rough.
Glen, I have the Ring system with several outdoor cameras positioned all around the house, covering all the doors including the garages. I had Guardian in the past and feel safer now with the cameras. I do have a hunting camera with its own wifi that I could do as Andy mentioned above (thank you)!!