How do you prevent theft/break-ins at your shop?

[AL Ursich]

I like the digital IR motion camera idea.... I have been looking at that. I like the one with the IR Flash....

I have the Radio Shack Reporter, a RF battery IR motion detectors around the property and driveway with a 1500 ft range. The batteries last a year. I got a Car Alarm Add On RF Pager Transmitter. It uses a car antenna and when triggered activated the pocket pager. I get about a mile of range on our property so if I am out for a walk I know someone is in the driveway. The pager gets 3 zones, red, orange, and green so with 4 detectors going to one Reporter then one zone on my pager I have options. The 2 way Car pagers are the latest so I bought a bunch of the OLD one way units on eBay. More than one pocket pager will work with any transmitter, so we all have one.

We sell Christmas Trees so it comes in handy to know we have a customer. The dogs help too.

Also have little B&W Video cameras around the driveways so I now why the beeper went off while in the shop.

Radio Shack has a new version of the reporter that when triggered sends voice to the receiver and lets you push the button and talk to the Thief.... Works for gates and great for inside your shop or above the door.... Same deal.... 4 transmitters can talk to 1 receiver so the extra receivers can be in different rooms and especially the bedroom.

Using a hidden on off switch to deactivate the reporters in the shop.

I don't have all the answers... But I am trying to make my shop less of a target....

I got a PO BOX to put on my Business Cards so my Home Address is not out there....

I could still do more.... I listen to the Scanner and Break In's are on the rise.... We even had someone cutting fire wood on our property the other day.

AL

[Dennis Thornton]

A few years ago I read an interview with a professional burglar. He basically discounted alarm systems, locks, fences, bars, etc. The one thing he didn't was a dog. He said that if the "target" had a dog, it wasn't the "target" any more. Dogs make noise, are difficult to impossible to quiet, wake at any sound, and they bite.

His advice - If you don't want your stuff taken, get a dog.

[Louis Rucci]

Keeping things secure is never an easy or inexpensive option. My son's going to install a security system for me as that's his job. He's going to use equipment clients give up after they've upgraded to a better system.

You may want to check with some local security companies and see if you can get "second" hand stuff that may not break the budget and give you "piece of mind".

[Rob Damon]

Leave a radio or TV on loud with a 24 hour station. A thief may knock but would think " is someone asleep in there and not hearing the knock".

Better yet, get a recorder and record a day long of wood working, you know, tools starting/stopping, dust collector going, radio going in the background, dog barking, you talking to yourself...

Burn it to an Audio CDR and put it in a cd player with "replay" selected and turn it on when you leave the shop. Anybody snooping around will hear you "working in your shop" and will move on to another oppurtunity.

Rob

[John Keeton]

Two rules -
1. Never discuss online my security situation.
2. Shoot to kill anyone that intrudes my home and surroundings - and everyone in town knows I would do it.

[David Shleifer]

My dad has a friend who was a DEA agent for years. He concurs that you can't stop a determined thief. You can only make it more difficult.

Interestingly, he told us about a study done in the prison some years ago asking criminals (these folks are in jail) what the scariest thing they can encounter when they break into a house. By an extremely wide margin they chose housewives with shotguns. Shotguns are unlikely to miss, and housewives are likely to be scared enough to pull the trigger even if they don't intend to.

A relative of mine had a similar question as to how to protect his gun collection. In the end, he had a steal door fastened to a cement bunker in the basement. The bunker was originally intended as a tornado bunker, so its kinda tough to get in to, unless you have a key to the door.

[Wayne Cannon]

When I lived near Sacramento, the sheriff's department gave a seminar on protecting your home against theft. The focus was on residences, but should apply mostly to a shop, as well. Here are their points (as best I can remember them):

• Most thefts occur between 2 pm and 6 pm when kids are out of school, but before their parents get home -- not at night as you would first expect. The majority of theft is for money for drugs, but it's also something for a kick to relive the boredom.
• An obvious and visible neighborhood watch program (e.g., a sign in everyone's yard saying "I watch my neighbor and report everything unusual") is very effective. Thieves usually count on neighbors to not say anything -- at least not until it's too late.
• Most thefts are thefts of opportunity -- a door left open with the interior visible while the owner grabs a bite to eat or makes a quick trip to the store.
• Eliminate temptation. Use high windows or ordinary-looking window shades to keep otherwise-tempting objects out of sight. If it looks like a fortress, it can be tempting just because there obviously must be something of value inside.
• Make it difficult to case your place without being very visible -- i.e., as already mentioned, remove shrubs, etc., near windows and provide lighting.
• Alarm bells and sirens don't stop most thieves, because thieves usually strike when you are away and people (neighbors) have become so immune to hearing alarms that they wait too long to report them.
• Pressure mats buried outside of windows and under door mats were the most useful early alarm, followed by door and window switches and glass breakage detection.
• Fake alarm stickers/signs and foil tape on windows work, as long as they aren't obviously fake.
• You can't stop a determined thief. You can only stop thefts of opportunity (by removing the temptation) and make your place less attractive to hit than your neighbors'.

Me? I don't do anything except have high windows, sturdy locks on the doors, motion-sensitive lights (put there for my own convenience at night), and "ScareCrow" motion-detector impluse sprinklers by the windows (put there to help the deer find my neighbors' plantings more appealing!).

[Bob Slater]

My shop is in a rough part of Toronto with some drug addicts in the vicinity. My first thing is to keep a low profile. That means never having doors open . Not using certain tools at certain hours if they are in ear hearing distance. I have a double door with multiple locks in the back and bars over the non see through window(Used fogged window film) . The front steel door has two locks, but two garage doors on the front , whioch you can run a sawzall through in a mater of seconds. . I have a monitored alarm system that works on a Cellular network. I live 8 minutes away. I just installed a video camera last week so at least I can see if anybody is waiting for me when I leave often after midnight. I enjoy making the place as bunker like as possible. I got a real Gloat going on my monitoring system. I bought three LCD portable DVD players on Ebay for $5.00 total. The DVD doesn't work on two of them, but the video input works on all three. SO I have one monitor over the front door. One in my small office, and one in the main workroom. The camera was also from Ebay and is a real well made armoured Sony dome camera .

[Sonny Edmonds]

But mostly the dogs. They go off long before an alarm would.
And you learn what bark means trouble.
I've watched people back off the porch when the frenzy charges up barking.
Besides, they are the greatest friends you could ever find.

And nobody ever cleaned me out like my first wife did. But hey, I have all nice better stuff now.
Think I should thank her?
Naw...

[jim oakes]

Interestingly, he told us about a study done in the prison some years ago asking criminals (these folks are in jail) what the scariest thing they can encounter when they break into a house. By an extremely wide margin they chose housewives with shotguns. Shotguns are unlikely to miss, and housewives are likely to be scared enough to pull the trigger even if they don't intend to.

I would be willing to rent mine and the double barrel. I think she would be very good at this. If she sees this post ,I may find out.

[Doug Jones from Oregon]

Insure the heck out of it! After 3 uninsured break ins, I got very expensive business insurance and never had another problem....so, instead of a loss from theft, I had a loss from paying high insurance premiums...about the same over a 5 year period....

Doug

[michael flay]

357 magnum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Joe Von Kaenel]

I connected the barn to our home security system. If running wires is a problem there are a lot of very good wireless systems available. I also have motion sensing lights. A lot of security companies will give you a free system if you use their monitoring. Just a security company sign and stickers will deter many thieves because it's not worth the trouble.


Joe

[Jason Abel]

A man after my own heart.

.45ACP and if they actually get away we have the AR-15 for their drive down the road.