# Getting Robbed



## NeophyteGrant (Jan 2, 2017)

Well. It happened. My shop was burglarized. Luckily, the thieves only made off with hand power tools and my Dewalt planer (read: things that can, in the same token, be replaced). I have some tips on securing your doors and windows if you want them (cameras are affordable and darn are they smart these days) but even the best laid plans to prevent entry often only slow or deter a thief-if they want in, they will get in. So I've thought about how to lock down the most important stuff if someone does get in.

*That said: If a thief makes it into your shop, how do you secure the most valuable items? Do you? What lockboxes, jobsite boxes, secure, minimal space tool chests do you use? *


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## Redoak49 (Dec 15, 2012)

I have not secured tools but my shop has no windows. I also have a monitored alarm system with motion detectors.

The alarm system also is for temperature in the shop to detect fires.


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## Desert_Woodworker (Jan 28, 2015)

*Trust in God's Blessings*


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## htl (Mar 24, 2015)

"if they want in, they will get in" 
That being said you don't have to make it easy for them, and I would think for many trying to stop the one's where it's a prank or just to easy, leaving a door unlocked or a sledge hammer sitting by the door for an easy entry, can be fixed. 
Slowing them down and having motion censers on some lights, may get them to looking for an easier target.
Just my $.02


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

Mindful of that if a fire breaks out, you need to be able to escape, hog wire over windows can be a big deal.

I agree with the cameras - critical ones difficult to get to and empty ones visible (hey, if someone points a gun at me, I'm not going to argue was to if it's loaded).

Think in terms of "inside and out." That is, if they do get past the door security, and exterior cameras, hidden interior cameras could be gold.

I second on the interior, motion activated lights. That's a great second defense. It wouldn't be too hard to use motion activation to trigger an alarm inside.

I am fortunate in that my shop looks like a house, which helps (everyone thinks it is my house). Making things hard to steal, once in, is a no go. WAY to many things and I wouldn't play well with shop which requires me to pull things out of locked cabinets and drawers.


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## CaptainKlutz (Apr 23, 2014)

Sorry for your loss.

Besides insurance, recording serial numbers for police, making it hard with decent locks/deadbolts, and maybe a camera in high risk location; Can't stop professional thief.

Amateurs break-in can sometimes be prevented with FEAR. 
Some folks like to use 'Owner only carries $50 worth of ammunition' sticker in some obvious places.
But this leads to professional criminals stealing your guns.

I prefer to use this little sign:
---------------------------------------
Removal of property from this premises will 
result in detonation of many explosive devices.
Things here go BOOM, and you will die.
For your own safety, turn around and leave now; 
while you still have legs that work.

I can find anyone, anywhere, and never stop looking.

Signed, Military ordinance specialist that lives here.
----------------------------------------
Put this message in a side window, garage door window, or one time put it on side door to shop; of every garage shop I occupy. Have never had a break in? So have no idea if it really works?

Also: 
One key to amateur loss prevention is do not leave tools out in open/plain site when not in use, even inside cabinet doors can make difference; If they can't see it, they don't know to steal it.

Amateurs in search of fast & easy score, will hit your premises more than once after being successful. 
Have a friend with small fab shop out building at his home, that has been burglarized many times; due easy back access not seen from house. To stop repeat visits, all you can do is; change locks, post some "Protected by ADT surveillance' signs, add motion lights, visible and hidden cameras, and hope they leave you alone. Challenge is that help is always 3-5 minutes away, amateur smash & grab theft is less than 60 seconds. But if you get some decent video of them smashing your lights, and finger print or two; karma will swing your direction. 

Best Luck.


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## WoodenDreams (Aug 23, 2018)

One may consider fake security cameras with motion sensors. A motion sensor that actives the green and red power light. and follows the motion of activation. Two of my windows have these in them facing the driveway and sidewalk. I also have two of these in my work area, facing inward to the shop. I do realize that this type of camera setup "only keeps the honest person honest". I do keep a ledger of tools & equipment, with pictures and reciepts to back this up. Comes in handy for the insurance company. I do have some tools bolted or screwed to a workbench. Some of my equipment won't fit through the door or window. If someone wants your stuff bad enough, you won't stop them. Making it difficult for someone, also makes accessibility inconvenient for yourself also. Last fall one weekend, the shop of one of my friends was burglarized, They loaded a lot a tools into his truck that was in his shop, and stole his truck also. Only the truck was found a week later. There are many things you can do to deter a thief (cameras, sensors, alarms, security companies, etc.), but, don't live in fear and paranoia.


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## NeophyteGrant (Jan 2, 2017)

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I've gone full bore and the door is now not getting forced in without some of the framing coming with it. I've also put cameras and motion detectors in, sensor lights, etc. I might be driving myself a little paranoid to want to lock up certain things INSIDE too, but I view it as maybe adding another chest for storage that also just locks as well. It'd be mainly for hand jigsaw, drills, etc. Burglaries screw with your brain. It's not so much the theft but the violation of a space you spend so much time setting up.

What motion detector brands do you guys like? That's also been a stumbling block for me.


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## xeddog (Mar 2, 2010)

> I prefer to use this little sign:
> ---------------------------------------
> Removal of property from this premises will
> result in detonation of many explosive devices.
> ...


I wonder what firefighters would say if they had to respond to a fire alarm/report???


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

It would seem to me that a very loud fire alarm would be a good defense; one with a 120 decibel sound level combined with flashing lights.


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## PPK (Mar 8, 2016)

> *Trust in God s Blessings*
> 
> - Desert_Woodworker


+1


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## WayneC (Mar 8, 2007)

I have ring cameras in my shop and on the exterior. I like them a lot. They are tied to power which would be a weakness. Another option would be a PoE camera system with a battery backup.


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## corelz125 (Sep 23, 2015)

Put one of these up


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

On one of my shops, I installed the door backwards. Attempting to kick it in just made it more closed. Pulling the pins from the hinges would do no good because each of the three hinges had a screw removed and a nail or large screw (head removed) in a hole of each of the hinges.


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## CaptainKlutz (Apr 23, 2014)

> I prefer to use this little sign:
> ---------------------------------------
> Removal of property from this premises will
> result in detonation of many explosive devices.
> ...


Makes no difference for me. Local fire AHJ is part of DHS permitting process for storing restricted materials. They stop by about once a year to say hello, training newbies on product recognition/familiarization during fire safety inspection. If actually called for fire, pretty sure they know in advance to bring marshmallows and lawn chairs. :-0)

--

I am really liking corels125 wind chime. Need to find/make me one of those!


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## Just_Iain (Apr 5, 2017)

I would think a large steel cabinet (second hand is fine) locked with padlock behind a bracket that makes swinging a hammer, etc difficult would help with easily transported tools.

Iain


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## htl (Mar 24, 2015)

Most of us haven't been troubled by this so it's easy to say do this or that BUT once it happens I would think your whole attitude will be changed and not in a good way, so some looking ahead can really save your peace of mind.

A friend who lives out in the country had a $8000 lawn more taken and it was replaced by his insurance but his insurance jumped way up so thinking your covered isn't really a safe guard me thinks. 
Just my $.02


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

> Put one of these up
> 
> 
> 
> ...


now this would get my attention.well no alarms or cameras in my shop but both entry doors are steel that open out to prevent being kicked in and have theft proof hinges.only windows are non opening 8'feet high.im insured to the hilt so if they want my old stuff take it and ill get nice new stuff.luckily though ive never been hit yet-knock on wood-lol.


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## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

The only real tools I'd be sad about losing would be a few of my hand tools. Not because they are irreplaceable but because of their history. Likely though, hand tools would be lowest on the list of things thieves would want to take. My power tools, meh, that's why I have home insurance.


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## jonah (May 15, 2009)

Really only a couple of my tools have any kind of street value. A pawnshop isn't going to give someone more than $10 for most of it. Sure, they can take my DW735, but the thing weighs like a hundred pounds and it's bolted to a mobile cabinet that weighs another thirty or forty. Are they going to dig around to find a socket set to unbolt the thing, or are they just going to take my circular saw, cordless drill, and be gone?

That wouldn't even be worth an insurance claim. I'm not worried. Anything that's expensive enough to care about is not remotely portable.


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## EeerWoodworker (Jan 20, 2019)

Put out some flashy stuff that someone will take and be happy with.

Thieves probably don't know what the good stuff is. Take for example photo equipment, an average thief will leave the Leica stuff alone and take the Cannon and Nikon stuff because they have heard of it.

A thief would most likely take a Dewalt saw and leave a Festool behind if sitting beside each other.


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## sepeck (Jul 15, 2012)

So, getting robbed is a pretty upsetting experience. It's been decades but I remember being mad as hell when I got robbed. It's also inconvenient as hell and has consequences to your tools and sense of security. That said, all you lost was things, no one was harmed, so despite being mad as hell (rightfully so) all good.

A very long time ago I read a series of articles on inexpensive things for home security. One was remove the center screw of the door hinge and replace it with a 3 inch screw the goes into the stud. Do this on the door latch plate as well. Also, insure your latch extends properly into the latch plate. This will essentially turn you door itself into the failure point when bashed in. It also makes it much harder. Still not impossible but the point is to make it far more challenging to break in so they'll just leave in failure for fear of attracting to much attention.

Basic alarm system. Sure, but sort of depends on where you live, if people in your neighborhood are around during the time, and are willing to call police. Upgrade to paid monitoring, depends on cost but still reasonable. The alarms where I live mainly go off when triggered by high temperatures and are really annoying.

Camera's. Sure. Make sure your service is reliable and best off, sends camera data OFFSITE. Recording systems do you no good if they steal the system that has the recordings.

My cousin reminded me once, if they make it into your garage, all the tools they need to do get into anything else are there.

The above signs… Sure, they may work, and they are funny, but some day they may also be Exhibit A at a trial. It's up to you. Me? I don't have any signs other than 'this house is electronically monitored by cameras'. It's on the garage door above the lock. Generally, you're not going to be at home when this happens.

Random other practical advice. 
I do this because of fire risk. Almost everyone has a smart phone now. Stand in the middle of a room (garage in your house) and do a 360 with the video on it. Then take a picture or video of all model/serial plate of your stuff. TV, Stereo, tools, clothes in drawers/closet (yes, insurance will pay for clothes but most people under count). Now you have that for a room? Good, upload it to a folder labels with the YearMonth (201801 - 2018Jan) on your OneDrive, AppleDrive, GDrive. Go to next room. Revisit each year. It's faster then compiling a written list which means it's more likely for you to update it, and you can compile said list from the video should you need to.

Since this is about something bad happening, everyone reading this thread has been reminded it's time to review your emergency plans for fire, disaster, robbery, whatever. Make sure everyone knows and remembers what it is, all your contact numbers are up to date, you have your food supply, etc.

Best of luck in the future.


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## Marc301 (Jan 26, 2019)

I used to manage a portfolio of commercial properties and the biggest thing for us was lighting. Thieves would rather be on camera than lit up. We started putting LEDs when they first came out and even though many of the properties were in "developing" areas, we had more problems with people wanting to play sports on our parking lots than crime.


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## NeophyteGrant (Jan 2, 2017)

Jonah-they got my DW735! With Shelix head! I replaced it easily, but the Shelix was the realy loss. I did, however, fail to bolt it down. They left a bolted down miter saw, so I think the evidence says bolted down is too much.

Thanks again, guys-really great info. I think I'm going to add some lighting. My motion sensor has a built in 20 second delay siren for me to deactivate it and I wish I could do something that trips right away-maybe I can remotely engage and disengage through a smart plug. Turn it on and off with my phone. The motion sensors have on off buttons and with the 20 second delay that might give them enough time to just turn it off.

For the rest of it, I think I might be being a bit paranoid trying to lock it up inside-though a locker for circ saw and other stuff might help. I'm in a big city with high crime and relatively few single family homes, so garage robberies are common and unceasing.


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

One thing we forgot to mention (maybe): If they hit a place once and scored, odds are it would happen again.

As such, prepping for it is a good thing.


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## NeophyteGrant (Jan 2, 2017)

Kelly: that's my fear. I have their license plate and the cops know where the car owner lives-but it looks like they used a family members car. My neighbor captured all this on video, video he installed since his garage got knocked over last year. It's eerie to see the faces of the people who robbed you do it all methodically. With the faces, I guess the hope is the cops will have enough to pay a visit. But unless there are bodies lying around cops here are slow. I had to roll over on my elected representative to get a response. Took a week and a half to start emailing with a detective.


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