[CS]

[puzzlr]

I've hiked in Washington at least every week since 2006 and more sporadically for 20 years before that. I have never had my vehicle broken into (now watch -- it will happen the next time I hike). I don't leave anything in it, but I rarely park at the popular trailheads. In that same time my car has been broken into 4 times parked in front of my house in Seattle. For me, that's a bigger problem. Just last week the neighbor across the street had the battery stolen out of his car on the street and he saw the whole thing on a camera the next morning, but no id, no LE action. The damage was low $ so not worth investigating. I'm very familiar with trailcams and there are a lot of problems. They are not the answer.

• Problem #1 is that the resolution is not very good even in the expensive Reconyx cameras so license plates are often not readable unless the car is close and stationary, and it's never readable in night shots.
• Problem #2 is that the camera(s) needs to be placed close enough to the trailhead to trigger on activity and it's hard to find good placements that aren't obvious and you need several to cover all areas. If you place it farther back and set up time lapse photos then you take way too many photos and run down the batteries
• Problem #3 The run-of-the-mill trailcams (Moultrie, Bushnell, etc) fail for all kinds of reasons so they need to be checked at least once a month to make sure they're still running. I could list all the ways they fail, but even if they keep functioning the batteries can wear out quickly if taking a lot of photos. The $500 cameras are more reliable but are more of a target for theft.
• Problem #4 If the camera is visible it will probably be stolen, even if it's in a security box and has a cable lock on it. Those things make it more visible. I've had 10 cameras stolen and they were not in obvious placements. I've even had thieves cut down the tree it was mounted on to steal it.
• Problem #5 All the photos in the world don't help if you only get a nameless person breaking into cars. You need a positive connection to a license plate to even interest LE to look into it.

The best thing about seeing trailhead vandalism on trailcams is that it satisfies ones curiosity about what happened, and that is actually worth quite a bit. When four tires were slashed at the Dingford trailhead recently (normally a very safe trailhead) we were able to piece together a story about two young people who tried to sneak into Goldmyer Hot Springs at 3am, were told to leave by the caretakers (no direct contact), returned to the trailhead and presumably in frustration slashed one tire on each of 4 vehicles. But at night the cameras didn't get a license plate so police interest evaporated. Knowing something about when and why it happened was satisfying because it most likely won't happen again.

[Chief Joseph]

[Bootpathguy]

[zimmertr]

[zimmertr]

[Cyclopath]

Not hiking is a solution. If that isn't something you're going to do, then we all understand this is a risk of leaving your car in a remote place with no supervision. Don't leave anything of value in your car to attract crime, carry insurance, it's a risk we accept, just like accidents. If I could choose to either eliminate trailhead break-ins out traffic, I'd get rid of traffic every time.

[Sculpin]

[kw]

[Randito]

FWIW: King County crime statistics show 1500+ motor vehicle thefts so far fo 2022. Hard to see this window smash vandalism getting much priority from law enforcement.

[Randito]

[zephyr]

[Backpacker Joe]

In the late 80's -early 90's somebody was paying to have lot attendants sitting at all the big trailheads. I remember talking with the guy guarding the Foss parking lot in the late 80's.

[Chief Joseph]

I think the lot attendant thing would be awesome, I suppose on a mostly volunteer basis. I mean hikers could donate food and drinks or gas money to the TH attendants. When in Wa, I live within a mile or so of the Lake 22 and Heather Lake TH's and I will work for beer and a sammich. Also, some don't pay the TH fees, they could use the funds for the attendants.

[zephyr]