Crime Prevention Tip of the Month.

Like he said, make sure to turn those darned Girl Scouts away when they try to "sell" you "cookies"!

In all seriousness, though - It's never a good idea to invite people in who you don't know. Back when i was growing up, some sales guy was going door to door trying to sell some sort of a household cleaner. My mom wouldn't let him in, so he decided to demonstrate his cleaner (without permission) on our front porch - the cement there still has a nice green stain.

 

We have 612 people in our village. We spot strangers when they drive into town.

Tom

 

i don't even open the door unless i know the person on the other side!

 

Our town has a policy that anyone going door to door has to register at the town police station first. Twice I have called on people at my door - both times they were kicked out of town - and one pair was trying to sell me a competing cable service and looked shocked when I asked them for ID - they had none so I kicked them out of my front porch (which they walked into uninvited) and called the police. Too bad, but you can't trust anyone these days.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Oct 18 2007, 02:25 PM) [snapback]527417[/snapback]</div>

Same here. And I have the dog in the house. Starts barking once they enter the gate, before they ever knock or ring the bell.


Number one crime deterrent is nosy neighbors.

Number two crime deterrent is a dog.

 

There was a similar scam here in Winnipeg of a couple pretending to be down on their luck, bumming money off folks. They even offered to "repay" and for the life of me, why anybody would fall for such things is beyond me.

I always thought it was good common sense to keep ALL the doors locked, whether home or away. To NEVER open the door to a stranger. Even to replace all the cheap door locks with bumpless Medeco ones, like I did when I very recently sold my condo and moved back into a house

Even something as simple as putting gas in a car. I really don't understand folks who consistently drive around with the gage on "E" you're not saving any money. Then you're forced to gas up in potentially a dangerous area, or after dark when you're an easier target for carjacking

I always top off no lower than 1/2 a tank, and pick a station in broad daylight with a low incidence of crime. If there are creeps loitering I drive away without even getting out of the car. Some might think I'm a sissy, despite being built like a bouncer, but I have to also consider the legal angle

Say somebody does try to carjack me and I beat the living s*** out of them. At least in Canada, lawyers would rush to the "defense" of the alleged perpetrator, and I could possibly face prison or at the very least charges. Victims have ZERO rights in Canada, I really have to wonder why lawyers did that

Let's face it, we now live in a world of deadly home invasion robberies, random acts of violence, and generally senseless crimes against property and people. I'm not paranoid but I also watch my back, and my neighbors as well

 

As far as your fillup habits go... i don't understand why people constantly run on E either. I don't go to the extreme of not letting it go below 1/2 tank, but it doesn't take too many brain cells to do a little math and figure out how much further you're gonna go before the little pip starts blinking - and with my daily habits it's pretty easy to know when i should fill up on the way home from work and when i can wait another few days.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Oct 19 2007, 07:18 AM) [snapback]527724[/snapback]</div>

Was the lab mute? Good lord - ten seconds before sombody has a chance to reach my front door, my dog is barking to raise the dead. If he STOPS barking for some reason, I go and investigate.

 

Another scam to watch out for:

Two young, attractive women will go to you in a parking lot saying they need help with their car. You go into their car and they'll climb into the backseat and completely disrobe and ask you to join in. Once your pants are off, one will take your wallet from it, but by the time you're dressed again you won't notice.

I personally fell for this one on the 5th, the 6th, the 8th through 11th, and will fall for it next Tuesday.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Oct 19 2007, 11:34 AM) [snapback]527788[/snapback]</div>

Never seems to happen to me!

Seriously, that does happen in Winnipeg. Amazing what steps us guys go to just to get laid. Personally, if I don't know the woman, my pants stay on

 

If someone would like to sell me something I ask them to give me their home address so I can call on them when it suits me and discuss it with them then. Not one has been so keen on a sale as to provide the home address. A friend of mine bought some cheap goods being sold door to door, it turned out they were stollen, it was a nightmare to stop the sellers harassing her trying to sell her more than she wanted. Once sellers have a soft target they keep coming back for more sales.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman @ Oct 19 2007, 11:47 AM) [snapback]527757[/snapback]</div>

ahh yes. we get lots of those being near a major medical center. relative in hospital, and gee you hear about lots of people living in their cars when their relative is in the hospital. like, weekly.

when we first moved down here, DH and his buddy were smokers. (they have both quit since.) every gas station we hit there would be guys coming up to them asking for smokes because they couldn't afford any. the best response they came up with was "it's cheaper to stop smoking."

i still get the occasional guy coming up to me in the grocery store parking lot asking for a couple bucks to get something to eat... to test these folks i'll usually offer them something out of my grocery bag instead (there are many reasons i don't carry cash) and they're real quick to turn me down.

once i was filling up my tires and this guy walks up to me telling me how pretty my car is, notices the university decal in the back and tells me he works at the bookstore and can get me a discount but he's got this flat tire and needs a can of fix-a-flat. i say no cash, he becomes highly uninterested.

of course, in all these instances, the car or other object is between me and the other person.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman @ Oct 19 2007, 08:47 AM) [snapback]527757[/snapback]</div>

I always fill up at the station near home, on my way home, on the day when my next trip might take me down to the blinking pip. My driving is regular enough that I always know. Especially now that the Prius only goes to Coeur d'Alene or to the airport. The Xebra gets filled up (with electrons) at home, after every trip.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Oct 19 2007, 09:34 AM) [snapback]527788[/snapback]</div>

I'd be an easy mark for this one, but I have no worries. Even hustlers and scam artists, if they are female and attractive, won't touch me with a ten-foot pole.

On the other hand, I always give money to pan-handlers, unless I'm driving and traffic conditions make it unsafe to stop. A very small amount to me is a lot to them. Maybe some will spend it on things I'd disapprove of. But I think I do more good by giving to people who really need it, which I think are the majority, than harm by giving it to the occasional person who will use it unwisely.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Oct 20 2007, 10:26 AM) [snapback]528192[/snapback]</div>

I think you are right about this. The pan-handler is not the one making a choice here, you are and you choose to be giving. If the recipient chooses to squander your gift on something un-noble, he/she reaps the consequence. You still did the right thing because charity is a virtue (and you get the points in heaven.)

 

Evan: You are assuming that panhandlers are all drunks who will make no good use of the money I give them. I spent 5 years working with the homeless as a volunteer in a shelter, and I can say that while alcoholism is a serious problem, most of the homeless are not drunks.

But I also give to organizations that help the poor. And I give far more in total that way. But I was never comfortable with the philosophy that if you are not sober you have no right to a roof over your head. It's not an either/or situation. I can and do give in a variety of ways. To panhandlers, to organizations, and to friends who I know need financial help.

 

On a different note, I live in southern California, and frequently get college age kids who come to the door and claim to live in my neighborhood (even though I've never seen them), and they say that they have an assignment for a class, or are in a contest to raise money for a trip, and need to get a certain number of people to listen to a presentation they have. I've never let anyone get any further than that-- anyone have any idea what that's all about?

 

I never give to panhandlers because this is called positive reinforcement.

I DO give to street musicians (if they're good, and most are) for the exact same reason.

I'd rather give directly to the shelters and food pantries, that way I'm 95% sure the money isn't going to booze, and drugs which would exasperate the problem.

Want to hear a long story about how I tried to help and it backfired? Here you go:

A couple of years ago I found a homeless couple camping out in some woods I own. I figured, "Hey, why not let them stay there, it opens up a couple of badly-needed cots in the shelter." They seemed nice enough, but then they abandoned their site and a couple of junkies moved in who I was never able to catch but they left a HUGE mess which cost me $300 to clean up.

Last year another couple set up a camp. Again, they seemed nice enough but I told them about the problems I had the year before. They swore they'd clean up after themselves and indeed they did. So apparently it sometimes works out.

This past summer, ANOTHER couple set up camp. Again, they seemed really nice. Then friends of theirs set up a camp next to theirs. They didn't seem as nice, but hey, why not? Then in the middle of the night I got a phone call - someone in the second tent was having a medical emergency. I said, "Don't call me, call an ambulance." For some reason they didn't want to, so I did. I got down there to see what was happening; she was having a diabetic reaction. When you call an ambulance, the police automatically show up, too. They checked the guy's ID, found he had a warrant for his arrest, and hauled him off right there. While they were there, I had them check the first couple; they had totally clean records. The second couple's tent was gone the next day.

As for the first couple, one day they got a car ride from their uncle. Cops started following them, flashing their lights. The uncle pulled the car over and took off; being in the back seat, they had NO idea what was going on. Apparently, it was a stolen car. Apparently, this is the second time this happened to the guy. Unlike the second couple, they didn't even have a chance to grab all their stuff (and they had a LOT of stuff), so it stayed there in the middle of my woods.

Then ANOTHER couple set up camp. I had seen them around before, they were weird but OK. I said, "No more tents here! Go away" and showed them the mess left behind. They made me an offer - if they clean the mess up, and promise not to make one, if they could stay. I thought about it and agreed. They recently went to Atlanta for the winter, and before they left they asked if they could stay in my woods again. I said, "If you clean up after yourselves, sure. But if you leave a mess, no."

They left an even bigger mess than the first couple! (Which I still haven't cleaned up yet; the service that cleaned up the woods a couple of years ago isn't in business anymore).

Lesson learned: I don't care if it's Mother Theresa, I'm not letting ANYONE stay in my woods next year for ANY reason.