Robberies?

It worries me that there has been this string of robberies in the area I live in, and since I live in a rural area, it complicates it all that much more. All the robberies that have taken place, as far as I know, have occurred at houses where it was known the occupants wouldn't be home, which might involve stalking a residence to see if there's anyone there, or a loud mouth on the part of a neighbor.

One house had all his belongings stolen from him - all his furniture, TV, utensils, washing machine, all of it was loaded out of his house. He came home to find his house empty!

What worries me is if I leave to do something and then come home to find out I have been robbed! It would take nothing to steal my 24" iMac, my camera, and break into my bug shed. If anyone ever finds out that I am out of the house… :O.

And since I am in a rural area the police are of absolutely no help. It could take them 30 minutes or over an hour to arrive, that is assuming they are able to locate the place.

Anyone have this issue? It's uncomfortable knowing I could be robbed any day . I hate living in a rural area :/. People need to mind their own business! Any advice on how not letting this worry me 24/7?

What an awfully anxious feeling!

I would do everything to suggest I am home when I'm not:
Leave the TV on;
Put lights on timers to go on and off periodically;
If you have a garage, leave the garage door shut always;
If it is winter and snow covered, make many tracks in the snow - both human and auto - and keep walks, porches, steps, cleared;
Keep blinds/curtains closed;
Get a loud barking dog;
Have a place to put things out of sight when gone for extended periods of time...

A tip I received from a detective after being robbed was to place a clean jar with money in it - handful of quarters & couple of dollars - on a valuable item to attempt to capture fingerprints when it is picked up and emptied.

I'm sorry you are going through this and I hope the police find out who is doing this soon, so you can feel better.

Yes, people need to mind their own business and remember that "If it isn't yours, don't touch it!"

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When I first moved into the house were I am today, I was under similar circumstances. The house had been robbed of all it's copper hot water heating elements and my fears/anxiety was really kickin' in. One of the first things I did, was go to the police shack, introduce myself, explained my illnesses(mental) and plead my case(or expressed my fears). The small police force was very kind and understanding. They (the police) explained what they were doing about the thieves and literally said they would make it a point to "make an extra patrol" around the house. I felt a little better and it did help to relieve a little anxiety. They would stop by and give updates, but I also befriended these guys/gals. They still drive by to this day and wave.......it's been about two years now...and then.....I got's me a vicious attack dog....hehe.....

((((Mr. V)))) Ugh! that is really scary! I am sorry you are feeling unsafe. Even though our neighborhood is fairly safe, we do see a rash of burglaries around the holidays (you mean burglary, and not robbery, right?)

Echos and Sparrow gave some great tips!

My friend is a detective, and I asked him to come over to scope out my place (do a "walk thru"). I think you mentioned your local law enforcement is rather far away, but can you call and ask them to do one for you? They have a trained eye so they know what to look for and will give you a list of where (if you need to) improve.

I also found a bunch of great tips online through the DOJ website and via several local law enforcement websites.

The one thing that I keep hearing over and over lately is to not announce your travel plans on social sites.

Best wishes to you! Please let us know how it goes

Put up a "danger" sign warning visitors of all the venomous critters inside your place. That should help some
On the other hand, if you have time you could do some stakeouts. Just to report... not to prevent.
I'm still not over losing my $700 bike to a thief/burglar so I have little love for thieves.
I hope you can keep your stuff and stay safe.

Indeed it is! A few nights ago the robbers broke into two local businesses too. The hardest issue there is in preparing for a possible break in is that we don't know who these individuals are; it could be someone related to me! It makes it more complicated if members of your own extended family are the ones robbing you, individuals that have been inside your house, know where you work, what vehicles you drive, etc. A few months ago an aunt of mine stole a car part of ours and pawned it off, and a cousin of mine was caught stealing someone's gas. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if at least one member of my family is involved in these robberies. And people wonder why it is I don't want a family of my own…?

We live in a mobile home on a acre of land with an electric fence. A benefit we have now is that everyone knows I am not working and am home a lot. (People know I have Asperger's Syndrome and am unemployed, so everyone thinks I am here 24/7, and I usually am.) Since nobody knows where I am or what I am doing, it is difficult for the robbers to know if I am home or not, unlike the homes they have targeted now. (One is a miner in northern Canada, so he is away for weeks at a time, and another went on vacation, for example.) However, if both vehicles are gone, it would mean both my mother and I are away from the house .

We have loud dogs but one is a chihuahua and the other is a bassid hound. If anything I worry for my dogs' safety if robbers were to break in! Yeah, pleasant thought that is, walking into my house and finding out someone kicked or killed my chihuahua :O. (Hound is my mom's dog.)

My mother said robberies happen at night mostly? Is this true? She says that robbers wouldn't come during the day because the front of our trailer is open and that, since we live on a relatively busy road, that someone would notice suspicious vehicles on our driveway. Apparently, a suspicious vehicle drove into a house who's owner is at the hospital for caner treatment, and when someone went to check it out, the vehicle sped off in a high speed pursuit.

Nobody in our household is gone for extended periods of time. I would say there is no more than a 3 or 4 hour window of nobody being here any given day. My mother either works from 6:30 AM to 2:45 PM or 2:45 PM to 9:30 PM. Only on the odd day am I out later than 7:00 PM.

It's can be worrying .

It is stressful. Oh my gosh. And sorry about the family thing. The best thing you can do is protect yourself (and your belongings the best you can) with a home alarm, floodlights (the kind that are motion activated and high up), "Beware of Dogs" sign, make sure the doors are locked properly and closed when you leave. It also really helps to have "Neighborhood Watch" set up. When I first moved to my neighborhood, things were a lot different than they are now (now, everyone calls the police for every single thing), so the bad guys know that there is always someone watching out

The reason why I asked if you meant burglary vs. robbery is because there is a difference. In general, burglars never come face to face with their victims. They enter a structure and commit their additional offense, which is usually theft, whereas with robbers it's different.

Burglars do not want to run into people or our beloved animals. Especially if they are barking. They do everything they can to avoid us.

I hope that brings some comfort.

I'm feelin' yaa V-dude....I'll be prayin' for ya'll.....

this is one of my ex-in-laws.....or should I say out-laws.....I had to put the word out with these people on the streets, and it's on every side of the house..."no trespassing" and "private property".......I a'int a scared to write a police report....just hope I don't ever have to. They are just..not welcome here.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_2044653.html

....now that's scarey!......and this just happened!......there was a one word comment that described her very well......."moron".......ugh....oh my...(god please help her)