from the mind of an ex-theif..

I have never had any animal stolen from me. I have no experince in stealing animals, but i am an X-theif and i can tell you somethings to prevent.

1.DISTRACTIONS. If a group of people walk into a store and only one of them comes up to you and the others disappear or seem to be located in another area of your store, dont let your "no not these type of people" theories go into play, watch them all. Never lose sight and try to assist your customer in an area were there all together, make it a point to non-chalntly look at the other customers, watch for the customer your helping tyrin to make it so your back is to them, cause were quick when we want to be, and even quicker and better when we know every second counts.
If you are running a stand at a show and you notice this its a bit harder and were very aware of that, especially if we dont aproch u in a group. This is why you MUST MUST buy a small camera with a montior and have someone watching it at all times. its pricy, but how pricy is it to that rare albino boa you have? ALWAYS ALWAYS assume people are up to something, but never let on you think that. be kind and courterous and watchful of everything.

For the people who are suffering break ins, heres advice but i never did a break in whewn i was a kid so this is all just theory.

1.Alarm systems, but quiet ones. remember i told you were quick when we want to be, but quicker when every MICROsecond counts. Have the alarms rigged to your house as well.

2. Alarms to pricy? want more then the alarm? buy one of those micro cameras and place it in the room with NO ONE ELSE KNOWING IT EXISITS, NO EMPLOYES OR NOTHING. they cost around 80 bucks and the video feed can be made to go right to your home computer.

3. Drastic as it may be, bars on the windows. Not a crappy little metal screen, bars on the windows. it would take a hell of a lot of work to get through them.

I dont knwo how helpful you may find this, but i hope it helps somewhat

You're courageous to admit flat out that you used to steal...I'm awstruck! Thank you for being so bold!!

It's always helpful to know what kind of tricks thieves use. If you have any more ideas you'd like to put forth, please do.

What's next?

Sybella said:

You're courageous to admit flat out that you used to steal...I'm awstruck! Thank you for being so bold!!

It's always helpful to know what kind of tricks thieves use. If you have any more ideas you'd like to put forth, please do.

Click to expand...

Now all we need is for someone to write a helpfuul post like this:


"From the mind of an ex-murderer"

"How to avoid being murdered,......"


(he he,... I couldn't help my sick self)

Awwh! C'mon...you can see the benefit of this, can't you?? LOL!! Just take a look at the BOI and look at the threads on pet stores that have been robbed and then think about it. If we know what to look for, we can stop this, right?


But, back on the murder thing...OJ's next book? LOL!

Sybella said:

But, back on the murder thing...OJ's next book? LOL!

Click to expand...

OJ? (lol) Nah, he was sloppy and impulsive. He was just damn lucky that he had the right jury and 50 mill for a dream team defense. He may have been a pro in football, but it was amatuer night at Nicole's that evening.

A lot of this is common sense, but definately worth having written out!

When I do shows, the heaviest and lowest priced items are the ones closest to the customer side of the table. I keep items stacked in shelves, both to maximize space and so I can be aware of people moving to reach for items.

Do you do the White Plains show? I'd assume so, being so close. Do you have a banner, or specific banner name for your company. I'll have to check out your stock next white plains.
I love checking out peoples stock, especially if I know the person, or have atleast heard of them, or made small talk with them.
Good way for me to let people know that you have healthy stuff.

I used to own a retail pet store and a sport shop. Catching theives is hard to do. When you do catch one do not cut them any slack what so ever. Prosecute to the fullest. If you go easy on 1 theif you will be the prime target of many. If you prosecute to the fullest the word gets around and they will back off and move on to easier targets. Brian an 18 year old boy that worked for me under a community service program found out the hard way that I don't mess around when it comes to theft. He and his buddy decided to break in to the store and rob it one night. Being stupid as most theives are he was quickly caught and spent his senior year of high school in the county jail. In spite of his mommies plea for me to cut him some slack I pushed for him to be made an example of for the other wanna be gangsters to see. It did not take long for that to get around to the other would be theives and they knew that I would gladly put them in the next cell if they were dumb enough to cross me. Always maintain a base of good neiborhood kids you can trust and treat them well and they will be your eyes and ears and will let you know who to watch out for. A little simple psycology goes a long way toward limiting your losses. Tell the neighborhood kids when you are loosing things to theft and tell them that if it continues you are going to have to close shop and do something else as you can't afford to be robbed. The last thing any kid wants is their favorite pet store going out of business. You would be amazed at how much they can find out for you. When you get information forward it to the police and have the alledged theif questioned. They and other theives will know you are having them investigated and will shy away from hitting you again.

Thieves

I thought it was thief? Must have never stolen a dictionary............

Defenitly uncalled for John.
I mean seriously, just infering you should steal a dictionary is horrible.
What a waste of valueable pocket space LOL.
Good tips on how to see your shop be kept safe.

Sorry Man, I guess I'm not perfect I sure hope you never make an error. Imagine the embarrassment a perfectionist as yourself would suffer.

one more thing i would like to add to this kinda relativily cheap and easy to run solution to catch burglars (take a little pc knowledge though). take a cheap 300-600mhz used pc install a webcam or a camera of somesorts to it. set the computer up like usual, get a webcam security program with web server abilities. there are several programs even if done properly you can setup backorifice onto the pc (heavily password the program) and use its plugins to be able to turn on cameras from other locations. if the program needs manual startup move the shortcut to your programs->startup section of your startmenu. once you have it all setup and the pc is running fine, strip the pc apart. then re-mount the pc to something, this could be anything ranging from a cardboard box to mounting it to the inside of your front counter at your store. just do anything to make the burglar think its not a working computer or something they just dont want or know what it is in general. turn it on now, if everything went right in the mounting the pc should startup and goto windows and load the camera software without a monitor present.

the genuis behind all of that is when your store gets broken into and you have alarms to your house, you can watch the camera from your house and record it with your pc. so they cant steal that backup you make. with the pc being apart or mounted to a desk or something at the store it makes it very hard for a burglar to steal the pc (if they knew that much about a pc, you think they be breaking into your store?).

if you use a normal unmodified pc, most crooks would steal that. they know what it is and easier to take and worth something atleast. a bunch of parts laying around hookedup would confuse them and normally they will just skip it and focus at the task at hand.

i used a very similar setup to catch a burglar that was robbing my home business. i sell custom built pc's for people, at times i can have $10,000 worth of pc's and parts laying around my house at any given time. i also live in the ghetto (no lie, every other nieghbor is a crackhead loser) for like a month i was having problems with a burglar. he never took nothing big, few ps2 games here, a video camera there, even unloaded our fridge full of food. not once did he touch any of the major electronics and pc's i had, figured a crackhead or kid had to be upto this. we finally secured the house fully, or so we thought.

i came home a week or 2 later to find $5,000+ worth of game systems, carstereo equipment, pc's, accessories, etc gone. i had enough at this point i still had some parts and my main pc still left, so i took a bunch of spare used parts and put togather a 300 mhz pc and put it in a carboard avon box and left it running. several days later it happened again, this time he was busted on "tape". turned out to be a person i knew from my friends who brought him over here before. too bad by the time the cops got him it was for murder after bashing a guys head in in my alleyway over $10 in crack.

sorry that this is lengthy i figured i would like to add how i suceeded in catching a theif and to share how a accomplished it. i dont know how many of you can do that personally or be able to hire someone to do something similar, but if you can work on a pc its not hard.

also if there are any spelling or grammatical errors please dont try to correct me or be as shallow as to judge me from it. its 4:30 am here and i was barely able to keep my eyes open long enough to type all that out. just figured others here would like to know.

Haha I get it...

So you have 10K worth of part laying around at one given time and you live in the ghetto next to crackheads.

And your giving advice on how to catch a burglar but you couldnt stop the one that was stealing from you.

Great joke man, you almost had me going there for a whole second.

Haha! Youre a funny guy!

Re: Haha I get it...

critical bill said:

So you have 10K worth of part laying around at one given time and you live in the ghetto next to crackheads.

And your giving advice on how to catch a burglar but you couldnt stop the one that was stealing from you.

Great joke man, you almost had me going there for a whole second.

Haha! Youre a funny guy!

Click to expand...

you think im kidding........... lol thats even funnier.

if you didnt read i did catch him on camera i had pics and everything, the cops had them too. like i said before, the guy bashed anothers guys head in in my alleyway and caught a murder rap. before the cops got him for the b&e, he was also on the run for various things. he traded in several charges + his crack dealers for a robbery and rsp charge. i also tried to contact the cops before , but the cops will not come down and file reports or "trivial stuff" like one or 2 ps2 games and stuff like that. when the $5,000 worth of stuff was stolen, he also bashed in my back door and broken down my fence and probably had help that time.

if you still dont believe me here is The person Responsible

believe what you want to believe critical bill. you dont know me, nor know what i do for a living. i am not going to post details of my business just to prove you wrong....

Wicked....

Imagination.

Peace-

Re: Wicked....

critical bill said:

Imagination.

Peace-

Click to expand...

GEEE, bill i have ALOT better things to do with my time than to argue with you. YOU DO NOT KNOW ME ONE BIT, so how can you say i am lying? YOU GOT PROOF? NO.

I think its funny that you challenge me and claim i do not run my own custom pc business out my house, WHATS next going to bash me and say im imagining more things when i start breeding and selling leopard geckos next year?

i decided to try to help people and post a TRUE story to how i caught a theif on tape using a pc in a cardboard box. i was hoping to possibly give advice to others who know a little about howto build pc's, howto do the same thing. only be be called a liar................. you have no proof to back your claim.

im done commenting to this, i KNOW what i do everyday to put food on my plate and pay my bills, YOU dont.

done, over and out

Finally my webhost is back online.

critical bill said:

Imagination.

Click to expand...

this was suposed to be on the first post of mine, but the webhost i was using was being worked on. thats the comp i used, it was hidden under my desk. with just for a added bonus ill put the webpics that it took right next to his mugshot. TRUST me it was him.....





sorry to the original thread starter for turning your thread into this. like i said im DONE. i just felt i have to clear my name, cause i can PROVE my end. NO prove yours bill................ LOL

Hmm

Sounds like the only experience you had was with shoplifting, as the helpful hints were nothing Earth shattering, lol.

If a thief wants to burglarize your home or business your best line of defense is active keyholder (that actually responds when the police call), and neighborhood watch..aka nosey neighbors.

We find it's the folks that don't keep their alarm systems checked by techs (and have numerous false alarms) to be the ones that usually get hit the hardest. They get lax about responding...the police take the "If you don't car why should I?" attitude..and ce la vie.

It's none of my business, but it's a forum so I'm gonna put in my $.05 worth. I don't understand when somebody posts a message that is meant to be useful to others, and you have persons with an IQ that's the same number as their shoe size chiming in, making light of a situation that hits one of the places where it hurts most, "their pocketbook or billfold. To those with negative remarks to a otherwise positive thread, apparently you have never had anything taken from you. I have, and it's a feeling of being "raped" or violated. I guess as long as there are forums there will be morons that have no idea what day of the week it is. I am grateful to the people who give there time, to possibly help others from being violated.

Fartknocker

Well, if you can relate being robbed to being punked in the keester then we know who the moron really is. That you can relate a burglary, mugging, or theft to a "rape" is shameful and just downright stupid. If you have had anything taken from you it must have been your brain. Do you have any compassion for victims of a sexual assault? You care to tell my wife that your monetary loss is equivalent to her case of sexual assault?

Did the big bad robber who stole from you ejaculate in you and pass on a sexually transmitted disease?

You have NO IDEA what if feels like to be raped and God forbid it happens to you. You will quickly understand that a case of robbery feels nothing like rape.

Please send me your paypal address so I can make a donation to help you recover your monetary loss and to keep you from making another assinine comment like that.

Fartknocker said:

To those with negative remarks to a otherwise positive thread, apparently you have never had anything taken from you. I have, and it's a feeling of being "raped" or violated. I guess as long as there are forums there will be morons that have no idea what day of the week it is. I am grateful to the people who give there time, to possibly help others from being violated.

Fartknocker

Click to expand...