Thieves

FIRC, from reading about the history of fire fighting, Dalmatian dogs were kept on board fire engines to guard the equipment and protect the apparatus.
Apparently Dalmatians are not as cute and cuddly as we have been led to believe, they in fact can be very protective and aggressive.

This info dates back more than 100 years, so even then there was theft from a working fire truck.

So the contractor with the dog in the truck may not lose anything.
Many ranch pick up trucks here have one or two dogs in the back, (even though they are usually Aussi herding dogs) you would not borrow any of that person's tools out of the truck without them being there.

Hmmm, Makes me wonder what could be done to set up one's truck with some low amperage, high voltage electricity. Hmmm

"Long gone...like a turkey through the corn."

I’ve had very minor theft incidents, but one of my deepest memories is back when I was young and charged dirt low rates. I installed two sump pumps for this typical American household. After I sent the bill (back in the “mailing days”) I realized I only charged for one. I reached out to politely ask for the corrected amount and the reply came back as “no, we feel the original invoice is what we owe you”. Back then the measly cost of the pump kinda hurt

I live in an undisclosed location.
We lock our house only if we leave town overnight.
Also only lock the work truck the same time.
Two remaining vehicles have the keys "hidden" in the ashtrays.
This is common for the area.....also there is more than one gun in each house.

My son lives a block away and a county deputy is parked across the street.

Sometimes when locking the work truck, I leave the keys in the ignition, just use the spare set to open doors, I learned to not do this and remove them once in awhile.....

I had a job out of town for several nights, after checking into the hotel, the ignition key would not work, pulling it out I could feel the tumblers falling down.
So I am sitting in the parking lot, broad daylight, in the third largest city in the state drilling/chiseling out my lock cylinder on the steering column. No one took notice.
Once the guts are out, then a large screwdriver would operate the switch. On older Ford vans you can always operate the electric switches by just exposing the push rod on the bottom side of the column and operating it with pliers, but the wheel and shift lever needs the key to unlock.
Thankfully the door locks did get more exercise and worked ok.

My brother is a building super in a building that has a brass mail chute that dropped fourteen stories to a mail box in the lobby.

One day, he came across a thief that was dismantling a section with a screw driver. My brother shouted "hey!" Hoping the guy would drop what he had and run but instead the guy apologized and handed him a ten pound piece of brass. My brother was confused until the guy made a stab at him with the screw driver. He missed but my brother didnt. He slammed the ten pound piece of brass against the side of the thief's head. The guy rolled down a flight of stairs, shook his head and ran away.

My brother said, " fortunately, he left his screwdriver so I could put it back together".

Leon82 said:

Some of the scrapyards are shady and accept it most likely knowing it's stolen. Because they can either shear it up or make it unrecognizable. They can pay crackheads less than a legitimate scrapper and make more money

Ever go to a scrapyard owner's house? They live in the high rent district.

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes said:

So, is there anywhere left in the U.S. where you can leave the door to your house unlocked, keys in your truck's ignition and tool cabinets open?

I know some folks that live near the super max prison that houses murderers and international terrorists. They claim that they lock the house and the good car all the time. They have an spare car that they leave fueled with the keys in the ignition. If those boys get out, you want them to drive a long way away...

Keys are always in my van and the doors are unlocked at our house. I loose keys if I take them out!

I do lock the van on some job sites, just got a van with the remote control and power locks! There are also a few undisclosed firearms around.... I'm in rural America in the country no less. I built a storage building a few years back with a roll-up steel door, no way to lock it. I should change that sometime.

Rural VT allows me to leave keys in my truck. Tools in an unlocked pickup truck cap.
Back in '06 or '07 when price of copper was at historic highs, I had some 'scrappers' enter in my house cellar door and take all my 'loose' copper (stored scrap, new pipe and fittings, Romex and MC cable). Fortunately, no tools or INSTALLED copper. They were methodical about taking UNTRACEABLE stuff only. Prob. 'fenced' it in NH. Cellar door is now barred and house is locked.

I try to steer clear of items that appear to be stolen. The best way to stop a thief is to take away the market place.

Years ago I ran a Radio Shack in the St. Paul ghetto. Guy comes in buys a stereo & TV with a credit card. Salesman forgets to give him remote control so they call the phone number associated with the card and got a guy who had been pick pocketed. Called the cops and made out a report. 2 days later guy comes back looking for his remote. Salesman goes in back, calls the cops, same ones come. He points to the guy, the guy gets cuffed and hauled out.

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes said:

So, is there anywhere left in the U.S. where you can leave the door to your house unlocked, keys in your truck's ignition and tool cabinets open?

Homer Alaska!
Most of my customers just have me come in and do the work when they are not there. I Have a vacation rental that has an electronic lock on it, but only because the guests we get are mostly from outside, and expect it. The only time I take my keys out of my van is when I go to the store during tourist season, because, you just can't take chances then.
That being said, you did say in the U.S., and a lot of people don't think Alaska is part of the U.S., so my post might be off topic. But, we are working on it
Rick

About 40+ years ago my brother rented a car and made a visit to the south across the border.
He parks the car to walk around the town, a little kid says "Hey mister, I watch your car for 2 dollars". The brother ignored his offer.
Upon returning to the car hours later he sees that the license plates are gone. He cannot leave the country with an un-plated car and besides it is a rental.
He reports the theft to the police station and they somehow miraculously had his "recovered" plates at the counter. It took 10 or 20 dollars to clear up this ordeal and get the plates back.

As he returns to the car he realizes he has no screwdriver.
Just then the same little kid appears with the tool and offers to rent it to him for 5 dollars.
So lesson learned.....2 bucks is cheap.