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Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore



Joined: 15 May 2003
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Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore
PostSat Oct 21, 2006 9:13 pm 
Naw, it's a fine idea, but it's not my bag. Though I probably wouldn't use it - I expect my rig to be broken into at any trailhead, and prepare accordingly. I just don't get all in a flap about stuff like that. Maybe I should, but I don't. I like databases, though. The deal is, though, to make it work, it should be a fairly rigid database with buttons and text boxes (like Visual Basic form); but someone will have to create it, maintain it, monitor it, host it. An excel spreadsheet could be sabotoaged too easily. A list of trails would need to be in a drop-down list for consistency in a successful search string, as well as dates (some folks might enter 1 Nov some might enter November 01 for instance). I would imaging it would be quite an undertaking. Perhaps the various land manager offices have a list of their trails/roads that could be downloaded, if the thought is to liason with them. Monitoring to make sure some folks aren't abusing it -making things up.

"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate." Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
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Dave Workman
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Joined: 06 Aug 2006
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Dave Workman
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PostSun Oct 22, 2006 7:03 pm 
Never mind the charts and graphs, I have an idea forming (yes, I know, someone should call CBS and tell them my gray matter is active again) and it should be no more difficult than "cut and paste." It's along the lines of "Reporting for Boneheads" (rumor has it, I qualify), but I gave it some thought while lying in my tent Saturday night listening to an elk tramping through my camp. Bear with me a day or two and then I'll post a "draft" for the forum's consideration.

"The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted." - D.H. Lawrence
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Conrad
Meadow bagger



Joined: 25 Aug 2006
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Conrad
Meadow bagger
PostSun Oct 22, 2006 8:48 pm 
While Dave's off working on his proposal, here's my 2c: I agree with Quark's warning about the work involved in a "slick" system, plus I think the problem very likely doesn't need such a fancy solution. I bet most nwhikers already tend to report crimes here on the forum. So, I bet a new more organized reporting system wouldn't get a lot more reports than we already see scattered around the forum. How many is that, a few per summer? So I'd suggest a simple non-sticky topic titled e.g. "Report forest crimes here (no chat)". Wait and see how much data we collect before worrying about automating ways to organize it. Maybe the next nwhiker to see a fresh crime will just go ahead and start such a thread.

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More Cowbell
Warrior Princess



Joined: 01 Jul 2006
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Location: Alive on Earth
More Cowbell
Warrior Princess
PostThu Jun 05, 2008 10:56 pm 
From the WTA site:
Quote:
Jun 03, 2008 by Deputy Rasar,Forest Patrol SCSO Lake 22 #702 The Glacier Peak Area | Link to this report In the trailhead parking area you will notice that there are signs of new broken glass from several vehicles that have had their windows broken to gain entry into them. These vehicles have had valuables such as purses (and all their owner's identity items,credat/ATM cards,etc...),backpacks and the like stolen out of them. Vehicles without valuables have not been touched! A reminder..."PLEASE LEAVE THESE ITEMS AT HOME OR PACK THEM WITH YOU"!!! This is one of our most hiked trails,and our leading trail for these types of incidents. Do not set yourself up to be a victim. Another reminder...Get your "REQUIRED" Forest Pass before coming to the MBSNF. Happy Hiking, Deputy Rasar

“If you want to forget all your other troubles, wear too tight shoes.” - Unknown
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Meander
J Prettymountain



Joined: 15 Jul 2006
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Location: Seattle
Meander
J Prettymountain
PostMon Jun 16, 2008 10:31 am 
We just had our car broken into at the Lake Garibaldi Trailhead this weekend near Squamish in BC, which is completely not surprising: it has very easy access, only a short drive off the main highway, there are signs posted alerting you that this is common, and another sign posted warning thieves that there is now video camera surveillance (does this do any good I wonder? Haven’t yet reported it). But I was surprised what they stole, all items that seem mostly worthless to someone else: an old duffle bag with broken zipper with a plastic bag of Value Village clothes: a pair of shorts, tshirts, athletic pants, an old pair of jeans, a work badge that was lying on the dashboard, an old, mostly empty bookbag backpack with nothing but a magazine, a set of keys, some work papers, two Netflix movies, and some toiletries. We’re not out much money, and no window was broken, and the stereo wasn’t even taken, and the most expensive item lying in plain view they didn’t take, a thermarest, but it was a bummer to have to drive home 4 hours in smelly, sweaty, clothes, and of course, the incredible hassle of losing all of my precious keys (I wasn’t driving, and the keys to this car we carried with us). I havne’t been able to drive yet, and I’m just hoping I can find a spare.. So, next time, I will still take the clothes, ones I don’t care about, but I will lay them out separately, not in a bag, in the hopes that someone won’t bother with it. I assume it was probably dark, and they took the old broken duffle bag in a hurry planning on looking through it later. I will also take my passport/birth certificate with me. I had left it separately by itself under the car mat, and thankfully they didn’t find it/take it, but that gave me a lot of stress routing around trying to remember where I had left it. And if I have keys, I will hide them somewhere separate so that someone would have to take them purposefully, which I doubt they did, since they aren’t worth much all by themselves. So this was a good learning experience. Argh..

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whistlingmarmot
Sustainable Resource



Joined: 21 Jul 2003
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whistlingmarmot
Sustainable Resource
PostMon Jun 16, 2008 11:30 am 
House keys/work keys plus car registration/work information would be valuable. I'm sure the MO is take everything and sort later, and possibly burglarize your home/office.

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Mount Logan
Canada's Highest



Joined: 04 Jan 2005
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Mount Logan
Canada's Highest
PostMon Jun 16, 2008 12:09 pm 
There was nary a post on this thread in 2007. Off year for car prowlers? uhh.gif

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Dave Workman
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Dave Workman
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PostMon Jun 16, 2008 2:49 pm 
May as well dust this off and post it. Hopefully, we can start gathering this information. ============================= Here's a draft for a pure Break-In" thread. The concept is that each user with a report would simply copy this and paste it into a new post/window, and fill in the information. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Location (Trailhead): County: Date of incident: Day of Week: Approx. Time you Left trailhead: Approx. Time you returned: Type of Vehicle: Damage to vehicle: Items stolen: Any other cars damaged? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Of course, this isn't designed to take the place of an official case report, but it should help forum members get a fairly decent grasp of what's happening at a glance. It might also help pinpoint patterns of activity, i.e. day of week and time of day thsi sort of thing happens. I also got a couple of other tips about when to call in to report a break-in, how to discourage peopel from smashing into your car, that sort of thing.

"The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted." - D.H. Lawrence
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Meander
J Prettymountain



Joined: 15 Jul 2006
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Meander
J Prettymountain
PostMon Jun 16, 2008 4:05 pm 
I do plan on reporting it. Thanks Dave, I like it. The point of my post is that I learned a lesson…that maybe could help someone else: even though I thought I was leaving items of no use to anyone, no ID, no credit cards, no money, no computers etc. , mainly just a change of clothes and toiletries, a thief doesn’t know that at the time, they grab and go, so leaving an old empty backpack with keys that don’t match to anything in the car was still really dumb ( the car wasn’t mine so no car papers are tied to me, the work papers didn’t have my name or place of work, the work badge wasn’t mine). Our friends parked right next to us didn’t get broken into at all, and they definitely had more “things” inside (since they were on a much longer vacation than ours) and a (much) nicer car. Why not? Ours was old and easier to get into? Or maybe because their car had an alarm? Does an alarm really deter someone out in the woods? Maybe because they put their underwear on the steering wheel as a deterrent? (I’m serious!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Location (Trailhead): Lake Garibaldi County: British Columbia Date of incident: Sometime between June 13th - June 15th, 2008 Day of Week: Friday - Sunday Approx. Time you Left trailhead: Friday 11 AM Approx. Time you returned: Sunday 4 PM Type of Vehicle: ancient truck (1982?) Damage to vehicle: I don’t think any Items stolen: old duffle bag with broken zipper with a plastic bag with a pair of shorts, tshirts, athletic pants, an old pair of jeans. A work badge. A mostly empty bookbag backpack with a magazine, a set of keys, some work papers, two Netflix movies, and some toiletries. Any other cars damaged? Looked, but didn’t see anything. Friends parked right next to us didn’t get broken into at all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!



Joined: 27 Mar 2003
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Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
PostMon Jun 16, 2008 4:11 pm 
One thing I don't understand: leaving things like keys and birth certificates in a car while hiking (and cell phones, wallets, purses, computers, etc, etc.) No criticism intended, I'm just mystified. I have zero clue as why someone would do that. I don't mean to imply that a person who does this is dumb, just that whatever the reason, I can't think of it. Why put yourself at risk for little or no gain? Why encourage future break-ins by making yours profitable for the perps? Just take the items with you, leave them home to begin with, or hide them near the trailhead.

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Meander
J Prettymountain



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Location: Seattle
Meander
J Prettymountain
PostMon Jun 16, 2008 4:17 pm 
Well, I should have left them (my keys) in the house I drove to, but it was like 5 AM, and I was comatose, and stuck them in my pocket when I got out of the car. Then, as I was getting ready to hike, I felt them in my pocket, and I have a LOT of keys! They were heavy. I decided not to carry them all the way up and all the way down. Leaving the birth certificate/passport was just plain dumb though. That isn't heavy or anything. What was I thinking? I'm so lucky that wasn't taken. Before I leave the house, I do 'pare' down my regular wallet and take only one credit card, driver's license, things I might need, into a baggy, and I don't leave them in the car. I need to remember to the same thing with keys, or when I meet someone at their house, leave them inside. I think if I was doing the driving, and knew I had to take the keys with me on the hike, I would have pared them down, but didn't think to do it this time.

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Malachai Constant
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Malachai Constant
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PostMon Jun 16, 2008 4:23 pm 
We were at Whistler last weekend mostly biking and went to Checkemes Lake and had no problems, there were a lot of breakins at Elfin Lakes TH last year, seems they started in again this year, they frequently target US licenses frown.gif

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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kbatku
Questionable hiker



Joined: 17 Sep 2007
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kbatku
Questionable hiker
PostMon Jun 16, 2008 4:36 pm 
I've never had a car broken in to...
I never drive to the woods with extra stuff in my car. I don't have a nice stereo ( boo hoo). I always leave dirty socks, mud covered boots and food wrappers in my car. Always...even when I'm not hiking. I have a locking gas cap. I lock the car/truck , because they aren't going to bother to break the window if there's nothing to steal. Once, I got back to the car after three days, only to discover I'd lost my key. Poop!! One of my kids found it, wrapped in a wilderness permit & stuck under the windshield wiper. Many thanks to someone out there... smile.gif

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Dayhike Mike
Bad MFKer



Joined: 02 Mar 2003
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Dayhike Mike
Bad MFKer
PostMon Jun 16, 2008 7:36 pm 
Slugman wrote:
One thing I don't understand: leaving things like keys and birth certificates in a car while hiking (and cell phones, wallets, purses, computers, etc, etc.) No criticism intended, I'm just mystified. I have zero clue as why someone would do that. I don't mean to imply that a person who does this is dumb...
Meh. I would. I think idiots that leave valuables in unattended cars for hours or days at a time fully deserve our criticism, ridicule, and scorn...they're the ones that make this sort of thing worthwhile for the scumbags and lowlifes prowling parking lots, and thereby perpetuate the problem. It'd be great it we didn't have dirtbag asshats in this world, but unfortunately, social Darwinism hasn't yet managed to wipe them out. Until poverty and drug abuse are wiped out, naivete and innocence will continue to be punished and the wise traveller will take at the very least minimal precautions to prevent themselves from becoming an easy target for those seeking to victimize them.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke "Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
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More Cowbell
Warrior Princess



Joined: 01 Jul 2006
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More Cowbell
Warrior Princess
PostTue Jul 01, 2008 7:21 am 
Catalytic converters are now on the list of "must steal". CC.com link.
Quote:
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GEICO’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has observed a growing trend nationwide regarding the theft of catalytic converters from vehicles and advises auto owners to take preventative measures. Thieves are targeting areas where large numbers of vehicles are parked for extended periods of time and left unobservable to traffic. These areas might include auto dealerships, park-n-ride locations, industrial areas and school, business and mall parking lots. According to Steve Rutzebeck, director of GEICO’s SIU, “A big part of our job at GEICO is providing safety measures to protect our consumers and prevent fraud. Now more than ever, we’re spreading the word about what people can do to protect themselves against theft.” Rutzebeck recommended these steps to help reduce the chances your car will be targeted: If possible, park in busy, well-lit areas. Thieves prefer to work in the dark where passersby may not notice them. In park-n-rides or commuter lots park so your vehicle is observable to passing traffic. In malls, shopping centers or business parking lots park as close as you can to main entrances. If leaving your vehicle in an industrial type area, ensure the vehicle is secured in a fenced in or guarded area. Rutzebeck continued, “Targeted vehicles appear to be those that sit higher off the ground and allow for easy access to the undercarriage, specifically SUV’s, vans and trucks. Once under these vehicles, thieves use battery-powered saws to cut both ends of the converters off the vehicle within a matter of minutes. Stolen catalytic converters are then sold to repair shops, metal yards, or purchasers on the Internet to be processed for the metals they contain. Additional information from law enforcement indicates metals contained in the catalytic converters may be used in the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine.”

“If you want to forget all your other troubles, wear too tight shoes.” - Unknown
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