RobbieTunes

Your homeowner's coverage can come into play, even with identity theft. Some pay the cost of new documents, as well. There are special limits on cash, jewelry, firearms, etc. Some also pay for getting locks re-coded.

The cost of deterrence is often less than your deductible, but experienced burglars, several of whom I've interviewed, are often in/out before much of a response can be mounted. The really good ones will test your alarm system, monitor the response from a distance, and then return (if they think it's worth it).

DNA and other evidence is often left, but property crimes are quite a ways down on the priority scale, given law enforcement's limited resources. Multiple instances sometimes generate more resources freely given, and the suspect needs to be already in a database.

The amateurs and pros really are different in their approach and scope. For the amateurs, it's generally either drug-related or entry-level gang activity (bringing money to the table).

I'm glad you were not home. Flight is generally a suspect's first response, but fight is often really quick after that, and he/she much more driven to get away than you are to safeguard your property, and also much more ready.

The sense of violation/intrusion is often the hardest to deal with. If it helps, by far the most of these are random crimes with no 2nd thought about the target. Identity documents are simply valuable now, to be sold to those who want to live here illegally or use them to commit financial crimes. Many of the ID items bring more cash than the stolen items.

USAZorro

grrrr

Glad you're ok. Robbie is an insurance professional and deals with all sorts of losses on a near daily basis, so amongst all the good and helpful advice, there's at least one professional perspective.

Bad Lag

The thing most scary to me is you had been "cased". The burglar knew how many lived there. The burglar knew you were not home from watching you leave. The theft of the paperwork is also most serious because of the identity theft it implies.

bobwysiwyg

Not sure how long it will be before you take steps to replace your passport, but you should immediately or pretty quickly, notify The State Dept. that yours has been stolen.

dweenk

We are slogging through all of the hassles of getting things set right. I was told that when report your passport as stolen it invalidates it for travel, but some institutions still consider it a valid ID. I need to check further about that. Replacement SSS cards are on the way, but the stolen ones are still out there. We're working on locking down credit with the big 3, getting replacement birth certificates, and marriage license. Oh, I nearly forgot about the savings bonds that we bought for our son. The list goes on and on...

RobbieTunes

One of the things I learned through interviews is that these guys use logic all the time.

They would go on whitepages.com and insert an address, then call several of the numbers on a street to see if anyone answers. in an era of double-income families, they'd often get strings of homes without anyone answering. Then, they'd drive by the home to check vehicles, see which ones move over a 2-3 day period. After a week of checking, they'd pretty much know where no one would be home.

They also went to apartment complexes, where the numbered spaces easily told them which apartments were empty. The apartments with small patios and privacy fences were almost always first, because once over the fence, they were invisible.

Homes on country clubs were popular, because they had no rear neighbors and often easy access from the "view" side of the home.

Larger homes with alarm systems, they'd tap the windows and see how long it took for the vendor to notify the owner or if police came. If it took 15-20 minutes, they just waited until everyone left, and then broke in. 90% of the time, the vendor just turned off the alarm, thinking it was another malfunction, and they were generally in/out in 5 minutes, anyway.

The really good ones would bring a van marked with home appliance repair, etc, often go in the back, raise the garage door, drive in, load up, and leave. I can't tell you how many times the neighbors waved at them as they left.

The best deterrent is a nosy neighbor, next is a surveillance system with an alarm, next is a dog, but many a dog has watched the burglary in progress.

Those that are home and choose to protect themselves with a weapon should be trained, practiced, and ready to use it, then ready for the legal consequences. Not every state lets you do such and move on, but that's a different subject.

Amazing how many gun collections I've investigated where the owner swears it was no one he/she knew, but they walked right in, defeated the alarm, went straight to the gun cabinet or safe, and carried it out.

Home burglary is a study in human nature and psychology, that's for sure.

3speedslow

Lemond1985

Couple of letters off there, but I get the idea.

avole

Report those passports and other important papers immediately, there's usually only one reason why they are stolen. You can get the other stuff replaced fairly easily. French police suggest you photocopy before you send off the insurance claim, as insurance companies have been known to be reluctant payers.

Vintage_Cyclist

In my area, there have been incidents where the various neighborhood lawn care services had people in their employ who would case the homes on their route and come back later with their gangster friends. This was a more organized scheme than a druggie burglar looking for something he could sell for quick cash.

RobbieTunes

And construction companies, for sure. Almost every apartment complex that is under construction with part of it already occupied will have several burglaries before it's done and fully occupied.

Some gangs require newbies bring something to the table, namely money or items, mostly money. This leads to some property crimes, car break-ins, purse snatchings, and muggings, a lot. Entry-level position.

I've had them where the newbies realized the house was going to be unoccupied for days, and the gang partied on for 3-4 days. Not a lot of damage, not a lot of theft, but imagine coming back and seeing what went on, thinking what went on, etc. Very troubling for the owner to think about.

I've had targeted bike thefts in California, serious bikes stolen as the sole intent of the break-in. It does happen.

With those, the policy had replacement cost, so I built the bike on paper with new stuff and made the offer. Insurance policies generally pay the used value up front, replacement cost when actually replaced. In every case, the owner took the used value and bought a new bike for somewhere between the used value and less than my rebuild price, and we paid what he/she paid and everyone happy.

In one case, the guy had his grail tri-bike stolen, and there's no doubt if the stolen bike showed up, people would know. He told me he carried a spare tire iron on his car in case it "showed up" somewhere. He went from a DA 7800 group to DA 9000 because that was the replacement component for Dura Ace, in my evaluation. Which also meant a wheel upgrade. You can see how he was satisfied, right?

Bad Lag

California law no longer recognizes theft as a felonious crime.

Interestingly, and counter-intuitively, California law allows you to shoot and even kill an intruder INSIDE your home based on the presumption they are there to do you or a loved one physical harm. IMO, morally, such a thing should never be done without the feeling of being in jeopardy but if they are inside your home while you are there and do not flee immediately upon learning of your presence, you should be in fear for your life.

If they are after stuff, and flee, that's one thing. If they stay and come after YOU, that's quite another.

RobbieTunes

And as we all should know, being in the situation and discussing or second-guessing it are way, way different.

Sprocket Turner

I'll add my condolences, having been a victim as well. A lot of wise sage advice was given here. One of the things that helps me today, is I have scans and other data types that I have both stored elsewhere in the home as well as I store some of the data on a cloud drive (YES - A SECURE - ENCRYPTED etc.) location. So passport # - got it, insurance info - got it etc. My point, is sometimes it is harder to get things done because we might not have enough information. I could tell you what town I was last married in - but I couldn't tell you the church. Good luck!

ollo_ollo

Sorry you have to go through this, it will take some time to recover. Our 1 experience was way back in the early 80's while in grad school. Wife & I went out for lunch, then grocery shopping. Returned & found house tossed from end to end. Took days to deal with the mess, but far as we could tell, nothing missing. Pre-computer/cell phone era, plus we had no TV, just an old kitchen radio, only things of value were lots of books and my Underwood typewriter. Had cameras, but they were in our car trunk. Even when nothing is stolen, you still feel violated. Don

All my life, I've had hunting dogs. Most were also good watchdogs. But, our dog at that time, a 10 year old English Pointer, was a gentle old fellow. Rarely barked at anything. We found him downstairs, hiding in the laundry room! He went around with his tail down for a while and stuck real close to me.

dweenk

Funny you should mention that. Last Friday I saw a young man walking across our neighbor's yard into ours. My vantage point was 2nd floor of the garage, and by the time I got outside he was gone, having attached (by rubber band) business cards for a landscaping company. I thought it rude that he walked across yards instead of using the walk, but ignored it. After the break-in I had second thoughts. I had tossed the business cards he had left, but my neighbor had kept one; so the detectives have that now.
I thought it strange that:
A landscaper (businessman) would be so inconsiderate as to walk across a potential customer's property. He would park in front to display the sign on his truck and use the walkway.
A landscaper (businessman) would take the time to canvass a neighborhood himself when he could be making $ doing pre-spring cleanup.
A landscaper (businessman) would use an hourly employee on such a mission.

Now another thought was that the landscaper may have engaged a guy at random to spread his cards across a neighborhood. The detectives did seem to be interested, and came to a similar conclusion.

dweenk

A friend of mine, a hunter, loaned me a game camera today. We tested it in a few locations in daylight and it worked well. I am doing a night test later at the location that gives the most coverage. If it gives me coverage at night, I may deploy another two cameras to give total coverage around the house. If we do this, it will require some work, but the photos are ours.

I am really hesitant to use a system that puts video on the internet.

Lemond1985

Regarding the video cameras, as long as you used a hard-wired USB webcam, connected to a computer with no internet access, I don't see any possible way your surveillance videos could ever get on the net unless you posted them. Of course you won't get real-time warnings of a break-in if you're at work, and the thief may decide to take the computer (make sure it's an old POS one) but those game cameras are pretty expensive, that's why I decided not to use them. But there's no reason why a well-hidden game camera wouldn't work.

Regarding the landscaper, I had some skinny kid come to the front door one time offering to do stump grinding on some stumps. I thought it odd that he rode up on a BMX bike. Then about a month later, I caught the same kid trying to enter the house through an unlocked sliding glass door in the backyard. He had a million and one excuses, but it was pretty obvious he was attempting a daytime burglary. So I guess pretending to be a tradesman soliciting business is a common way to case a house for future burglaries.

RobbieTunes

I came home from work one day, and my wife told me there were burglars next door. I handed her my wallet and told her to call the police. She asked about the wallet, and I said "in case they're bigger than me...."

I went over there and went in the front as they went out the back. Chased 'em down through a wooded area, rolled one and then caught the second one, drug him back to the first. The cops came as we came out onto the road. Their parents came, and of course, berated me and etc.

Same thing in court, when the judge ordered restitution; parents all over my case. One of the kids, though, simply walked over and said he was sorry. I saw him regularly at the nearby convenience store, always bought him a Coke or paid for his snacks, asked him about school. I told him one day he'd be in my shoes, and he said "I don't know, you're pretty fast for an old dude." When my son was on the wrestling team, I was a scorer, and the kid brought his coach over to meet me, during a lull in the event. We exchanged knowing looks. The kid was worth it. I have no doubt he's fine today.

7up

noglider 

@RobbieTunes, good story!

Lemond1985

Guy living next-door must not have read that part of the Bible that talks about not coveting thy neighbor's belt.

RobbieTunes

Or the passages very similar to Hammurabi's Code

allig9r

RobbieTunes

That many?!