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Ask Slashdot: Inexpensive SOHO Crime Deterrence and Monitoring?
First time accepted submitter trellz writes "My sister and brother-in-law are self employed, and run a small business with a storefront. It was broken into about a year ago, and since then they have reinforced physical security; bars on the doors and windows, better locks, etc. Unfortunately, their store was broken into and vandalized again last week, in spite of the added security measures. Being technically savvy, I'm trying to come up with inexpensive ways to add deterrence, monitoring, and alerting to their business. They run an extremely lean lifestyle and profit margin, so the solution needs to be almost free. They do have an internet connection at the store, so motion detection, web cameras, Arduino devices, and the like are certainly an option. Ideally I would like a rock-solid alerting method. Something like an email or text to a laptop at home, or a dedicated prepaid phone, but without the pitfalls of such a solution (i.e. random wrong numbers, solicitors, email spam, etc). I'd also prefer not to poke holes in their firewall at the shop if at all possible. I was considering an email with some sort of long code or hash in the body, and then could white list that on the receiving end to key off of. The goal is to never have a false alarm based on the transmission/reception method." What advice, beyond ZoneMinder?
Bars on the doors and windows suggests someone was pretty aggressive about getting in there - or your physical security upgrades are just insufficient. If people can still get in, and if what they take is relatively lightweight, a sophisticated alarm isn't really going to help you all that much compared to just something which makes a lot of noise.
What about getting a dog? It's both a deterrent and an alarm.
The software is available for surveillance already. You can setup a threshold of changed pixels in a time window (outside of business hours) and if it is exceeded it sends an e-mail, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_(surveillance_software)
Never used the feature myself, but I do own an old DS-207 nas box which is rock solid.
It will send out an email if the attached cameras detect motion.
Interface with the nas software is pretty user friendly.
I am sure there are other nas boxes from other companies that have similar features.
Just figured I'd throw this out there.
We know you said,
They run an extremely lean lifestyle and profit margin, so the solution needs to be almost free.
but it's pretty clear that you meant,
They sell wearable handicrafts made from soft-drink tins and yarn, and spend all the money on weed, so don't bother offering any solution that isn't basically free.
We're all grown-ups here, no need to soft-pedal for Grandma or whatever.
1. Something like this
http://www.chinavasion.com/china/wholesale/Surveillance_Security/Security_Gadgets/Motion_Detection_Camera-GSM_Mini_Camera
2. With another something like this
http://www.chinavasion.com/china/wholesale/IP_Cameras/Outdoor_IP_Cameras/IP_Security_Camera_720P_HD_Dual_IR_Array/
It will give you MMS, recording in 720p, and ability to yell at them in korean to get out of your store.
I put in a small Revo DVR unit with webcams last year for a small business. It was $800 and I think it was a lot of bang for the buck. It had alarm inputs, whick are simple enough that if you're on a budget you could set up on entryways. The cameras were motion detecters, IR, etc. I definitely recommend it.
----- obSig
They run an extremely lean lifestyle and profit margin, so the solution needs to be almost free.
Doing nothing has a cost too... possibly more break-ins = more lost profit. There is a potentially high risk cost of doing nothing; depending on what it is, they might be able to budget a lot of money, and the net cost could be zero: assuming the break ins are actually causing damage and hurting their business revenue.
The idea that you run a business, and you are not willing to spend any money on security is absolutely ridiculous. You should be willing to spend an appropriate amount of money to manage the risk.
The most important mitigation is probably to have insurance, but again... the premium may increase, the more breakins.
This may be a matter that a security consulting firm should be hired to look at.
Hidden cameras with a DVR may be useful to help catch the perps.... however, there is a problem: this is only useful, if responders become aware of the breakin and get there, before the thief can locate the DVR associated with the cameras and destroy it.
Visible cameras, may be used as a deterrent; however, they are subject to vandalism.
One of the best deterrents which should not be overlooked is a professionally Monitored security alarm system with External sounders, Internal motion detectors, Door sensors, Glass break detectors, perimeter coverage, and an alarm loop and cellular backup to a central monitoring station, that will dispatch authorities in the event of an alarm.
Buy business insurance, do what the insurance adjuster wants you to do, and don't do anything more.
If you don't have or can't afford business insurance, then you should question whether your business is viable or not, especially if a poorly timed robbery can put you under.
A free downloadable software package for Synology NAS units. I believe that if you use more than one camera there is a license for each additional one. Does support motion sensing, email/text/Skype alerts. http://www.synology.com/dsm/dsm_app.php?lang=us
Get some chloroform or other substance that can knock someone out, and tie it into your motion detection system. If anyone breaks in they'll be knocked unconscious and you can get the police in to arrest them. Or, since it's unlikely the burglars let anyone know what they were doing, nobody will miss them...
Hi, what you need is webcamd for a low powered machine with a cheap USB webcam (best to check the chipset compatibility before buying, just in case).
There'll be a bit of manual page reading, setting the motion detection thresholds and areas, configuring it to start on boot, archive/FTP images taken, add timestamps to the images, etc, and writing the scripts that will get run when motion is detected, but it'll be cheap, customizable and it'll work.
I've used this setup in a local maritime simulator where there was a breakin attempt (lots of projectors and electronics naturally), and they wanted a bit of extra security on the cheap.
HTH,
// MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
This does nothing. But it completely stops break-ins and it's cheap.
https://spygear4u.com/ds_proddetail.asp?prod=GS-LS-131
Watch the videos you can find of it around. It's very scary. Does nothing, of course, but it's VERY scary. And that will keep your family's store safe.
Messy though. Not an elegant solution.
Get a Foscom Wireless IP Camera. It'll email you a picture if something triggers motion detection. Pretty handy.
Might want to get something that turns on the lights, too, so the camera can get a good look at whomever.
If they cannot afford the less than $100/month for this service they're not going to be in business long since they obviously aren't turning a profit.
Here's what they need:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnH95uzQPOo
It's both cheap and effective (apparently).
At my repair shop, I have a $1 contact-break alarm system on my back door. As soon as it goes off, 100 dB alarm in your face and it's rather difficult to disable without knowing how it works. Not many people would say "well, that alarm is blasting but let's keep robbing it." They just run.
I can't believe modern people are still stupider than medieval people. This is pure castle theory. You don't build tons and tons and tons of defense like walls and locks and moats and then just leave it. Persistent threats will find a way in. What did rich people and kings do? Set traps. Make it look somewhat secure but then oops, you stepped on the wrong rock. Now there's spikes in your face. Or you pick a lock on the treasure chest and it released poison gas because the treasure chest is actually backwards and the real lock is on the back.
Bars on the windows are nothing. They'll just bring a crow bar. The "low hanging fruit" theory about which stores get robbed do not apply here. But add traps aka window break alarms and make sure the "Protected by alarms" and red blinking lights are showing and a thief would have no idea what trap they're about to fall into and would stay away.
Seriously, how is anybody supposed to know how their system is deficient or how to prevent further break.ins without knowing the merchandise which is attracting robbers and how their system was compromised?
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
If the business is in a high crime area, the police will not respond with any type of expediency.
In Chicago, they might not even respond at all.
I suspect that they want to get pictures of the crooks to turn over to the police or to release to the news.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Breaking crews are highly specialized, know how to enter almost any place and ransack it for valuables in impressively short time.
Get a safe, preferably something hard-installed or bulky and impossible to carry - this will protect what's in the safe reliably (think: irreplaceables), as it cannot be opened in the timeframe of a typical robbery or carried off.
Other than that, back up all your business data twice in the evening, one onto an encrypted hard drive that goes into the safe, one that goes home with you.
For anything replaceable: Get insured.
Oh, and if you have really valuable inventory and are running on low margin, get out of the business you are in.
It has a battery and a blinking LED so it looks like a camera is operating. I installed it in the alley and it stopped strangers driving down the alley. I have to change the battery every six months.
Given you put Arduino like options on the table you should checkout the Open Source Ninja Block ( http://ninjablocks.com/products/ninja-blocks-kit ). The Ninja Block (with it's free cloud service) lets you create rules that use it's sensors to send you alerts (via SMS/Email/Social Network etc). For example "if motion is detected, send an SMS". Included in the kit is a Motion Sensor and door/window contact sensor. You can get more sensors off the Ninja Blocks website. The Ninja Blocks community seems to also be growing strong: http://forums.ninjablocks.com/ If you want to tinker more, inside the Ninja Block is an Arduino compatible uC and an embedded Linux computer running Ubuntu.
I'm seeing a lot of partial solutions here. Both in what has been done, and in what is being proposed. The first thing you should be doing though has been mentioned, and that's talk with your insurance adjuster. At the very least you can find out what your liabilities are for various security measures, and possibly what measures will reduce your insurance rates.
Start by looking at what a thief is going to see as they look at how to enter the property. You may find the TV series from a few years back "it takes a thief" (or something like that) helpful in looking at the entire place for security problems. The doors and windows may be barred, but is it possible to gain access through the floor, or ceiling? Even a good barred door may be a problem if it's sheltered in such a way that you can't see if someone is working on the lock.
Part of that should also be looking at what you can do to improve deterrence. Signs, visible (if non-functional) alarm panels, even a steadily blinking light next to a sign labeled 'Alarm System' can be a deterrent.
And finally look for ways to monitor the approaches to the property both front and back, and if the building is stand alone, all around the building. You may want to use PIR along with IR Lighting to capture movement around the building.
If you are presuming that someone will break in after you've identified (and hopefully fixed) the issues from outside, then you're to the detect and defend internal options. High resolution cameras, covering the access points. Motion detection, door and window open sensors, glass break detectors, etc. These are intended to generate alerts and set up a means to capture what information you can about the thief. Tip, mark the door frame on either side of likely entrances with contrasting tape to form a crude (half foot or 20 cm increment) tape measure to give you a quick estimate of how tall someone passing by the entrance is.
Obviously you will need to decide for yourself how critical it is to secure different parts of your store. High value gem dealers usually place their entire stock in a vault of some sort overnight. If you know what the reason is behind the break-ins in the area (paying for drugs being common) you may be able to protect high value items by making it easier to steel a few low value items that you are less concerned about loosing.
Understand what the thief is working with. Unless you've been cased for a professional theft, in which case you're insurance carrier may have other suggestions for you, Most thefts are a snatch and grab variety, the thief is looking to get in, get something and get out. Be gone before the cops show up. If you know the cops will be there within 20 min, (talk with other businesses in the area that have experienced break-ins to find out if that estimate is even in the balpark) then you know how hard you have to make it for a thief to get at the valuables.
Also set policies (and follow them) for how to deal with elements of the store that are critical for operating. Assume that a thief can get the cash register, all cash within the store, and possibly your computers in the store. Does someone have a spare cash register, and operating cash for the day that they can bring in at the start of the day if you need to get going while making repairs? Is there sufficient spare stock in an off-site storage to get up and running the next business day, or are you going to be waiting a week for your suppliers to restock? Is the customer information on your systems at work in a secure system? Do you have off site backups of your inventory and books? Have you a policy of depositing all cash over and above what you absolutely have to have for daily operations on a nightly basis? Do you have multiple known locations where you can make those deposits so that if construction makes your usual after hours depository unavailable you can still make your deposit. Have you tested your off site backup solution to confirm that if your systems up and left, or a vandal cam in and drove a pick-ax
You never know...
Messiness aside, you have to live there for this to be an effective solution. If it's in the bad part of town, you don't want to live there... I love my guns and I keep one in the car almost all the time, but I don't want to live in the kind of neighborhood where you have to have your gun on you all the time.
The alert is after-the-fact, of course. And did the local police tell you what their (hopefully, substantiated) response time is???
Is it two minutes, twenty minutes or do they decline to say?
I have tripped alarms while working late and sat there waiting for the authorities while a loud horn blasted the neighborhood. No one came. The police later confirmed that they cannot cover everything. I guess so.
I have purchased fake or dummy surveillance cameras. The flashing light gets their attention. They are on line and cheap. They use a battery, so no wiring is needed. Just one more deterrent, something to make them think twice, hopefully.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaseous_fire_suppression And trigger it with the burglar alarm entry system. :)
Have a good firearm. Kill them. It works very well.
I won't respond to the obvious pro-anti gun control flamebait (only an idiot would do that*). We have no idea where this shop is based so you might be right; In some areas of Mexico where the police will never come this would probably be the right solution. Moreso if you live somewhere where you have no social security and are likely to starve to death if you lose your shop.
However, it doesn't fit the specification. "the solution needs to be almost free".
First of all, you want better and more effective weaponry than the people who are going to come to your shop. Heavy machine guns do not come cheap, and even if you will do with a pair of assault rifles they won't come free.
Secondly, as even the NRA will tell you; especially the NRA; you need to train with your weapon especially if you are planning to use it in a serious situation. An initial period of several months of intense training in marksmanship and urban combat followed up with weekly practice and regular refresher training will be needed. Even with a local club willing to help this is going to end up expensive.
Thirdly, most of the time people's firearms are used against them more than they get to use them. You will want to work in a pair (or more), with one person on guard duty, and one person serving the customers at all time. You will want to buy secure firearm storage for the occasions when you have to put the gun down.
Fourthly a firearm alone isn't going to cut it. If they get inside before you start firing you are going to end up in considerable danger anyway. Let's imagine that this is a stand alone store set back from a road in the Columbian countryside. You will want to have motion detectors and cameras wired to alarms and screens in your safe room together with a loudspeaker system outside. When the invaders come at night you need to give them warning (in case they are lost tourists or local paramilitary police dropping by to check on your health) before you open fire.
Finally, if you do end up killing them and are unlucky, you may want to be ready for the escalation from their drugs gang buddies. At least budget to buy a few RPGs and heavier machine guns; armoured reinforcement and ex-SAS security guards are probably advised.
Overall, whilst this may be excellent on paper, you will find such security does not always come cheap.
* (or troll)
=~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
A simple sign with "Nevermind the dog, beware of the rattle snakes" should do it.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Are you working for free? That means that you are paying for their security. Great if you are willing to do that, but it also means that if you are out of town on a holiday with no cell reception and there is an issue, who are they going to call?
And although this might be a fun project to work on, this is their livelihood you are experimenting with. And it is experimenting. Otherwise you would not ask the questions.
tell them this before that you will do a best effort, but that there are no guarantees that things either break down or that things do not go as you imagined they would happen. People are not recognizable because the camera was too high and not enough light in the place where the thief was. Too much light. Too low, so the staff filed a complaint about privacy invasion.
What happens if the internet connection is out? What if the power is out? What if the phone dies? What if the phone company kills the number, because they forgot to pay for the next installment in 5 years time?
The first thing you need to figure out why they broke into that store and not the one next door. Then you can start looking for ways to not want them to break in. Security camera's don't do anything and neither do motion detectors, unless they contact a security company.
The cheapest way to help them is to tell them to contact an expert who knows not only the technical stuff, but the rest as well. Where to put the camera's. Then propose them that you are there to ask all the technical questions to see if he knows what he is talking about and if you find any loopholes.
That way they can contact another small business owner and help the community as well as defend themselves. That person will be able what the advantages and disadvantages are, because of his experience.
Sure, not free, but cheaper then having not thought of one thing and closing the business because of it.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Often your insurance will demand certain CERTIFIED minimum requirements with your insurance premium going down the more you meet their requirements.
And those requirements don't have to make sense or be best practice but they are the difference between your insurance company paying out and not paying out.
If requirements made sense, we would LONG since have had HD camera's recording to HD's rather then very very very poor camera's recording to low quality tape. But your own 4k mug shot and tricorder scan of the perps DNA and entire social history will see your insurance claim thrown out with a scornful laugh while a certified wobbly 320x200 etcha sketch will get you fully re-imbursed.
So: First check with your insurance company.
Next: Crime prevention is about denying criminals what they want:
1 Fast
2 Easy
3 Cheap
4 Low risk
5 Money
So do stop criminals make their crime be
1 Slow
2 Hard
3 Expensive
4 High risk
5 Non paying.
Your shop needs a door and to be inviting it needs to be airy and this is done by making it out of glass. But a glass door is easily shattered. A wooden door with two large glass panes separated by a wood bar in the middle is ALMOST as inviting but now the burglar either needs to remove the door, open it or climb in through ONE of the smashed panels. This is slower. He will still get in but be able to steal less in the same amount of time. This makes it less profitable.
Shutter I mean one of those rollup "fences" that drop out ofthe celing, no idea what their english name is.
One thing you could do for instance is leave your display window open but install a shutter inside the store itself as an additional barrier to overcome. Barely visible during the day, at night an extra barrier. Many people place them infront of doors but this just requires you to lift the shutter, then bust in the doors that tend to open inwards.
Place an electrically lowered shutter BEHIND inwards opening doors, how do you open that one without a key? You can't push the doors in because the shutter is blocking that and you can't lift the shutter because the doors are in the way. Remember, theft prevention is like preventing being eaten by a lion, you don't need to be able to outrun the lion, you just need to outrun your neighbor.
Hard is similar to slow of course in that you make the burglars work just that little bit harder. Just one more lock, just one more barrier to overcome. One thing we as consumers hate is those plastic wraps around products but they have a simple reason. They are very large meaning it is hard to conceal for shop lifters or at least conceal as many. And they are hard to open to make it hard to open them and take their contents. We know this works because well, we all bitch about how hard they are to open. Most of the large plastic containers are pure theft prevention and contain a fully serviciable selling/display package inside for shops that don't need to fear shoplifters.
Do you NEED to store all your most valuable products in handy to carry containers right near the entrance to the warehouse? Or could you place your most expensive products on the highest shelf in the furthest corners? And lock up the ladder? And add some barbed wire to the shelves for those trying to climb it?
Think of shoe stores, if they are smart, they one have either the left or right shoe on display. Putting both the right and left shoe in the same size outside is asking for it but how many shoe thieves are interested in only left side shoes? I don't know if this was purely accidental but I did once notice that all the shoe shops in one area all had only the left shoes on display.
Expensive might be a little less clear but while you might think that a prepared thief can cut through any chain in any case you might as well get the cheapest available, the simple fact is that not all locks/chains etc are the same. And the better ones require mo
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Don't have the alarm call or text you. That's a waste of valuable time. You're just going to call the cops anyway. And what happens if you're asleep, in a movie, flying, etc? More time wasted. Your job is not to wait for the call or text from your security system letting you know that an alarm has been triggered. Given that you've had break-ins before, I'd say you would drive yourself crazy making sure you're accessible 100% of the time in case a message came in.
Monthly central station service is the price of a couple pizzas.
Small price to pay for the peace of mind you get having someone ready to get the police there on a moment's notice anytime of the day or night.
Point some laser pointers at mirrors attached to a servo motor and make it look like there's a crazy cool scanning laser security system!!
Unexpect the expected!
Elegant? What do you want? Lightsabers?
call homeland security and tell them that terrorists broke in
they will be all over it like flies on shit
just don't expect to do much business... everyone that walks into the store will have to be anally probed and interrogated, and there is a good chance every 3rd one will be sent to guantanamo bay on suspicion without charge... especially kids cos they are a real security risk (just ask the TSA)
Please excuse me for being dense ...
How can Chinese no-name gadgets yell in Korean ?
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
With police like that I doubt pictures of the crooks will help. Especially if they are masked or wearing helmets.
I wonder how much those anti-theft fog/smoke things cost and cost per release: ;) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAPw_xbTJzk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK083niNAmY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOgKti335tQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOqECorcOno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SZeCbARjKM
There's even a disco light edition
These seem more likely to reduce the amount of stuff stolen than some cameras and alarms. So maybe the insurance company would reduce your premiums if you had such a system installed.
"I don't think a thief is going to be able to burgle your store while a variety of discordant tones plays at 150dB, increasing to 180dB, then maybe on up to about 220dB. I think at around "louder than a rocket launchpad" even a deaf thief will notice."
The neighbors will come and kill them. And the speakers. And you.
But anyway, all these solutions are very fine but not cheap. Also if the perps get in, the damage is done, you'd need new doors, new bars, new locks, new cameras, new loudspeakers etc, a cheap solution looks different.
You need to find out the reason for the robberies, is it revenge, competitors, racket etc. you won't be able to scare those away.
If that's not the case, perhaps a cheap sign would do:
'No cash, no drugs, no jewelry, no electronics, no radio, no TV, nothing to steal here besides a prize doberman, but he won't come cheap, he eats 3 pounds of meat each morning, and right about now he's really hungry and pissed.
PS. He doesn't take food from strangers, so you have been warned."
No, that's far too simple. He's after a high-tech solution.
I still want to know how sending an email will prevent the burglars. Is he going to put up a sign: "Warning! This shop protected by email!" ?
I'm not sure I'd hire him as a security consultant. I might do something crazy like ask a local cop what to do. Somebody who knows the area and knows what sort of people break into shops. That's just me though...YMMV.
No sig today...
i bought a really nice bike years ago when i started university and it was stolen (locked up in an open public place within the university grounds)... talking to campus security revealed that it was commonplace and that the solution was to use a cheap shitty looking bike because they aren't targeted
in other words... make your store appear less of a target; if you have massive steel bars on the windows and security cameras everywhere, crims will think you are protecting something of value. i dunno what the store sells, but you may want to look at what measures are used by other similar stores in the area.
there are a bunch of possible reasons why your store could have been targeted:
- what sort of neighborhood is it in? (maybe shift to somewhere with lower crime)
- do you have any enemies? (think outside the box here a bit, such as does your wife have nasty spats on facebook? women can be as vindictive as men)
- how do you get on with your competitors? (you're not competing with the mafia are you?)
- are the police offering any advice? if so, maybe consider following it
at the end of the day, you need to analyze how it is affecting your business overall. i'm guessing you're not in the security business so having bars on the windows and alarms and cameras probably is costing a lot and not contributing to increased sales. the decisions you make should be sound business decisions, as well as consideration of your personal or family situation if you think there is any risk (what happens if someone comes in while you are in the store?). for the business, add it to your threats column and see how it all stacks up. if you are spending more on security to the point where you're not making enough to pay your bills then the viability of your business in on the line. continuing an unviable business out of spite for the criminals is stupid obviously (that's how government's think, not small busininesses).
trying to shape the problem to suit a solution that an IT specialist can help with is putting the cart before the horse; more security may not be the right solution.
there isn't really enough info provided to give much more of a story but its a fairly common problem with shop fronts so there should be a lot of folks out there with ideas.
just put a sign on the door "this business is owned by the mob"
nukes... adopt the tried and true MAD principle :)
put up a sign: "Warning! This shop protected by email!" ?
Warning! This shop protected by attack email.
That way they would-be perps know that they'll have to deal with malicious payloads, instead of just phishing and 419 like you get from the usual sleepy bone-chewing guard emails.
Or rocks. Or bricks.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Sadly, Ineffective against the mob, and may make it difficult dealing with insurance & police.
http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bat-signal.jpg
I don't know how is in US, but in Romania there are security companies that provide 24/7 monitoring for as little as 40$ a month with a contract that guaranties a 7 minutes response, if you want lower you pay more. They include motion sensors & means to connect directly to their teams to alert the closest one. I own a small business and had no problems until now. But they usually call me if they see an unusual pattern - like opening at night or if I forget to set the motion sensors on after a certain hour. They even provide you with a panic button.
Is there anything like that for small business in US?
Not exactly cheap, but one step up from the fake laser light show devices. http://www.freaklasers.com/laser-dazzlers-300mw-600mw.html
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
A cow fence could be a good idea, but it is easily defeated by anyone slightly more intelligent than a cow. A green laser dazzler and a sound bomb might be better. Anyhow, a combination of a cow fence, dazzler, sound bomb, smoke and bear spray, may be a useful deterrent...
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
I install cameras for customers, and I would advise you to forget CCTV as a way to stop break-ins. I get a lot of prospective customers who want cameras to deter intruders and advise them the same way. Good camera systems, which pretty much leaves out video, is useful to catch shoplifters, light fingered employees, improper use of resources, and reduce liability in the event of an accident and law suit. If you want to stop intrusion, secure the property (if they got through bars, you need better bars), and have a professional company install an alarm with central monitoring and security staff.
Getting a picture of an intruder is useless. Getting a picture of an intruder wearing sunglasses is even more useless.
An Alarm with glass break, lights, loud siren and guards on the way ought to stop them. If it doesn't, move.
CM www.cometenergysystems.com Blog: http://caribbeanrenewable.blogspot.com/
the ED-209 is still on ebay! you only need to animate it, rig it to the security system and have it use quotes from the movies... and you got a great deterrent! if it doesn't work, get a targeting system and a couple pistols rigged in ^_^
Well yeah, what I made was a bit more powerful than what you'd use for a cow fence..
"An initial period of several months of intense training in marksmanship and urban combat followed up with weekly practice and regular refresher training will be needed."
What a load of shit. A good gun safety course takes a few afternoons on the weekend. The urge to return to the range and practice is natural. .45 cal is just about perfect for personal protection. .40 will go through walls, cars easily, a .38 couldn't bring down an aged Pope with a whole clip, a 9mm is just a Euro .38. .357,.44 and .50 are fine for disabling freight trains and semi-trucks .22 and .32 will protect you from rabbits.
Most gunplay with handguns occurs at less than 50 feet and the majority of that at less than 25 feet. Train intensely if you are shooting for the Olympics, train realistically if you want to hit a human size target effectively. Choose an adequate weapon for the task at hand. A
a
Mostly, get gun advise from someone involved with weapons and training. Getting a bunch of anti-gun-nut propaganda from some pacifist hippie on the internet is useless as the one giving it.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
The key is, the store is his home. His people (the owners) come to visit him and spend time with him there every day. He gets lots of visitors who he can greet (customers).
End of the business day, his people leave him a small amount of food, plenty of fresh water, and a nice place to sleep, as well as run of the store.
Post signs. Dawgs protect their territory, which is why it needs to be HIS store (his home), not a bring to work dawg.
Caveat Emptor: check with the liability insurance carrier up front.
Red
Excellent idea.
I've done high profile contract work for Audio Defense Systems.
The average person can alternate white and pink noise at those volumes cheaply enough. Use of a timer is a good idea and shut it off after 10 min or so.
People of means and governments can afford to pump an effective 9 - 11 c.p.s. at 180 dB which has inhumane features to contribute to the nervous system along with hearing damage.
Do not use around puppy dogs.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
It is called a 'shotgun sleepover'. Call your redneck friends over. Promise a case of beer per burglar.
I wish I could mod this up. My mod points *just* expired!
Your heart is in the right place and noted.
May your seed be fertile in the belly of your woman... or whatever good wishes are appropriate.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
Be happy that you're still around posting the results here, instead of sitting in jail for murder.
Nah it wasn't powerful enough to kill somebody, made sure of that. Never sufficient charge in the circuit for a fatal current combined with very high frequency discharge. Just hurts very badly. Additionally thieves aren't human, they're sub-human scum that deserves to die anyway. Why is it so hard to leave other people's things alone for certain people?
Once you shoot the first one word spreads quickly, problem solved. Given a choice a criminal will always take the path of least resistance and a bullet always travels faster than police.
Watch the Mythbusters episode again. What they considered "busted" was the part in the movie where the car rose up over the rear wheels and kept going. Instead, the rear axle broke loose of the suspension, but the wheel wells kept it from being left behind. AFTER trashing the suspension and the underside of trunk, the cable broke. Mythbusters said "this car will not be driving any further". The Mythbusters test can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRHMNc5WyB4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
It is powerful enough for this:
The skin of his hands was white and black due to the burns.
But:
Nah it wasn't powerful enough to kill somebody, made sure of that.
That is totally contradictory.
A quick look at some web sites gives me answers of 15 mA across the heart to be the minimum lethal current, while burns can be expected at currents of 200 mA and above. That are huge currents to run through one's body, and if any vital organs are in the way (e.g. hand to foot - drawer to ground) it's simply lethal.
Cattle fences give nasty shocks, yet work at far lower voltages than 170 kV (2-10 kV usually), and give pulses of just microseconds in length instead of being constant on like you do.
Lightning strikes produce burns while victims often actually survive, thanks to this being a very short pulse and the current is usually running mostly along the skin, and not through the body. Of course we all know lightning can very well be lethal. High voltages are just not something to fool around with.
You gave the solution yourself, high frequency. Additionally the burns are due to arcing when you pull your hand away. And what did he learn from that? Never steal things that belong to my deceased girlfriend.
Timothy,
Please learn how to post "Ask Slashdot" stories in the actual Ask Slashdot category so that the exclusions filters actually work.
Fnord666
'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
They are quite effective (I've heard).
However, they do tend to be a bit top-heavy, and easily tipped.
They are quite polite.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."
-H. L. Mencken
Separately from the permit for the alarm itself, you also need to be licensed if you're being paid to install a system. In Texas, it's a third degree FELONY, I think, to install systems for pay without a license. Other US states are mostly similar. * The same agency that regulates security professionals regulates PIs. Unlicensed PI work is a felony. Unlicensed security work may be a class A misdemeanor, in which caae max penalty would be 1 year jail.
What a load of shit. A good gun safety course takes a few afternoons on the weekend
You seem to be deeply hard of reading. I will try to translate the proposal
get a firearm (note singular - for one person only) and sleep there (note - by basic principles of security you should assume that the opponents know you are sleeping there) alone then, when the assailants (unknown number) come in armed (with unknown set of weapons) do not attempt to frighten them off (they might get away); instead kill them all.
Remember that, whilst you might be lucky and get a bunch of punks who have no clue what they are doing, it's actually quite likely that, given that they are willing to attack an occupied building, you will meet heavily armed people ready to fight. Your average gun safety course will considerably reduce the chance of killing yourself accidentally with a weapon. In a random street encounter with lightly armed random assailants who are ready to run away it will give you a reasonable chance of even behaving in an effective way. It definitely does not prepare you to take on multiple heavily armed and prepared assailants and ensure that you kill them all.
So summarised
Even with all of this; it's a thing you should only do in a situation of desperation. Doing it without that level of preparation comes under basic "don't bring a knife to a gun fight" rules. Planning to fight against multiple forewarned armed assailants with a single pistol, .45 or not, is stupidity of the highest order. Doing it at a time of their choosing in a situation where they know where you are and not the other way round is plain suicide.
=~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
You can buy a wired DSC kit for about $120. Additional motion detectors (I recommend DSC Bravo's) for about $35/each on amazon.
Google "alarm monitoring diy" and choose a monitoring service. I've seen them as low as $8/month if you pay a year in advance. Most of these services can provide you with a certificate to take to your insurance company. Monitoring usually pays for itself in this sense by reducing your insurance costs.
Step 1 Have a good firearm. Kill them. It works very well.
Step 2 Until Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton show up.
Step 3 Repeat step 1.
Find an old computer, something that isn't exactly an Intel Atom but has some sort of horsepower to it. A Core 2 Duo would be perfect. Install a Linux distro on it (I use Ubuntu) and install "Motion" from the repos via sudo apt-get install motion. Motion is a motion detection service that runs as a daemon, so it starts once the system fires up. It works based on MJPG streams, so you won't get epic 3000 FPS HD 1080 quality shots, but if you run the cameras at say 5 FPS, you're still getting 5 JPG snapshots per second, which is often more than enough to ID somebody. Cameras could be a wide range, but the cameras will dictate the quality of image you get, so do your homework beforehand. Wired is always preferred to wireless, but I've used wireless cameras that were "okay". I wouldn't consider them for a situation like this, though. Also, consider routing your feeds to a secondary box on the premises, or perhaps to an off-site box all together. Tons of options there. Maybe you could run an rsync job via cron every 60 seconds and sync the data over SSH to another box, whether it be on the same LAN or at another property. lsyncd looks interesting too, which seems to be (based on 10 seconds of reading) a "live" rsync between two servers. Worth considering. Keep in mind if anybody breaks in and steals the box, you got nothing. Having a 2nd up-to-date box running would be the ultimate combo. Linux is free. Motion is free. The computer would be cheap (Craigslist or repurpose one you already have). The biggest cost here would be the cameras... and believe me, you get what you pay for. Food for thought. For what it's worth, I've used ZoneMinder heavily, but it had random crashes and populated my error logs with thousands of errors I couldn't ever come to terms with. Motion has yet to let me down. Sure, it has no GUI and runs entirely as a daemon, but it's rock solid in terms of reliability and has given me zero reason to consider anything else. Here's a Motion tutorial I set up earlier this year. Note that there is a Part 2 on YouTube as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwDLkMPLTw0
I think I saw Tim Allen demo that once...
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
If there isn't anything the dog can mess up... Leave a rottweiler in the store at night. When they see it pacing the window...they will think twice.
Also, add cameras that stream to a different location. Put sensors on the doors and impact sensors on the windows.
Then call it done.
Actually, handguns are a personal defense compromise favoring convenience and portability.
If you know you'll be in a fight, get a nice 12-gauge shotgun.
Everyone on the planet, from individuals to the US Coast Guard to the US and Chinese militaries, uses the Remington 870. It is cheap, reliable, and highly effective. And, when the situation is resolved, you can buy a long barrel suitable for hunting; where the 870 is equally appreciated. Just make sure your local laws won't make you the criminal if you do this.
Because your business is worth more than their lives! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO7s9y9Vjtg Apply this principal to your shop security. What could possibly go wrong?!
Yeah, whatever G.I.Joe, .45 this time, killed one and injured another both armed with either a gun or crowbar. My favorite new story is the Mid-easterner Convenience store owner a few blocks from my work who held a couple crackheads armed with a shotgun with his .40 while cops came. In between are people in an industrial city who are taking advantage of open carry, arming themselves,taking courses and protecting their own without being hassled for it. I'm not getting any stories about overwhelmed home and business owners. I guess until, the bad guys start getting training on COBRA island, then the world just doesn't need the services of G.I.Joe.
We have a new rash of justifiable homicides here locally from home and shop break ins in addition to armed robberies. Everything is doing just fine.My favorite old story is from last year when a man lived over his machine shop and was previously shot by burglars. He had a
over and out soldier.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
Something like an email or text to a laptop at home, or a dedicated prepaid phone, but without the pitfalls of such a solution (i.e. random wrong numbers, solicitors, email spam, etc).
Just set up a new e-mail account for the alerts to go to, and don't publish the address or use the account to send any outgoing e-mails. In order for you to receive spam at an address, first that address needs to be out there to be harvested.
I mostly agree, but find swinging a long barrel around an indoor area cumbersome.
I think this assault weapons ban will put conveniently sized shotguns out of reach.
I never got around to getting an 870.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
just don't let the queen criminal on your space ship
better make sure you have robot lifting machines available just in case, along with a handy repertoire of comebacks should the queen criminal stow aboard ...erm...hang on a minute
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Dropcam yet. Cloud based HD video security monitoring using Wi-Fi enabled cameras, which include audio and motion alerts that send directly to email or Android/iPhone devices.
The video quality is just fine if you include a motion activated light, and it's cheap enough to add three or four of them to cover all entrances (including windows.)
For a basic subscription, it will keep 7 days of video monitoring online, as well as sending you alerts.
As a bonus, it lets you talk back to the camera....
Paul Gillingwater
MBA, CISSP, CISM
A friend of mine but this into his car but the idea may work with buildings as well. His ideas was that potential thieves always try the doors first because they might be unlocked so he put microswitches into the door handles and had them immediately set off the alarm.
But my thought is for the door handle to alert the owners by SMS so that they can go there immediately. You want to know about the first thing which happens to give you more time.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
It sounds like fun if you use psychology instead of projectiles -- have a highly visible camera on a gimbal targeting the intruder, with a tiny red laser - accompanied by a playing a recording of a massive capacitor charging up. Text-to-speech voice saying "Target Acquired". Play subsonics with a good subwhoofer, say 10-18Hz sine wave to give them that good old fashioned sense of unease.
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
There is no such thing as the mafia, and we'll rub out anyone who says there is.
In what way? Mythbusters use the scientific method to test claims. They measure, experiment, collect data on a variety of scenarios - controlling and testing different variables on each pass - and report on their findings.
Very enjoyable when they use their approach to prove a myth is possible. But when a Myth is proclaimed to be "busted"? Often, they ignore the particular assumptions and constraints of their particular implementation of the tested Myth, for the purpose of making broad sweeping claims of impossibility -- just so they can wrap up the show with a nice sound bite.
If they were a little more humble about their own limitations, I would accept it as an example of the difficulty in proving a negative. Instead, they turn it into an unintentional parody of Bad Inductive Reasoning.
"When an elderly and distinguished scientist tells you that something is possible, he is very probably right. When he tells you that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong" - Arthur C. Clarke.
Look into tear gas or colored (so as not to be mistaken for fire) smoke dispensers. You could build your own using orange smoke grenades etc, but ensure your enclosure is fire-safe.
Physical security can SLOW attackers, but doesn't DENY them the premises.
Example, I've not used these:
http://burglarbomb.com/
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
... and buy insurance. Contract for immediate armed response to the alarm if you really want somebody to get hurt.
I can't imaging a thief thinking any store in this day and age won't have a camera on somewhere.
Whatever happened to doing it the old-fashioned way? 1. Attack dogs inside the premises 2. Boards with spikes pointing upward on the floor in front of all doors and windows And please do not tell me that it is inhumane. You are talking about people stealing from you.
Best Regards, David Geer
I had two breaking attempts last year. After the first attempt, I had my landlord install better locks, and I also made my own security solution. Being in an apartment, I can't get a major brand alarm system (that comes with a three year contract)
So, I bought a Panasonic BL-C230A web camera. I made custom mobile page on a website, which I use to arm and disarm my "alarm". I've also setup the panasonic camera to visit a URL every time it detects motion. If the alarm is armed and it receives a visit on this URL, it will send me a text message and an email letting me know that it has detected motion. I also have it uploaded an image to an offsite FTP server whenever it records motion (which is somewhat bandwidth intensive). However, I can pull up a website and see every recent event that happened in my apartment.
I also contemplated using Tropo as an alerting system for phone and SMS. Doing so would even let me setup a call tree and all that. I never got around to implementing it but it seems like it would have worked well for this.
Also, I tried a D-Link model before the Panasonic webcam. The Panasonic ended up being the best camera for this solution though. The huge feature is the infrared motion sensor. Most webcams seem to detect motion by a determining a change in the image. However, if anything causes the change shift quickly, these give off a false positive. Which is not a great thing for an alarm to do several times a day. A few other nice features are the FTP capability, visiting a webpage when motion is detected, PTZ, and external inputs and outputs (for example, you could use these for a door open/close sensor or a siren).