Caught an Intruder

[MasseyWV]

Tractor by net=paranoia 101. Maybe it's one of the people on this site who walked on the property. They will know exactly what you are planning to do to catch them. I think I hear the twilight zone music.

I considered that possibility before creating this thread and actually hope they are a member of TBN because they'll know that I'm not playing games and take home security VERY seriously.

As for my exact plan of action, that will never be posted. Sure, they'll know that I'm planning to install cameras and motion detectors, but they won't know where they're installed... and yes, I do have plans that I won't post about. Oh, and they'll also know that I'm armed and plan to buy additional guns which should tell them that I'll use deadly force if necessary.

So am I worried? Not in the slightest. This is my home and I will protect it at all costs.

 

[aczlan]

Thoughts on NVR:
-I like the idea of a network based storage. It’s a centralized location to put everything and I imagine you can probably get systems that have raided drives for extra protection.
Possible limitation (just off the top of my head).
-Looks like you will probably need a viewing monitor or machine to attach to the NVR.
-It looks like the NVR has to be attached to an Ethernet cable so limited deployment options.
Just throwing another idea out there…
Instead of NVR or DVR. Get a cheapo laptop to act as the monitoring station (same price range as an NVR of DVR). If you want additional storage you could either get a cheapo USB drive or NAS and use that to store the pictures\video if the laptop’s HD wasn’t large enough to store all you want.
With a laptop you also get a mobile “command center” you can have that bad boy on wifi with the security screen up and move it from room to room. Plug in battery when needed.
Example: You’re out in the shop (assuming you have wifi out there) you can take it with you to monitor the cameras from there. You get tired and go in for the day. (It’s dark now) you go inside and decide you are going to hang around in your living room and do some reading. You hook the laptop up to your TV (assuming the laptop is circa 2005 or better and the TV is about the same) and you have the cameras up on the big screen while you’re reading. Now you’re done reading and want to turn it. You take the laptop to your bedroom, plug it in for the night and turn the brightness down. Now you have the alarm system with you. If something triggers you can view the screen right away.

The NVR is in a fixed location, but you cannot view the video on it, it does ALL of its work over the network.
You can (in the systems I have seen) view the video from any computer on the network. As such, you could put your NVR in your "Safe room" and carry a laptop about which talks to the NVR via the wireless network.

Aaron Z

 

[riptides]

Tractor by net=paranoia 101. Maybe it's one of the people on this site who walked on the property. They will know exactly what you are planning to do to catch them. I think I hear the twilight zone music.

Maybe. Ever been a victim of a crime against you, a loved one, or your home? I'd say by the beginning of your post, probably not.

 

[PineRidge]

I hate when that s*** happens.

Sometime back we had someone open a window near a flat screen TV. I'm sure they were going to slide it out the window but were scared off when we came in from the closed garage where we were having a smoke. Now we shoot targets on the property on a weekly basis. The sound travels and my guess is acts as a warning of sorts.

I also added a trip wire at the edge of the woods-line that will fire off a blank 12-gauge shell. That should make them sh** their shorts if they decide to come back.

See trip wire here

 

[texasjohn]

My friends, we have a problem.

Seems that y'all expect a shady character bent on mischief thinks logically like YOU do...and has same motivations and fears...

NOPE, don't think so. When someone enters the realm of illegal dealings, they are driven by fundamentally different motivations, fears, actions than we law abiding folks are. They are willing to take risks and actions we are not willing to engage in for various moral, legal, societal or religious reasons.

As a prior poster indicated, capacity for response to safety issues is degraded because we have consistently reduced funding for various social services, including Law Enforcement and Fire fighting. Net is, we have to pay out of our own pocket to develop our shields for personal/family protections and property preservation.

Thus, inevitably, as personal safety, perceived or real, decreases, the only response is to either do nothing and live with the risks, or spend more money (instead of taxes) on weapons, locks, safe rooms, warning systems, property identification, perimeter barriers.

Having visited numerous foreign countries, this is exactly what the well to do create there....live within fortresses with armed hired guards 24/7.

Many steps along the road to that end, but that's the ultimate end point.

 

[LBrown59]

I hate when that s*** happens.

Sometime back we had someone open a window near a flat screen TV. I'm sure they were going to slide it out the window but were scared off when we came in from the closed garage where we were having a smoke. Now we shoot targets on the property on a weekly basis. The sound travels and my guess is acts as a warning of sorts.

I also added a trip wire at the edge of the woods-line that will fire off a blank 12-gauge shell. That should make them sh** their shorts if they decide to come back.

See trip wire

Haven't seen you on TBN for a good while.
Good to hear from you !

 

[Jstpssng]

Rather, I should say that I almost caught him.

To make a long story short, I had just walked over to my garage to work on my tractor when my wife called for me in a somewhat urgent way. Oddly enough, she wouldn't simply tell me what she wanted, but opted to run over to the garage to tell me instead.

As it turns out, she had been standing on the back deck of our home when she heard someone cough but she couldn't see anyone, at least not until she heard a branch snap under the weight of someone's foot which immediately drew her eyes to a man wearing a black shirt standing at the edge of our property. Knowing he had been seen, he immediately made a hasty retreat.

After learning what was going on, I ran to the house to get my pistol (for my protection) and went looking for him or some clue to where he may have went but saw nothing. I also called the police (more than 3 hours ago), but they have yet to show up. How's that for protection?

Our property is very private and it cannot be seen from the road due to a wooded area between us and a large field adjacent to our property. I'm certain the guy had ran off towards the field but can only speculate as to which direction he went after that.

The guy could have been standing there for a long time and I can only speculate what he was up to, but given the location where he was seen and it's view of our home and my garage, he had to have been either perving or casing our home for theft, probably the latter. That, and I strongly believe whoever it was had to have known the area very well, probably being a local.

Given our secluded location, we always knew that there was the possibility of something like this happening, and now that it has, I want to take measures to protect the perimeter of our property and perhaps even catch whoever it was if they are stupid enough to come back. Several possibilities come to mind, but suggestions are welcome.

Is it against the law to stand on the edge of someone's property? Creepy yes, illegal, probably not, at least as far as your rights are concerned. There is that to consider in whatever actions you would plan.

They weren't merely on the edge of my property, they were on my property which is clearly marked. In other words, they were treaspassing.

How far from your house was the guy on the "edge of the property"?

I tried tp reply to.this last night when there were only a few replies; but found that I didn't know what to say. A day l later all I can add is that " I'm Flabbergasted at the number of suggestions of guns and hi tech surveilience cameras in response to a brief sighting of someone who may have been lost or even just standing on the edge of his own property thinking about coming over and saying hello. There is simply no real reason to suspect nefarious activity based on the information given. (Although I will confess that after reading 11 pages of this thread I went out and took the keys of the ignition of my company truck.)

 

[riptides]

....Having visited numerous foreign countries, this is exactly what the well to do create there....live within fortresses with armed hired guards 24/7....

Having lived in the local economy of middle east countries, while they had their issues, crime was not something I was concerned about.

Their punishments seemed to deter even the most petty of crimes. One has to wonder, why is that?

 

[EarPlug]

Call VideoSurveillance.com When I was shopping for an IP camera system for the office I looked at many web sites. Found this one and decided to give them a call. They were very patient and answered all my questions with no pressure. I did buy from them and happy I did.

Be aware that a quality camera does not come cheap. But now I can even view the office from my smartphone.

Jack

 

[MasseyWV]

I tried tp reply to.this last night when there were only a few replies; but found that I didn't know what to say. A day l later all I can add is that " I'm Flabbergasted at the number of suggestions of guns and hi tech surveilience cameras in response to a brief sighting of someone who may have been lost or even just standing on the edge of his own property thinking about coming over and saying hello. There is simply no real reason to suspect nefarious activity based on the information given. (Although I will confess that after reading 11 pages of this thread I went out and took the keys of the ignition of my company truck.)

You would have to see the area and know the entire circumstances of the situation to understand why I reacted to the intruder the way I did. I am not given to panic, nor prone to irrational thinking, and don't feel the need to justify my reaction to anyone. However, I will say this...

If the intruder was just someone who was "lost" or was simply the property owner "just standing" on the edge of his own property, then why did he flee immediately upon being sighted? Besides, he was not standing on his property, he was standing on my property. Not to mention the fact that he was not merely standing, he was hiding.

Lastly, there is much information I have not disclosed about this situation. As mentioned previously, this is a public forum and for all I know the intruder may very well be reading everything I'm saying.

 

[stingray1]

Actually I do have dogs, but oddly enough they didn't make a sound, probably because they were as unaware of the intruder as I was, or at least that's my theory anyway.

Sounds like you need some new replacement dogs.

 

[Jstpssng]

You would have to see the area and know the entire circumstances of the situation to understand why I reacted to the intruder the way I did. I am not given to panic, nor prone to irrational thinking, and don't feel the need to justify my reaction to anyone. However, I will say this...

If the intruder was just someone who was "lost" or was simply the property owner "just standing" on the edge of his own property, then why did he flee immediately upon being sighted? Besides, he was not standing on his property, he was standing on my property. Not to mention the fact that he was not merely standing, he was hiding.

Lastly, there is much information I have not disclosed about this situation. As mentioned previously, this is a public forum and for all I know the intruder may very well...

I understand your reticience for full disclosure. (And in truth, anticipated your response) Yet given the information we had, I found most of the suggestions rather paranoic.

 

[JD435Bill]

Sounds like you need some new replacement dogs.

Probably a very different case, but it reminds me of my uncle's big 'ol dog. He was so hyper and violent that he had to keep him penned up. Anytime I walked by him, he would bark his head off. You would think that he would get to know me after a while, but no, he would still bark his head off anytime I got near him. His pen was right next to the garage. One day I heard that someone went into the garage and stole my cousin's bike. All of a sudden, it hit me. ....how about the dog!! How did anyone steal a bike with that dog right there!! Evidently he slept through the whole thing....

 

[birddog0304]

Probably a very different case, but it reminds me of my uncle's big 'ol dog. He was so hyper and violent that he had to keep him penned up. Anytime I walked by him, he would bark his head off. You would think that he would get to know me after a while, but no, he would still bark his head off anytime I got near him. His pen was right next to the garage. One day I heard that someone went into the garage and stole my cousin's bike. All of a sudden, it hit me. ....how about the dog!! How did anyone steal a bike with that dog right there!! Evidently he slept through the whole thing....

That's an easy one Bill. The dog was exhausted from barking at you.

 

[JD435Bill]

Probab-ly, lol

 

[joshuabardwell]

Seems that y'all expect a shady character bent on mischief thinks logically like YOU do...and has same motivations and fears... NOPE, don't think so.

Once upon a time, a friend of mine was moving, and had most of his stuff in his car. A bunch of his original artwork was stolen from the car, which confused me, because right next to it was some electronic stuff--a TV, an Xbox, so forth. The art was wonderful, but I doubt it would fetch much at a pawn shop. The electronics seemed to me to be the obvious choice, and I was confused.

I told this story to a person once, and he sagely explained, "What you have to understand is, most criminals are drunk." Kind of put everything into perspective for me.

 

[MotorSeven]

I think your reaction to this is appropriate, as is your plan to make your property more secure, which in turn will build back your confidence and peace of mind. This is not "over-reacting", this is "taking necessary precautions"..there is a difference. I would not want to throw the dice on that guy being harmless. I spent a entire career being educated in the depths of human depravity and I learned that it's a bottomless pit. I will never assume harmless intent of anyone stalking my family or home....ever.

As far as your dogs go, he was most likely downwind and out of a direct line of sight. Dogs have a fantastic nose and eyes that pick up even slight movement first before outlines or shape. If they don't step into the cone of scent or have the wind take it to them, they can't smell anyone. I would say that if the guy returns next time he won't be so lucky and get "missed" by them.

 

[riptides]

Probably a very different case, but it reminds me of my uncle's big 'ol dog. He was so hyper and violent that he had to keep him penned up. Anytime I walked by him, he would bark his head off. You would think that he would get to know me after a while, but no, he would still bark his head off anytime I got near him. His pen was right next to the garage. One day I heard that someone went into the garage and stole my cousin's bike. All of a sudden, it hit me. ....how about the dog!! How did anyone steal a bike with that dog right there!! Evidently he slept through the whole thing....

Reminds me of the Allstate commercial, where the bad guys give the "dog", the Allstate Mr. Mayhem, a bone and he enjoys it, while they do what they do....

Funny as crap.

I've had to question mine a few times when a "new" car pulls up the driveway. They seem to be quite docile. I guess cause I am around. The good thing is the drivers, once they see the dogs, just beep for attention.

 

[MarkV]

I sort of question, not criticize, all of the security camera planning. It would seem the priority would be notification of an intruders presence rather than a record after the fact. Motion detection lighting and alarms certainly seem appropriate to either scare away or offer time to prepare for an intruder. It just seems like the expense, given a limited budget, of camera systems would do little in the way of notification. Even with a record you have little chance of any satisfaction form a trespassing charge and if it is a record of theft or assault you have already lost the battle. Again this isn't criticizing any of the planning I have just been thinking of where I personally would concentrate my expenditures to provide the most security to my family.

I also suspect that if your area is like mine it was a Meth head looking for something easily grabbed to trade for another hit. It is a terrible problem here. According to my conversations with local LEO the only plus side is they are generally very paranoid and easily scared. Something like motion lights and they just move on to the next place.

MarkV

 

[TripleR]

I think your reaction to this is appropriate, as is your plan to make your property more secure, which in turn will build back your confidence and peace of mind. This is not "over-reacting", this is "taking necessary precautions"..there is a difference. I would not want to throw the dice on that guy being harmless. I spent a entire career being educated in the depths of human depravity and I learned that it's a bottomless pit. I will never assume harmless intent of anyone stalking my family or home....ever.

Same here, I spent my career dealing with criminals and victims; scary when you know what is really out there and what can happen. It may not be likely, but certainly possible and as mentioned we can choose to ignore it and hope for the best or take reasonable precautions in the event our hopes are not realized.

Of all the victims of crime, other than domestic violence, there were few who didn't say something to the effect of "I never thought something like this could happen to me." If some think I am paranoid, it's certainly not the worst I've been called.