So.....I fly two flags on my house. An american flag and a thin blue line flag. My house is surrounded by a 4 foot wooden fence. Over the past 1.5 years I've had my flags stolen 3 x and my home vandalized. I have installed surveillance cameras, ring doorbell, a driveway alarm (which detects movement when someone comes into my yard via the gate) and various flood and motion lights. All thefts occur in the middle of the night. I have caught them on surveillance a few times, but they either cover their faces or the IR cameras dont quite help in distinguishing a positive ID.

Im frustrated as hell. Of course they dont have the nuts to confront me or do it in the daytime. Any other suggestions?

Refusing to fly my flags is not an option. They go back up as soon as they get stolen.

Taller fence an option? Locking device of some sort for the flag?

Certain models of security cameras and DVRs have a "pixel alert" function. Basically you can highlight an area the camera covers and movement within that area will set off an alarm and start the recording process. You might look into that system.

Something creative involving fishhooks or electricity.

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Originally posted by Some Shot:
Something creative involving fishhooks or electricity.

Fish hooks AND electricity.

Short of V-Tail's suggestion: Better/more motion-activated floods, better/more surveillance cams, higher fence.

Personally, I raise our flags in the morning and take them down at sunset.

That wouldn't address your vandalism problem, though. I'm kind of curious as to what kind of neighborhood it is in which you live? If our place was subject to vandalism like that I think I'd entertain the idea of getting the frack out.

I live in the blue dot in the middle of Texas. Full of a bunch of crazy left wing nut jobs . I’ve got two more years here and then we are moving . We can’t wait

Any pattern to the incidents? Like on weekends, holidays? What months? Like maybe when school is out?

Record times and dates and try to correlate these to school closures. That is how we trapped a prank caller when our youngest daughter was still in high school. Teenage boy that my daughter had zero interest in. So he figured he would get her attention by prank calling. I started recording dates, times, frequency. Figured his voice early on to be a teenage boy, later he got some electronic voice altering equipment but the trap was set. Took local PD together with local phone company tracing. Detective originally was not too interested in the case, took a call to a friend that just happened to be the Chief to get the ball rolling.

Teenager did not expect the response nor did his unknowing mother up until the knock at 6:30 AM on their front door from said Detective. In a nutshell, Detective called me later that morning with the details of his home visit. Kid scared shitless, mother (single parent, worked a lot) scared at consequences, mad at him. Detective gave me the option of going to Juvenile Court or letting him off with a stern warning. On advice of Detective I let it go with a warning. Part of the warning was the Detective wanted him to call me and apologize which I agreed to.

I told him between his sobbing and apologizing that it was on the advice of the Detective I was letting him off with a warning. He actually was lucky, I told him he did not know how close I was to file in Juvenile Court after two months of hell (my exact words) we went through. I told him that Detective standing next to him said "Give him a chance" so I was doing that and only for that reason.

Changing our phone number was not an option at that time due to an elderly F-I-L plus the inconvenience of contacting people we knew over many states together with every CC, loan, insurance company,in other words a lot of grief to us.

Never heard another thing from that kid after that.

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Originally posted by V-Tail:

Nah, they don’t look hungry enough or mean enough.

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Originally posted by slosig:

Nah, they don’t look hungry enough or mean enough.

Dogs will work great but you could also try motion sensing sprinklers. It’s not much but at least they will be wet when they grab your flags. I’m sure there is a way to get creative and set up the sprinkler to suck up some raccoon urine or other foul smelling liquid. I’d say bleach but you don’t want to take the chance of hurting someone with what some municipalities may consider a booby trap.

Sew a tracking device into the flag.

You can buy better infrared illuminators than your cameras came with.

Set up a Rube Goldberg Machine. Tie monofilament fishing line to the top hole of the flag, raise the flag and run the line to your house with pulleys and such. Attach the line to the switch for a siren, or other device. When the flag gets lowered, the line activates the switch or other device.

Put a hidden moat around the flag pole. Nothing deep, but just enough to get their shoes wet. Fill the moat with the liquid of your choice. UV ink perhaps so you can track their path?

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thin blue line flag

I did not know what the thin blue line flag was and had to look it up.... I can't imagine, at least I hope the vandalize had nothing to do with the flags you are flying.... either way, some folks deserve a beating at the least...

For real:
Motion detector lights to start.... after that I'd go with security cameras and a sign....

then you get into what kind of sign.... either one that just says video cameras or one that says more.... "Never Mind the Dog, Beware of Owner!?"

Oh I have a Lorex wired 8 camera system that uses IR and it works great and can see out at night at least 60 feet....

quote:

Originally posted by cajunmuscle:
I live in the blue dot in the middle of Texas. Full of a bunch of crazy left wing nut jobs . I’ve got two more years here and then we are moving . We can’t wait

Follow V-Tail's advice then: get a dog.
Dog's are the best late night alert system.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

Zeus and Apollo FTW!!!!

Another valid option.

What is the low light capability of your cameras? Mine have excellent low light capability so I don't use IR. The available ambient lighting is enough.

I also have a couple weatherproof wireless battery operated proximity sensors set up outside at vulnerable spots. There is a small box they interface with on my nightstand and you can set the alarm to a sound of your preference so that you will know which one went off.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kraquin,

I like the tracking device idea. I also like the idea of documenting the incidents; I'd use that to see if there was a pattern. Then I would be staying up late during said pattern.

You want some sort of exploding dye pack like the banks use.

Makes them easier to find.