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- #241
Well, we want to make it the other way around, right? As I see it, the problem is that most auto thefts are low-risk because the bad guys are gone in seconds, a minute or two tops if they know what they're doing and there are no unexpected problems. So unless the vehicle can be tracked, they are likely in the clear in a matter of minutes. Even if the cops are on it five minutes later (and I can't tell you how unlikely that is, unless you're in a really small, really tight-knit community, in which case this sh*t probably wouldn't happen anyway)--they're unlikely to intercept unless they're literally around the corner when the call comes in. Assuming a stolen car rates their immediate attention.
So, even if a shrieking alarm goes off the second the glass is broken or the door opened or the vehicle moved--can you competently respond (whatever that means to you) in 60 seconds? From a dead sleep, likely not. From a cafe window seat 50 feet away, maybe.
Given the timeframe involved, your only real option is to make the thing a complete PITA to steal. First of course, make it noisy: that shrieking alarm with its own battery and a hard-to-reach speaker that just won't shut up, even if the vehicle is rolling down the street. Now they have a decision to make: **** this, or continue under the gun, so to speak. They no longer have (potentially) hours before discovery, but seconds. If they can keep calm and carry on, maybe they can pull it off. But the whole neighborhood is gonna be looking their way in under a minute. And if that alarm keeps going while they're rolling, well, that's a problem too.
Now drag out the time required to GET it rolling, which also ups the risk for the thief--especially with that shrieking alarm, which not only attracts attention, but makes an approaching owner or neighbor or cop unlikely to be heard and less likely to be spotted if time is spent trying to shut the alarm up.
Make the vehicle impossible to start (or nearly so) unless you find one or more kill-switches. Might they take the time to look? Sure. With that ever-handy shrieking alarm doing its thing? Probably not. You've shortened their window. For all they know, an armed response is coming. IMO, just about anybody is going to bail at this point. Though they could hang and wait for the owner, intending to force him/her to make it easy for them.
This won't necessarily stop a tow or a slide bed (either of which can be done without getting into the vehicle), but that ever-shrieking alarm (which can also be triggered by the vehicle moving) may discourage it.
Now you need tracking. Just because they stole it, doesn't mean they get to keep it. Some thieves will park a stolen vehicle for a day or three, to make sure it's not LoJacked. Which makes recovery easier.
One POSSIBLE downside of all this, IF the bad guys are determined to steal YOUR vehicle (and not just a SIMILAR vehicle) is that the obvious path of least resistance becomes a gun in your face. Thwarted at thievery, they may turn to armed robbery, or worse. Something to be aware of--particularly if you know of a recent failed attempt to steal your Cruiser. Probably unlikely, but possible.
Now, you could go the other way. Lately in San Francisco, people are leaving their cars unlocked, windows down, trunks open so smash-and-grabbers can see there's nothing worth stealing. (You'll find videos of this on YouTube--and also of thieves just going from one parked car to the next, smashing windows in search of goodies--in broad daylight, in commercial districts no less.) I mean, if you're gonna do that, you may as well take things all the way, leave your home's front door open, credit cards, checkbook, cash and jewelry on the doorstep, right? "Hello, my name's Bob. I'll be your victim today. This is my wife Sally, and these are our children. Welcome."
Maybe that's someone's cup of tea, but it ain't mine.
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