Columbia River Gorge sees rise in car burglaries

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Koda
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Re: Columbia River Gorge sees rise in car burglaries

Post by Koda » August 29th, 2012, 1:53 pm

But its not right to blame the victim for the crime, even though its not realistic... people do have a right to leave things in their car. ...somtimes there are situations where its the only option....


ideally we need much stiffer penalties for the crime.
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hlee
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Re: Columbia River Gorge sees rise in car burglaries

Post by hlee » August 29th, 2012, 2:21 pm

pdxgene wrote:I guess I can kinda see why they don't. The signs get posted, some cars get broken into, some break in owner gets a lawyer that realizes the signs were decoys and there weren't really any cameras and here come the lawsuits claiming some kind of implied protection doesn't really exist and so on and so on..
Well I'm sure another little sign saying that they're not responsible for any damage or theft would take care of that, just like you see in most parking lots at places of business. Is there not already something like that? I don't hear about the state getting sued for these break-ins.

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pdxgene
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Re: Columbia River Gorge sees rise in car burglaries

Post by pdxgene » August 29th, 2012, 3:08 pm

hlee wrote:
pdxgene wrote:I guess I can kinda see why they don't. The signs get posted, some cars get broken into, some break in owner gets a lawyer that realizes the signs were decoys and there weren't really any cameras and here come the lawsuits claiming some kind of implied protection doesn't really exist and so on and so on..
Well I'm sure another little sign saying that they're not responsible for any damage or theft would take care of that, just like you see in most parking lots at places of business. Is there not already something like that? I don't hear about the state getting sued for these break-ins.
Good question. I have no idea. I'm not aware if any state recreation areas even have the signs and/or cameras.
I just try to leave nothing in my car and unless it's raining I leave my windows open enough so they don't have to break them to get in and find nothing waiting for them. I have an older car so my insurance doesn't cover replacement windows.

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kepPNW
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Re: Columbia River Gorge sees rise in car burglaries

Post by kepPNW » August 29th, 2012, 7:48 pm

Chase wrote:
Grannyhiker wrote:It's gotta mean that enough folks are leaving valuables in their cars to make it worthwhile for the thieves. If we left only dirty old sneakers in our cars, they'd give up!
I sort of buy into this argument. Make your car the least appealing one for a break-in as a deterrent. Not really a solution, but just a good tip that (while not guaranteed to work) just might help. I don't think someone will give up if they are desperate enough due to meth issues; just make your vehicle the less appealing.
It's like that old joke about outrunning a bear - you don't need to - just outrun your buddy! :)
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drm
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Re: Columbia River Gorge sees rise in car burglaries

Post by drm » August 30th, 2012, 7:23 am

Koda wrote:But its not right to blame the victim for the crime, even though its not realistic... people do have a right to leave things in their car. ...somtimes there are situations where its the only option....
It's not a question of blaming the victim. There just are things you should not do to avoid becoming a victim. Within some cities, there are many things to avoid.
Koda wrote:ideally we need much stiffer penalties for the crime.
Stiffer penalties only help if enough people are caught and convicted, and if the crook cares. If the perps in these cases are drug addicts, I doubt that it would matter much, as getting the next fix is much more important. If the crooks ARE dug addicts, then they need treatment.

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Crusak
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Re: Columbia River Gorge sees rise in car burglaries

Post by Crusak » August 30th, 2012, 11:15 am

kepPNW wrote:It's like that old joke about outrunning a bear - you don't need to - just outrun your buddy! :)
haha there you go! :)

I never leave anything important in my vehicle. Just bottled water and a t-shirt to change into when I get back, and those are stashed out of sight. But I usually lock my doors. Some day I'll probably pay the price for that, I know.

**** ONE THING I WOULD RECOMMEND FOR ALL OF YOU ****
Don't leave your registration slip and insurance info in the glovebox. Keep it in your pack or wallet. They'll break in and steal those items for sure, if nothing else.

Imagine the scenario where you're backpacking, 3 days, and they break into your car. Steal your registration, which has your home address on it. They know you're hiking, so they go to your address & burglarize your dwelling. It happens. Worse, if you have family members home while you are away, they might be put in danger if they're around the house when the burglars show up.
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jdemott
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Re: Columbia River Gorge sees rise in car burglaries

Post by jdemott » August 30th, 2012, 1:13 pm

I always remove the registration papers and any valuables from the car. So far I've been lucky, but sometimes I have my fingers crossed when I'm returning to the trailhead. Once or twice I have changed my hiking plans when I pulled into a parking area that had a lot of freshly broken glass suggesting an active thief in the area.

The situation I don't have a good solution for is when I'm traveling away from home, so I have luggage with me in the car, which can include things like a laptop and other items that might be attractive to a thief. Then, my choices are (i) carry a very large and heavy pack :( , (ii) skip the hike :cry:, or (iii) take a big risk of theft :x . Or maybe I could drive an armored car :lol: .

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mayhem
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Re: Columbia River Gorge sees rise in car burglaries

Post by mayhem » August 30th, 2012, 2:09 pm

I personally think with all the new car technology back up cameras, avoidance cameras and sensors, These cameras are very inexpensive and could be mounted to any car internally for just this kind of thing. Also would be easy to set cameras up in lots using Timelapse.... But it seems there is more money to be made in hiding and then busting people for speeding or other non intential crimes :(
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Koda
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Re: Columbia River Gorge sees rise in car burglaries

Post by Koda » August 30th, 2012, 5:51 pm

drm wrote:
Koda wrote:ideally we need much stiffer penalties for the crime.
Stiffer penalties only help if enough people are caught and convicted, and if the crook cares.
I would think the crook would care if the penalties for getting caught were stiffer. The question is how much stiffer can we make it... the prisons are already over crowded.... I bet it would make a difference if car clouting was a felony.

its all about motivation and right now they have plenty of motivation: its so easy to get away with and it pays very well. They own us. We do things to accommodate them, and even after that occasionally we still get broken into.
mayhem wrote:I personally think with all the new car technology back up cameras, avoidance cameras and sensors, These cameras are very inexpensive and could be mounted to any car internally for just this kind of thing.
this is a good idea but they already have many of these available and they are not at all inexpensive so not everyone can afford them.
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Roy
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Re: Columbia River Gorge sees rise in car burglaries

Post by Roy » August 30th, 2012, 7:28 pm

Crusak wrote:
**** ONE THING I WOULD RECOMMEND FOR ALL OF YOU ****
Don't leave your registration slip and insurance info in the glovebox. Keep it in your pack or wallet. They'll break in and steal those items for sure, if nothing else.
I have practiced this for along time. One thing I have not seen brought up here is just plain vandalism. My first backpacking trip as a kid in 1969 was in the alpine lakes east of Seattle with a friend and his dad. Hitting the trail the second morning two young men heading up asked if we were driving a green Volkswagen Carmen Gia. We were and all the windows were smashed out and it was heavily dented.

Just a couple of years ago after friend and I had great day of salmon fishing In BC we found his truck and boat trailer with slashed tires.

One gray winter day I took a peaceful hike up Eagle creek and came back to a vandalized old ford courier I had left empty and unlocked on purpose.

Actually have a couple of thefts in high school I had my wallet (my bad) and stereo yanked from my ranchero at the Jones cr ORV park but they left my license on the seat. Honorable thieves :lol:

First time in Hawaii and Oswald west state park just broken windows nothing in car I was a veteran by this time.


Three states, two countries, three different outdoor activities and forty plus years the more things change the more they stay the same :roll:

Last summer my sons girl friend went on a sunset hike at Tom Dick and Harry with us. Her mom called and asked if it was safe to hike out in the dark she was worried about animals.I said I was just worried about my car in the lot. "She said you mean there are criminals up there"


I know its a long story and rambling, I have not come up with a solution. I just keep going anyway.
The downhill of the mind is harder than the uphill of the body. - Yuichiro Miura

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