[ale] OT: To catch a thief

[jdp at algoloma.com (JD)]

On 09/05/2012 04:40 PM, Robert L. Harris wrote:
> 
> 
>   I'm betting we have some kids in the neighborhood that like to go down the
> street at 3AM and open any car doors that are unlocked and steal anything not
> nailed down they can pawn.  It's happened twice,  the second time snagging the
> radio out of my softtop jeep.  i want to catch them and either hand them to the
> cops who can't catch them currently.
> 
>   I'm annoyed enough at this point I'm willing to put a $50 radio in the jeep
> that looks pretty enough (flashing lights?) to get their attention but I need a
> way to track it.  I would love to find some form of wifi transmitter or such I
> can put inside the case of the radio that I can pick up with an android wifi
> tracker or something along those lines.
> 
> Any thoughts?

Ok - thoughts:
* Isn't this what stores use RFID for?  Put one inside.
* Buy a radio with a faceplate that you can remove.
* Properly secure your vehicle. I've never looked at jeeps closely - the doors
don't lock?
* Garage the vehicle. Lock the garage.
* Don't they make loud car alarms with vibration or motion sensors for convertibles?
* Etch the radio.  Take a photo of the etch and s/n for the police to show to
pawn shops.
* exploding ink pack!


Have you been checking local pawn shops?  I doubt these kids are installing
stolen radios into their own vehicles. They are selling them at school, a pawn
shop, craigslist or ebay.

Where I used to work, we had a very large number of military-type hardened
laptops. Some would disappear from time to time, but most would show up in pawn
shops.  A new laser printer disappeared from work the first weekend we had it.
This was back when laser printers were luxuries. It was in the local pawn shop a
few days later and returned.

As you can see - my thoughts aren't anything you haven't considered already.