Factors which embolden & discourage thieves

[AlohaSteven]

Researchers set up "...a series of experiments designed to discover if signs of vandalism, litter and low-level lawbreaking could change the way people behave. They found that they could, by a lot: doubling the number who are prepared to litter and steal."

Full text:
http://www.economist.com/science/display...d=12630201
from The Economist, 22-28NOV2008, pp 91-92.

This is evidence of how much a difference taking action --or not taking action-- at a grassroots level makes. Puna benefits doubly from cleaning up litter and mess as this also prevents mosquitoes from breeding in the water which pools inside rubbish.


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"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

Pres. John Adams, Scholar and Statesman


"There's a scientific reason to be concerned and there's a scientific reason to push for action. But there's no scientific reason to despair."

NASA climate analyst Gavin Schmidt

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[Jon]

Everyone in shores and beaches needs to give Fred a big hug.


Transplanted Texan
"I am here to chew bubble gum and kick some *** ... and I'm all out of bubble gum"

[Kapohocat]

Good article Steven. This says a lot about simply keeping your neighborhood cleaned up and litter free.

[Devany]

I agree, that is a great article and a great idea for all of Hawaii to consider!

Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany

Devany Vickery-Davidson
East Bay Potters
www.eastbaypotters.com

[AlohaSteven]

Tips and ways to discourage break-ins, plus a couple of potentially useful gadgets and anti-theft/recovery technologies:

Home break-in prevention tips
http://home.howstuffworks.com/discourage...-ins11.htm

Home break-in prevention tips in more depth
http://home.howstuffworks.com/discourage-break-ins.htm

More home break-in prevention strategies
http://www.101homesecurity.com/home_secu...7493.shtml

Device mimics someone watching TV in unoccupied home at night
http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/21/faket...scourages/

Tough film for glass near door latches and on vulnerable windows
http://www.diywindowsecurity.com/smash-a...99ddc24fb3

Infra-red flash motion-activated cameras
http://www.cabelas.com/ssubcat-1/cat20098.shtml

Also, here is a list of thirteen proactive measures a person can take to prevent car theft; one of these suggestions (#8) prompts me to wonder about using this sort of radio-beacon or GPS-tracker approach in a police-conducted sting operation.

http://www.carhelp.com/13-ways-to-prevent-car-theft.cfm

An acquaintance of mine recently wondered about actual versus reported activity with a company vehicle, so he had a GPS tracker installed in the company vehicle; turned out one of the employee was ripping off the company. If a sting operation used the same sorts of items frequently targeted by thieves but with transmitters embedded in highly coveted items, then perhaps the thieves could be more efficiently apprehended and convicted.

Cleaning up litter and acting against graffiti, broken windows, and public nuisance eyesores definitely has its place in preventing marginal individuals and feral teens from engaging in antisocial behavior, but crews which are arriving with a moving van and loading up the salable contents of a house are intentionally operating in a highly deliberate manner. These are not just random crimes of opportunity in the sense of some lowlife spotting an open door at an unattended house and spontaneously thinking "Hey, maybe I should go in and take anything and everything I can randomly grab?" There may be some of that, but the thieves which methodically clean out homes seem much more organized. Rather, they seem to be watching --actively scouting-- for target opportunities and to have a system worked out for their process from beginning to end of the thefts.

This may or may not be true, but I have been told the organized bands which systematically rip off houses on the Big Island store the goods and then ship (as in a container) accumulated items over to Oahu for liquidation there, where they are less likely to be caught redhanded trying to sell stolen property. If tracking devices of either the radio-beacon or GPS-mapping sort were to be used then even if the thieves were not apprehended while in the act of looting a home then perhaps they could be detected and nailed either at their warehouse(s) or when they attempt to move the goods out.

I just checked and the LoJack car-recovery system itself is not yet commercially available in Hawaii in cooperation with the police department, but surely there are similar technologies which could work in the same capacity by embedding detectable radio/GPS tags inside items for detection and tracking by police if the political will existed to make it so.

All of these measures work best within the context of an organized Neighborhood Watch program. Tremendous political strength would come to bear if all the neighborhoods in Puna organized themselves into Neighborhood Watch communities.



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"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

Pres. John Adams, Scholar and Statesman


"There's a scientific reason to be concerned and there's a scientific reason to push for action. But there's no scientific reason to despair."

NASA climate analyst Gavin Schmidt

)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(

Edit: link labels added in green for better clarity of use.

[Rob Tucker]

Possession of stolen property is a chargeable crime too. I would love to see the police do a sting operation and clean up the neighborhoods.

Here's a GPS tracking device which, if attached to a stolen item, would allow the police to acquire the GPS coordinates of it's location. Tracking service is $50 a year. Might make a nifty Christmas gift.

http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=1100

A bit more expensive, but well within Police budgets, is this GPS tracking service. Intended to track fleet vehicles it ought to work fine for tracking stolen goods....

http://www.worldtrackingsolutions.com/

Another Fleet tracking GPS service for $15 a month.... Perhaps a Neighborhood Watch could use this....

http://www.ggppss.com/

If a few thieves got popped by GPS tracking the rest would have to think twice about the risk of stealing. Any pile of lumber, stereo, TV or whatever could contain a GPS tracker. Of course some of them don't think too much anyway but the really dumb ones should be easy to catch.

I'm convinced there are only a few of these fools out there... Catch em and put them in jail!

[roseroo14]

Man i'm with you Rob. I would love to be involved with a sting that sent these guys to the slammer. Maybe we can get a few people together and set something up. I may even donate some construction tool to the sting they seem to go first.

The Lack

[AlohaSteven]

Good idea, Rob. I wonder if the Friends of Puna's Future would be willing to accept donations from near and far via check or PayPal toward a fund earmarked specifically toward property crime prevention and if Friends of Puna's Future would be willing to disperse those funds in cooperation with Neighborhood Watch programs, law enforcement agencies, and others wanting to zero in on and eliminate the bad apples in our barrel?

If many people all donated a little bit each toward purchasing GPS radio beacon tracking units, target goods, and suchlike then even if several tagged units were lost before one bore fruit the economic hardship of the losses could be spread out and absorbed by the community. The more of these thieving "buttworms" (as someone so picturesquely described them) which is taken out of circulation, the better, especially if the buttworm thusly caught takes down a whole interconnected ring of thieves, stolen-goods smugglers, and sellers of stolen goods with him or herself in their fall.

I wonder what these rings of thieves are buying with the money they generate from the sale of peoples' stolen goods and how the leaders of these operations manage to talk less intellectually capable individuals into doing much of the physical labor? If the money trail could be followed, then I wonder if direct connections with the ongoing ice problem in Hawaii would not become clear. Shutting down bands of thieves, especially removing their organizers from circulation, could do much good long-term for the kids in our communities.


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"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

Pres. John Adams, Scholar and Statesman


"There's a scientific reason to be concerned and there's a scientific reason to push for action. But there's no scientific reason to despair."

NASA climate analyst Gavin Schmidt

)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(

[punafish]

I have my doubts that the local authorities would actually cooperate. After all, we're having enough trouble getting police to respond after the fact.

That said, I think the concept is great--but is it realistic?

[Kahunascott]

Do you think an organized neighborhood watch program will work?
Taking turns driving up and down roads with signs on the car doors?
Recording license plates and taking pictures of suspicious individuals.
The criminals will move to a location that is an easier hit if they know our area is patrolled. The last thing they want is confrontation, and word will get out and they will move on.


"Many dreams come true and some have silver linings, I look for my dreams and a pocket full of gold" Led Zeppelin