View from the cop: Crime & punishment
View from the Cop is moving to a new site on Wordpress. Blogger Steve Rose of the Sandy Springs Police Department gives his take on crime, offers safety tips and give his weekly picks from the police blotter. Follow Steve Rose to the new blog site.
AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2008 > December > 26 > Entry
Don’t help the crooks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Crooks aren’t smart but they do take advantage of opportunities. You and I would question (hopefully) the morality of stealing something but these guys and girls don’t hesitate. Sometimes that is exactly how they get away with it.
We get a number of reports, especially for items stolen from a retail area or office area where the victim saw the item, turned away, and moments later turned back and the item was gone. A good example of that is the purse-hanging-on-the-chair theft. If the thief is quick and calm, he can grab the purse and be in the car and gone before the victim notices it. This is especially true in the drinking establishments where the reaction time is sometimes measured in minutes rather than seconds.
If you went through our recent theft-from-auto reports, you’d see not one owas a case where the thief smashed the window and THEN looked around. What he wanted was there to be seen. Look at how many targets are out there. Your car and a hundred others. Why would he break into yours to look around when moving along and finding another car with something in view is right next to you? Make it hard for these crooks!
Some Quick Tips for GPS Security:
• Consider using a friction mount instead of the suction-cup windshield mount most GPS devices ship with. Friction mounts rest on the dashboard instead being attached to the glass, and can be easily hidden under the seat when the car is parked. Plus, there’s no revealing ring on the windshield to tip off thieves.
• If you do use a windshield mount, remove it when parking the car and wipe off the suction cup smudge.
• Write down the serial number of your GPS and register it with the manufacturer. That way, if it ever goes missing you can prove the unit was yours. If your GPS includes a lock/password feature, use it. These simple passwords / PIN combinations are easily cracked within a day or two, but you might as well make things as difficult as possible for the criminals!
Services »
Comments
By Dixie
December 28, 2008 7:31 AM | Link to this
Looks like everyone blew thier wad on the 4 way stop column.
By Tar and feathered
December 28, 2008 9:15 AM | Link to this
Sorry, Dixie, mine went on my hand. (but I was thinking of you)
By El Bubba
December 29, 2008 2:20 PM | Link to this
Cindy recently expressed an opinion similar to mine concerning the deterioration of this blog and the affect it has had on longtime bloggers. I too became disenchanted by the abusive, insulting and sometimes racist language I found on this blog. I haven’t posted here for 6 months since a person posting under the name “FRED” thought it cute to equate Obama with a monkey saying they look so much alike. Though it appears he has long since left, there is still the occasional racist put-down that I find beneath me. I’m sorry to see Cindy go, but since I rarely check this blog anymore, It really doesn’t matter I guess. All the best Cindy, Stone, Dixie and Cassie.
By Cindy
December 29, 2008 8:08 PM | Link to this
El Bubba!!!! It’s been soooo long! :)
If we (you, me, Stone, Dixie, Cassie, LT Steve, and whoever else I’m forgetting)would like to give it a shot, we CAN take back this blog.
If you’re game, I am too.
By Dixie
December 30, 2008 10:21 AM | Link to this
ElBubba ! ! !
How nice to know you’re above ground. You’ve been missed considerably. I too don’t like some of the things said. I just give them an “appropriate spot on my list of importance” and move past them. Some of the names are flags to me and I don’t even read thier comments. (I didn’t even notice Fred was gone) I hope we’ll see much more of you ! We need all the positive posts we can get.
Cindy - I’m with you. I hope your holidays are going peacefully. I’m absolutely loving this weather. I tore off one of my back decks yesterday and I’m rebuilding it today and tomorrow.
I did notice Catlady was back too on the last column.
analchord - What can I say? - Just don’t tell your wife, girlfriend, lover and all those other women you describe in your posts.
By Dixie
December 30, 2008 6:14 PM | Link to this
Y’all need to look at the cover of Chicago Tribune and click on “The best mug shots of 2008”.
I love the Mary Delgado story.
By Stone
December 30, 2008 6:18 PM | Link to this
Heard you were dead, dude. Something about a bad case of syphilis. LOL! Good to hear from you!! Don’t be such a stranger, man, or they win and we lose.
By reader
December 30, 2008 7:11 PM | Link to this
you people want to take back this blog do something about that disturbing freak analchord/alias/pofo/ he’s all over the ajc blogs and he’s driving people away. he ain’t racist he’s worse he’s boring and that I cant forgive.
By Cindy
December 30, 2008 7:34 PM | Link to this
Well I’m here again, so count me in and let’s do this. Lt. Steve’s current blog is “Don’t help the crooks.” In likeness we can adopt the “Don’t feed the troll” stance. :)
By catlady
December 31, 2008 5:09 PM | Link to this
I’d like to see the overtly racist or sexual stuff pulled from the blog, Officer Rose. I know I am in a dump by the trash that is thrown around, and I hate for the AJC blogs to be dumps. I don’t think it is enough to ignore the trolls; they still post too much negative energy that has to be sorted through.
Hey back to you, Dixie. Happy New Year!
Thank you to all the public servants who help us every day.
By Stone
January 1, 2009 2:45 AM | Link to this
First post of the new year!!! Hope everybody’s dreams come true in ‘09.
By Cindy
January 1, 2009 3:25 PM | Link to this
Second post of the new year! hehehe. I hope the food is done soon. :)
By Lt. Steve
January 1, 2009 6:30 PM | Link to this
Hey! I wrote something extremely funny (in my mind) about New Year’s. I hope they post it soon. It’s all in the timing. Again, it was funny in my mind but..I left the party at 10 p.m. Home in time for the big Possum Drop in Ball Ground at midnight. Twelve-Oh-Five, I was in the sack. Party animal I is. Happy New Year blog posting dudes.
By Fred
January 6, 2009 7:06 PM | Link to this
Way to falsely relate the incident Elbubba, I said that the Curious George Obama was no less funny than the Curious George Bush. We see who the real racist is………..
By Fred
January 7, 2009 10:09 PM | Link to this
Nice catlady, I just read your post. You want everything YOU don’t agree with pulled. Strike one up for free speech eh?