becoming the hunter

[Bill Douglas]

For the fourth time in two months I've had the back window of my Corolla broken by vanadals. Someone is out to get me and it's not quite driving me balmy, but it certainlty is winding me up. So it's time for me to become the hunter and no longer the victim.

Some ghetto kids who live in the next street over had a lot of, well, ghetto body language coming off them when they saw me yesterday, and I do suspect it's them. But who knows.

Usually I do stake-outs, with considerable success in these situations but they tend to strike when there is a vicious storm blowing so people don't hear the noise. And I don't want to sit around half the night on the off chance they will strike.

I'm thinking of some sort of camera system. Something with high resolution pics so it can go to court (or bush court). Maybe a hunting camera hidden inside the car that takes pics of close up movements. The car is either parked on the street or just off the street, so I can't avoid the whole situation by parking it in a more secure area. Another idea is camera system that takes pics and writes back to a laptop, but I don't know too much about these and don't want 10,000 pics of cars and pedestrians.

Any ideas guys?

[RWebb]

motion activated camera - you want it to both record & trigger an alarm o your smartphone

[krystar]

put a rattlesnake in the backseat.

[M.D. Holloway]

put your wife in the back seat...(jk)

[scottmandue]

No help with the camera... but a simple car alarm hooked up to a crazy loud siren/air horn/etc. would make the assailant poop their pants.

Maybe hook up a strobe light for good measure.

[Bill Douglas]

Thanks for the good advice, and good jokes. A rottweiler sleeping in the car for be a good fun trick to play on vandals. I asked about a hunting camera but they don't work through glass. And by the time the glass has gone boom (so the camera could see them) the young bad guys would be half way down the street.

[id10t]

webcam, usb extender, laptop w/motion activation software. i've set one up to catch fridge thieves more than once ...

[Bill Douglas]

Fridge thieves. The vicious bastards. Good idea, and keep the laptop well hidden LOL.

[bell]

Actualy use a wireless camera and put the laptop in the house......good wireless security cameras have pretty good range and are powered by 12v......also infrared.....and could be wired to the cars battery

[drcoastline]

Get serious you cant do this on your own. Hire a professional.

[Bill Douglas]

LOL, Elmer has the right idea.

Thanks for the thought rergarding using a wireless camera (or a hidden laptop). There are some ghetto people around the corner, and if one was to follow all the profiling advice you see on TV, I would suspect them. So I'm thinking or setting up a little sting armed with camera, hidden dictaphone, and a baseball bat in case it all goes wrong LOL.

[Heel n Toe]

Just put up some motion sensor floodlights; you just want to bathe the area in bright light if they come back.

They'll think they're about to be discovered and/or photographed and will run like scared rabbits.



RAB Lighting 120V Super Stealth 180/360 Degree Motion Sensor with Dual 150W Quartz Flood Lights - Bronze

[javadog]

Ahh, just shoot the little bastards. If they aren't guilty of hassling you, I'm sure they're guilty of something.

One thing you might try, if you can park the car in a driveway at your house, is to rig up an early warning system. I had a similar problem on a construction project. I bought a little door chime system from Radio Shack that is normally used to alert a store owner when someone comes into his store. I seem to recall it used infrared light; all it was was a small box and a reflector. I hid the thing in the underbrush pointing across the road that was the access to the site, with the reflector on the other side. I ran a phone or bell cable to an alarm inside a nearby house. It didn't take long to solve my problem.

JR

[Rick V]

Indoor/Outdoor Simulated Security Camera : Security & Surveillance Cameras | RadioShack.com
This was all I needed to keep some people away. My truck has been broken into a few times. I gotta love replacing glass that gets broken out in order to gain entry into an unlocked vehicle.

[PFFOG]

Get yourself an old buzz coil, or cattle prod, and charge the car with about 40k low amperage volts, that will surprise them for sure.

[Crowbob]

Here's what I came up with: If part of the goal is to identify the perps, a recording device would be needed, image generation is needed, stealth is needed, reliability is needed, and remote operation is needed. Motion sensors won't work if the perps operate in stormy weather (they detect blowing leaves, swaying limbs and grasses, and of course, their own movement due to wind). A motion sensor attached to an alarm would beg for deletion the first time it went off unintentionally. Be prepared to sustain at least one more attack as recording them in the act is a strong negotiating tool. As you install the system, also install a subtle notice such as a hand-made "No Trespassing" sign. The perps are operating under the notion that you are aware and frustrated. Satisfy their hunger. They will have confidence in their next and final strike, which of course, is a trap. Formal courts of law may be useless, as the privacy implications of secretly recording are far from settled. In the long run, subsequent to your identifying the perp(s), it would be best to help him realize it is in his best interest to cease and desist. Uprade and install the alarm after their strike to further advance their craving for escalation and daring. By then, they have aleady been trapped. Begin the negotiation.

[Bill Douglas]

Good advise Guys, thanks.

The people I suspect are high school boys who take a shortcut through a park on the way to school. This morning I left a dictaphone running and hid 20 yards away. Some school boys, diffent guys though, came along and the sound recording worked. One kid was saying "No you're not a basher, leave it alone, if you do your car will be next." Then the kid opened the car door and the alarm went off so the kids ran for their lives. I got three good photos. Unfortunately they are not the guys I'm after and they were nice kids (ther than opening the door of someone else's car).

The ghetto kids probably didn't go to school as it's a Monday (Kiwi time zone) after a big weekend building up their crimestar status.

But the system works. I'm thinking of locking the car and leaving a laptop on the seat so they actually break in and I photo them and also run and catch one.

If I'm going to be a victim, at least I can have some fun.

Umm, just an afterthought; if you don't get an update it means something went wrong and I'm in the slammer or died of knife wounds LOL.

[Brando]

Camp out on the roof with a bow & arrow. Or tranq gun. Once they pop the back window, let one fly.

[Jagshund]

Put a large dog in the car. One you wouldn't want someone to let out into public.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by PFFOG

Get yourself an old buzz coil, or cattle prod, and charge the car with about 40k low amperage volts, that will surprise them for sure.

This.