I Think I Might Be Burgled Soon. What to do?

usherer on 15/06/2018 - 22:21
Last edited 17/06/2018 - 23:10

UPDATE:
Just got back from interstate, so pardon the delay in updates.

Between my post and the latest update,
- On Fri night, my housemates went to the police who said that because the man didn't conceal his face, it's likely he was not up to something dodgy. Also patrols wouldn't be stepped up on weekends?

  • On Sat morning, a housemate got to answer the door! The guy said he was from Uniti internet and said our house qualified for it, and asked if housemate was renting or was the landlord managing the bills.
    Housemate: I'm renting. You've been around for the past few days, yea? We've got cameras.
    Man:Yes, I came yesterday too.
    Housemate: You were here before that too?
    Man: No. That was someone else.
    Later, housemate also checked if he was going to be coming back, and he said no.

  • Well, all's well, sort of, for a number of reasons - e.g. if he was really going to break in, he wouldn't be coming around for three days. We're mostly more at ease, except that:

  1. He had been coming around for 3 days (in the exact same attire, and more than once per day), but said he's only been coming for 2 days.

  2. He wasn't wearing a badge or any company paraphernalia.

  3. He said our house qualified, but I checked on Uniti website which said it didn't. I rang Uniti and the customer support said their contractors have vague details of the neighbourhoods, so they would have seen my house as qualifying when it is actually blocked by a couple of structures. The website has more accurate info. So that's weird - if I'm the contractor, I'd just use the more accurate info via the website. And if the ipad doesn't have data…then how is Uniti expecting me to be convinced they have internet expertise/access?

Anyway, I'm walking away with your tips richer, and I'm sure my house will be safer than what it was 4 days ago. Thank you!!

In the last two months I've been in Melbourne, my manager was burgled and I learnt about someone who is suffering from a head injury from a home invasion years ago, which is why I'm taking this very seriously. Only interested in helpful responses, please. Thanks for understanding.

Thursday - 12pm: Camera got a man tapping on his ipad coming to the door. Instead of ringing the doorbell, he reached out and tried the screendoor. Waited and left.
5pm: He returned a second time, and did the exact same thing. He heard our dog then walked away, pausing, and left.

Friday (today) - At three different times (spaced hours apart, and again during office hours), same guy came back and did the same thing, but rang doorbell once this time.

It's odd that a salesperson or someone doing survey would try to open the door instead trying the doorbell, so I think he has dodgy intentions.

What we have:

  • Camera recording
  • Sticker near door saying house is under surveillance
  • Large dog barking
    But guy continued returning, so these haven't been deterrents for him.

What we are doing:

  • Will share video with police tonight
  • Will talk to neighbours and ask them to look out for our house, and to check their own cameras if their house have been targeted too.
  • Will have some protective equipment in our bedrooms

But it feels like we can't actually do anything to definitively prevent a break-in, and I can't accept the idea of being a sitting duck! Any other ideas?

Home & Garden

Comments

    • altomic on 16/06/2018 - 15:53
      +5

      yeah, don't do this.

      • Gauntlet on 17/06/2018 - 02:44
        +5

        I get all my home security advice from Macaulay Culkin.

        • shaiguy on 18/06/2018 - 14:50
          +1

          You mean Kevin McCallister?

    • [Deactivated] on 17/06/2018 - 13:17
      +1

      Another use for all those stockpiling eneloops.

      • shaiguy on 18/06/2018 - 14:50

        That's why they want to rob him

  • ihbh on 16/06/2018 - 17:02
    +1

    Make your place as unattractive as possible. Put dog poo on the grass, strew dirty shoes outside the entry, etc.

  • ChillBro on 16/06/2018 - 18:32
    +1

    Watch this guide to learn how to protect yourself and your home.

  • captain smash on 16/06/2018 - 19:10

    It’s entirely possible this person is a Process Server.

    We had one visit our place a few times looking for the previous tennant to serve him court papers.

  • [Deactivated] on 16/06/2018 - 21:09

    Paranoia is the word.

  • kahn on 16/06/2018 - 21:16
    +2

    Is your name Sarah Connor?

  • whooah1979 on 16/06/2018 - 21:29
    +1

    Op, could you please provide a link to the vid?

  • idonotknowwhy on 16/06/2018 - 21:57

    Print out a picture of him, glue it to your front door with a note saying "(profanity) off"

  • Gauntlet on 17/06/2018 - 02:42

    I'm of the opinion that security is mostly an illusion. Sure, locked doors and a dog might deter an opportunistic thief but at the end of the day, windows can be smashed and dogs can be killed.
    A desperate junkie will do some pretty messed up stuff.
    I lived on a farm growing up and we got robbed a couple of times. No way a thief was going to drive all that way to jiggle a door handle and leave.

    • [Deactivated] on 17/06/2018 - 13:20
      +1

      No need to worry about junkies. Just throw a pair of old shoes a few doors down on the powerlines and they will hit their place instead.

  • congo on 17/06/2018 - 08:46

    Home & content insurance is usally the best option.
    If thiefs want to break in, there isn't really much you can do.
    I find that when a dodgy neighbour moves out (lease expired) someone on the street get robbed.
    It is like they moved in with the intension/planning/goal to rob some house next door before they move out.

  • JoanOfArc123 on 17/06/2018 - 08:55

    Do you have a smart doorbell? I believe you can speak to them remotely through the camera once it alerts your phone that someone is there. If it really was someone with no ill intentions they would reply, if someone dodgy it would deter them anyway.

  • oneland on 17/06/2018 - 11:38
    +1

    Man i wish I saw this earlier, I got burgled on the Tuesday the 12 this month.

    Your pretty lucky you can rule out its not someone you know because most burglaries occur for people who live pretty nearby.

    To be honest, I'd look into getting one of the following installed
    - Arlec Motion sensor within the house with the alarm posted outside so they know its there with the stickers
    - Actual camera system that records everything including notifications to your phone so you know someones in the house etc.

    The thing is despite what everyone else says, the best thing is to provide a deterrent such as the camera system which then has the chance of catching the person. For the moment, I would secure all your valuables and put them in a place that they are unlikely to search, attic etc. The reason why I suggest adding the security system is that despite the evidence, by the time the police catch the thief, its most likely too late, most of your valuables would have been pawned off or sold on gumtree, etc, which is the unfortunate part of this situation. The police don't do too much because of the resource allocation problems they have, so they'll be in and out in 20-25 minutes after the burglary, doing the fingerprinting and then you won't hear from them unless you pester them.

    In my situation, my laptop with my life's work and 2k cash was stolen. Pretty gutted about it.
    Police haven't done too much, so i've resorted to handing out flyers in every mailbox within the area and sticking up posters offering 1000 reward for the return of the laptop. I don't expect to get it back, but there's hope.

    So I would recommend hiding all valuables in a place that you think is relatively difficult to find, or moving the valuables to a place where someone is always home that you know. Or installing security that provides phone notification etc.

    I live in Preston Vic btw.

    • [Deactivated] on 17/06/2018 - 13:22

      Sorry to hear that you were burgled.

      Hope you threw out all your toothbrushes and anything that was opened. Who knows what those sick f'kers might have done to them whilst in your place.

    • usherer on 18/06/2018 - 23:08

      Sorry to hear that you lost your life's work.
      Even if you have insurance, that value of your work simply can't be recovered. What do you do?
      Had an ex-colleague who backed up everything to the cloud before he went for his sabbatical in Nepal. I think I'll do that in future. When trying to put together my portfolio after years of not updating, I managed to retrieve some work from emails. Without knowing whether you're a scientist or musician, these are some suggestions that might be plausible, but I bet you would have already thought of whatever you can to retrieve your work. All the best.

      We can't use our motion sensor as the house acquired a dog.
      And we use Arlo Net Gear camera system, which is great - we get notifications via an app, but again, we can only put the video at certain points of the house, and the dog is always setting the camera off.

  • Cusack on 17/06/2018 - 12:39

    Get a Ring Doorbell. Youtube it and see the results

  • CharityCase on 17/06/2018 - 14:50

    Maybe irrelevant to OPs topic, but does security apartment have a lower chance of getting burgled compared to a house?

    • usherer on 18/06/2018 - 23:12

      I rented a place in Southbank before, and there are so many people on a single floor, with doors right up next to each other that I'd think there will be some danger there.
      The landlady got that particular unit because she'd observed that some units had balconies very close to each other and might be risky.
      Would love to see stats/comments on this question.

      • CharityCase on 19/06/2018 - 00:09

        Are you talking about ground floor unit?

  • colossus on 17/06/2018 - 16:02
    +1

    In terms of personal safety, put your knife block away; don't leave it on the bench.

    Reason: burglars, if stopped by police, do not want a concealed weapons charge added so usually do not carry weapons. Your visible knife block contains easily accessible weapons a burglary is interrupted by you.

    This tip was passed on to me by a friend with whom we shared a holiday house. Said friend was a former police officer. Thereafter, our knife block was always put away.

    • idonotknowwhy on 18/06/2018 - 11:49

      Thanks, makes sense. I'm actually going to do this when I get home.

    • usherer on 18/06/2018 - 23:13

      Where do you keep it? Just make it less accessible - e.g. not on kitchen counter, but in cupboard?

  • BudgetAce on 17/06/2018 - 18:26

    I always wonder. Why is it normal in Australia for people to live in fear of criminals ? Shouldn't it be the other way around ? If that is life… something is so fundamentally wrong isn't it ?

    • Cusack on 17/06/2018 - 21:30

      hmmmm interesting point. What country are you comparing to where it's the opposite?

      • BudgetAce on 17/06/2018 - 22:03

        A few times I have seen Aussies berating police officers here or even challenging them when being pulled over and asked for ID, etc. There seems to be a general vibe that people do not have a great deal of respect for the law or the law enforcement here.

        Even regularly on Fri evenings I see bunch of drunk teens go into Maccas and break stuff there and threaten the staff, even the security. And when police arrive, they throw rubbish at the police and run off.

        When I travel around the various asian countries where there are serious consequences for committing a crime including the death sentence. You don't see people yelling at the cops. They just hand over their ID and answer questions in a mild and even tone. People don't abuse the cops there. And when criminals are pulled over, they act like they have seen a ghost, their face goes pale and start acting squeamish (not in all cases) but you get the idea they have real fear of the law and the consequences.

        Thus my point that normal people should not live in fear whereas criminals should live in fear of the law…

        • tranter on 18/06/2018 - 12:57

          People in many of those Asian countries you are talking about live with a different type of fear every single day of their lives. Their rights are extremely limited and often non-existent. They act that way around police for good reason. As a foreign tourist you probably won't see that side of life and the daily reality for many locals.

          You will also find that overall crime is actually more widespread, and at the same time fewer freedoms. Give me Australia any day.

        • usherer on 18/06/2018 - 23:20

          Interesting - and I can see what you mean. For instance, I've been watching a number of cute videos by NZ/Oz police doing dancing etc. They also have hilarious instagrams. All this is quite unheard of in Asian countries.

          I wonder if there is indeed a link between the friendly police here and the crime situation, though we first need to do comparisons on the crime rates.

          But in general, people in Australia are less deferential to authorities in the same way Asians are, I feel, and that's for the better and for the worse. I find they are also more understanding of the challenges that law enforcement officials face, friendlier towards them, and willing/able to critique their actions whereas (if I may generalise) Asians may be less able to stand up against unfair action.

        • BudgetAce on 19/06/2018 - 08:56

          since I’m from Sydney here are some daily observations and some from just yesterday.

          So Fri at the local Maccas again drunk teens came in and kicked the hand dryer down. Security stood by and watched. Police came by and the teens just threw drinks at them and ran off.

          Noon time at Redfern train station. Teens jump the gantry. Police officers just across the street watching. And this is just across from the local police station.

          Even peak hour train. Town hall station. Teens started throwing drinks around da train, milkshake on the floor and ran off the train. Passengers now have a cabin with at least 3 rows of seats unusable.

          When I say teens these guys are like 18-23. Many argue they are just kids, but these “kids” are growing up knowing there are no consequences (law) to their actions.

          I have been fortunate to travel extensively for work around Asia and have close friends in the countries. Say Singapore, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. You wouldn’t see these kind of events happening on a daily basis. The just blatant disregard for the law.

          People in those countries are not oppressed (fewer freedom?) they can voice their discontent on issues (peacefully most of da time). I have single lady friends in Singapore that go jogging at 12 midnight by themselves. There is no fear of being raped and murdered unlike here. Says a lot about crime rates in comparison to ours

        • tranter on 19/06/2018 - 12:29

          @tanfree:

          I'm not going to argue about issues such as youth and crime in parts of Australia because I agree with you in some respects.

          But please do some research on government powers, suppression of government opposition, freedom of expression and association, freedom of press, civil liberties, police state, privacy, mass surveillance and human rights in Singapore. Have a look at the associated international ranking indices and see how Singapore compares. Taiwan is probably similar or worse.

          Definitely fewer freedoms.

          It's not perfect here but as I said before, give me Australia any day.

        • usherer on 20/06/2018 - 00:36

          @tanfree:
          I have very close knowledge of Singapore - take what your friends say with a pinch of salt. I've also known of women in Singapore being molested during peak hours on public transport. Due to tight media control, a nationalistic media and a nationalistic education system, Singaporeans have effectively convinced themselves they're the safest, cleanest country around. Singaporeans might invariably repeat to you that the death penalty is one big deterrent, but the fact is, Singapore has never revealed its death penalty figures and proved the correlation with its crime rates. By contrast, since Canada and Hong Kong suspended death penalty, homicide rates have either stayed the same or dropped. Singapore is a strange place where stuff is repeated so often it seems like reality.

          and yes, there are people who walk around safely at night - so are there in Australia.
          But yes, East Asian countries are noticeably safer in a way, and that has been attributed to the Confucian values system, amongst other factors. I might attribute the desire to be considerate of others (hence being quieter, more thoughtful of public spaces, more willing to comply with norms and laws) is reflective of Asian social values.

          What do you mean they "can voice their discontent"? A Singaporean blogger was successfully sued by the current PM for ruining his reputation and told to pay damages of $400,000, because that's what's the PM is worth. BTW, he is the highest paid PM in the world, I think, earning 2 million compared to Obama's $400k. Academics who do not toe the party line have bee denigrated publicly, and also, strangely, generally denied tenure.

          I have also observed that violent murders in Singapore can just drop off the media radar. To top it off, the media is indeed very much controlled by the government, and it has been ranked 154th in the world, maybe near the ranks of North Korea, so there's a very strong illusion that Singapore is safe.

        • AlienC on 20/06/2018 - 01:24
          -1

          @tanfree:

          Redfern station

          Haha.. were these teens of a certain ethnic background or just random multicultural Aussies?

  • nahi11 on 17/06/2018 - 19:46

    You can thank the left wing ozbargainers for banning good gun deals to protect yourself.

    • melbstheburn on 18/06/2018 - 11:09
      +3

      Maybe someone should put up some tissue bargains for you.

  • lostn on 17/06/2018 - 20:43

    I think you've done as much as you can. If you are recording the footage and have his face on camera (on three separate occasions), as well as a sticker informing him of the fact, he'd be pretty stupid to burgle you.

    You could maybe get an aggressive pitbull and have him chained to the front door so that the guy has to get past the dog to get in.

    If you're already calling the police, they will give you better advice than we can.

    What valuables do you have, that a guy would be interested enough to visit you 3 times? And is it obvious that you're loaded or possess something of interest?

    • usherer on 18/06/2018 - 23:22

      "What valuables do you have, that a guy would be interested enough to visit you 3 times?"
      A house without Uniti internet yet! (see my update on how the guy says he is a Uniti salesperson)

  • fantafox on 17/06/2018 - 20:55

    Buy a $99 2 stroke petrol chain saw. Fire that up.

  • zeomega on 17/06/2018 - 22:38
    +2

    You have a large dog that barks. Unlikely a real burglar will bother.

  • giventofly on 18/06/2018 - 13:10
    +2

    This sounds like a Door to Door, in which case, let the dog out that shoots bees from its mouth

  • BrainSand on 18/06/2018 - 16:49
    -1

    this is a good time for b i k i e s™

  • AlienC on 20/06/2018 - 01:21

    I can sit out the front of your house for a cheese burger a day.

    Also willing to fight for a pizza a day.

    I am not a bikie but I am hungry.

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