I unloaded groceries last night and apparently left my truck unlocked. Someone rummaged through and stole an emergency 20 I keep in the center console. Apparently they don’t have kids because I had three boxes of diapers in the back that cost WAY more than the 20. I made a police report and urged my neighbors to do the same if they have been broken into.

I’m on that nextdoor website and there are burglaries just about every night in our neighborhood. My thought is this, I want to leave a bait item that has the ability to be tracked. Then when they take it I can call law enforcement and direct them right to the scumbags. Any suggestions on such a product?

You may find that the police are not interested in petty stuff. Politicians won't let them as they have to keep the numbers looking good

Leave an old cell phone in plain view.

Post yourself in a nearby tree stand with a good rifle and scope.

Track the blood trail later.

That should suffice


OK - for you "sensitive" folk - use a 22-----and just wing 'em.

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

Sorry to hear about your theft, I hate thieves.

On a side note, stuff like this is why the concept of a “truck gun” is one I can never approve of. Leaving a firearm somewhere where it is more likely to be stolen is asinine.

Items with serial numbers can be entered as stolen. I wouldn't leave something like a working phone that can be tracked real time. You have no idea what you're looking at for response times and when you are trying to track one of those things live, and it is on the move, it is not necessarily easy. In other words, you might never see it again.

Locking the car doors is usually enough.

quote:

Originally posted by reloader-1:
Sorry to hear about your theft, I hate thieves.

On a side note, stuff like this is why the concept of a “truck gun” is one I can never approve of. Leaving a firearm somewhere where it is more likely to be stolen is asinine.

Asinine? Gun stores are pretty likely to be broken in to yet there are plenty of firearms there. I have had an extra firearm in my vehicle for the last 10 years and it has yet to be stolen. I have numerous firearms in my house that have never been stolen. Sometimes I have multiple firearms in my vehicle and I’ve never had an issue. The probability of being stolen from an unlocked vehicle is probably high so don’t leave it unlocked and secure it. We will never live in a zero crime society so take precautions to prevent theft, insure your belongings and don’t sweat the small stuff.
As for the OP, I’d check with the police to see if they would mess with tracking the thieves. I know my local police will track stolen cell phones. You can buy battery powered GPS devices, just pick something to leave it in.

In the future, leave job applications in the truck.

Re: Truck Gun, and sorry for the thread drift

Gun stores are more likely to be broken into, and that’s why they have appropriate security measures (bars, safes, alarm systems, etc). They are also “harder” targets, as are personal homes (I.e. a thief has to physically go to that place, and they more often than not stick out in neighborhoods).

A vehicle weapon is none of those. A car/truck is trivially easy to enter, is often parked in questionable areas (sports events, city restaurants, shopping center lots, etc) that have a large volume of traffic, possibly including thieves.

In your situation & location, it may be ok, given your habits and patterns. I’ve lived mostly in larger cities and view it as an unacceptable risk to others around me. If I need a gun, I carry it - it doesn’t stay in my vehicle unless forced to, and I have a console safe.

its the new thing to do in high school, four hours every night about 40 kids ,
drive through all the neighbor hoods checking every vehicle on every street,

in the drive ways , on the streets, in the side yards, checking garage doors, you name it.

if they can see it through the window they will get to it,

I kinda don't think it's considered a "break in"
if they just try the door handle and it pops right open,

aren't unlocked car doors pretty much the same as an invitation?

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

quote:

Originally posted by barsad0:.... Apparently they don’t have kids because I had three boxes of diapers in the back that cost WAY more than the 20....

You cover crack with the diaper, you cover crack purchase with the 20.

quote:

Originally posted by oldbill123:
You may find that the police are not interested in petty stuff. Politicians won't let them as they have to keep the numbers looking good

Plus they don't have the money to chase every petty crime.

Very common for kids to look for unlocked vehicles to steal guns, change, electronics, CD's, cigarettes and anything else of value. If you leave the keys in it they may steal the vehicle. I can recall getting hundreds of calls from one neighborhood after a group of car burglars went through the night before. When it gets bad enough the PD will put some resources on the investigation. Lock up, have an alarm, lights in the driveway, park in the garage if you can.

In all likelihood, all that will happen is you will lose that item too.

[Begin advice]
1. Always lock your vehicle
2. Don't leave valuables in vehicle
3. Use this as a lesson to review rules 1 & 2
4. Move on, setting up a "sting" will either be a waste of time and efforts or end up being something that causes more grief than it is worth in the long run
5. Review rules 1 & 2
[/end advice]

I have a pile of fake iPhones I leave to watch people steal.

Unless you can buy a dye pack from your friendly bank supply company, just lock your car.

From the other side of society POV, if you/we don't lock up you are just enabling scumbags with the opportunity.

XM Radio is not much help either. Several years ago a neighbor had one of the portable heads stolen so he called in to have it shut off and report it as stolen with a police report number.

A couple of days later he called in to see if there was any activity on it. He was told that somebody called in to activate a radio they had just purchased. The person on the phone was told that radio was reported stolen so they could not activate it.

Now if XM had just activated it and contacted my neighbor and or the PD they would have had at least a name, address and telephone number for the local PD to question that person where they got the radio...............

GPS item, like old cell phones will not give us enough to search a house or get a warrant.

Don't do it.

More in a bit.

I am a big supporter of my local PD, however I can say when it comes to vehicle break ins, they do not care. Its a major issue here in Mid-TN, I have honestly never seen anything like it even when I lived in Detroit and Flint. (You just had to be worried about being shot or robbed or both... but nobody was rummaging cars every night... lol)

But seriously, my neighbors even have the kids on video, and the PD was not interested.

All you can do is lock your car, and make sure you leave nothing in it. Nothing, even something of limited or no value.

quote:

Originally posted by KevinCW:
GPS item, like old cell phones will not give us enough to search a house or get a warrant.

Don't do it.

More in a bit.

My friend had his cell phone stolen last winter while he was shopping. He used the GPS feature to track it down and provided the location to the PD. The store provided security camera footage that showed the perpetrator pilfering my friend's phone.

The PD knocked on the door of the house that contained the cell phone. Nobody answered. PD said that was all they could do. Nothing else came of it.

I know a lot of people who rather than lock their car doors overnight will leave them unlocked and make sure there are no valuables inside. Their reasoning is that some thieves will smash windows for the pettiest of theft (eg: a handful of loose change), so might as well leave the doors unlocked. They go through your car and get little to nothing. At least your windows are intact.