Those are very good thougths Fred. However there was nothing special
about my stereo at all. I had a set of cheap pioneer speakers up fron,
a set of stock ones behind the bench seat. The head unit was a low end
model - only paid $200 for it.
I always drive around with my windows down and my radio up - but its not
a great sound system by any means. I can't get heavy bass or high
volume levels.
The worse loss was the dashboard and the wood grain. What really gets
me was I almost always take in my CD's at night. With everything going
on as of late - my mind was too preoccupied and it slipped my attention.
Also if I had taken 5 minutes to remove the face plate and take it in
with me, it may have prevented them from having tried to steal the head
unit in the first place. I've been kicking myself hard for this, since
I could have possibly prevented it, and at the very lesat - minimized my
losses.
Hindsight is always 20/20.... (sigh)
Fred Probst wrote:
> After more years than I want to think about of investigating crimes, I
> couldn't begin to tell you how many vehicle burglaries I've worked where a
> vehicle's sound system was stolen, starting with 8 tracks back in the '60s.
>
> Sometimes we get the bad guys, sometimes not. But when we do get them, one
> of the questions we ask is, "Why did you pick this particular vehicle to
> steal the sound system from?" I thought some of you may be interested in
> the top reasons they target a particular vehicle. So in no particular order,
> here they are.
>
> 1. The owner kept cruising the neighborhood with his sounds thumpin, so I
> knew what he had and just watched where he parked. (If your going to cruise
> with your music playing, don't do it in you own back yard. Your just telling
> the bad guy what you have and where you live.)
>
> 2. He had sound decals in his windows. You know, "Bose, Kenwood, Punch,
> etc., (Don't advertise on the outside about what you got on the inside.)
>
> 3. I watched him install the equipment at his apartment / house. (If you
> install the equipment yourself, don't do it in your yard or even
> neighborhood, where you can be seen.)
>
> 4. I saw those Bose speakers sitting in his window.
>
> 5. I installed the sound system in his truck where I work(ed). (This is a
> hard one to prevent, but a lot of these thieves work for legitimate
> businesses that sell and install stereo equipment. So they install your
> system on Monday, steal it on Wednesday, and then re-sell it and re-install
> it in their backyard on Friday. Then the guy we recover it from says, "Duh,
> I didn't know it was stolen. I just thought 80% off was a good deal.)
>
> By the way, alarms do not stop your seasoned burglar. When the alarm goes
> off they will cut the battery cables to stop the alarm and then back off to
> see what happens. If no one shows up they move back in and take the goodies.
> Very few people will even turn their head when an alarm goes off, especially
> in an area where they go off daily. About 15 seconds, without hurrying, is
> all that is needed to smash a window, pop the hood latch, walk to the front
> of the vehicle, lift the hood and cut the cables. We have even had them
> steal the alarm system.)
>
> Try to think "Sleeper", so no one knows what is really on the inside, until
> it's time to come out and play.
>
> Hope this was helpful.
>
> Fred
>
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Terrible Tom
"It's a living thing... It breathes, it eats, ...and it hates..."
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