Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 940 posts

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#241

Post by learc83 »

logfromblammo wrote: post #205
SlowRobotAhead wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not trying to be cynical “at you” but my time with police has taught me they are there to document crime always and stop it directly almost never. TV and Movies mislead.

My time with police has taught me that they will make you do your own documentation by filling out the crime reports yourself, and then just rubber-stamp them for the benefit of your insurance company. Vigilante justice is the only kind there is for misdemeanor property crimes. You could track the thief down, talk him into giving your property back and turning himself in, and drive him to the police station yourself,…

I sat on a jury for a misdemeanor shoplifting trial. We voted to convict and he got jail time, and when I worked retail during college, misdemeanor shoplifters were almost always arrested and prosecuted when there was good evidence.

I also know people working in the my county solicitor's office and a large amount of their caseload is prosecuting misdemeanor property crimes. I'm sure this varies by location, but I don't think prosecuting misdemeanor property crime is as rare as you think.

Additional, In most states the bar for felony theft is pretty low, and the way that the value is calculated makes it very easy to go over that limit.

For example, I knew a girl who stole some lip balm in high school, but several other girls she was in the store with stole items with a higher value. The DA lumped all of the items together and charged them all with felonies.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#242

Post by umvi »

mirimir wrote: post #105

Yes, he did a great job on design and construction. But I wonder if sought legal advice before implementing. Because, as others have noted, I gather that booby traps are illegal in the US. Maybe this one is benign enough, but I rather doubt it. Also, while it's true that thieves aren't so likely to press claims, what about parents of juvenile thieves?

"It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission"

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#243

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

j_m_b wrote: post #222
criddell wrote: post #9

Do you think the bomb maker could be held liable if the package were to be opened in a moving car that subsequently crashed because of glitter getting in the driver's eyes? I'd be a little nervous about doing this myself.

IANAL... but banks use dye packs. This seems very close to that.

A dye pack is designed to protect the cash by rendering it unusable, not to injure or otherwise affect the person stealing it.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#244

Post by frogpelt »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #36
electrograv wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know "theft traps" are not legal (even ultimately harmless ones, like the paintball idea mentioned above), but for some reason it feels bizarrely backwards (or ironic?) that a proportionately harmless response to a thief (caught in the act) would be more likely to see prosecution than the act of theft itself.

> it seems oddly ironic that a proportionately harmless response to a thief (caught in the act) would be more likely to see prosecution than the act of theft itself. In certain jurisdictions the ideological pendulum (closely followed by official public policy) has swung a little too far toward idea that criminals have no agency and are victims of an unfair system that forces them to commit crime to get by and that pr…

I believe your point is based on a false premise: that people commit crime because they don't see a better option.

A lot of times people commit crime for the same reasons they eat unhealthy, fight with their family members, and get addicted to harmful behavior. They aren't thinking long term and they don't care about the consequences that much.

There is no political or economic system that you can design that will keep people from being stupid.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#245

Post by criddell »

duiker101 wrote: post #183
jayess wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in the USA, everyone is litigation crazy, so an enterprising lawyer would probably happily file a suit against the maker if someone was injured because of it.

What if I just buy something very stupid that could scare someone but I actually wanted it for myself? Or what if I actually bought the same device in the video but I wanted it for some other use or for checking out how it's made?

Intent matters. If you have a baseball bat in your car along with your glove and cleats, you have a piece of sports equipment. If you step out of your car with the bat and smash a car that cut you off in traffic, it's a weapon.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#246

Post by quotha »

rdtsc wrote: post #173

This needs careful consideration if you ever decide to do it. Depending on the local criminal culture they could exact revenge. Then also know where you live and can do a lot worse things than taking a package. Police might later be involved but it might not be worth it. You are dealing with people who have no qualms stealing so it's not too crazy to expect other rash and illegal acts from them. I can also see some i…

I think what needs more careful consideration is deciding whether or not to steal parcels!

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#247

Post by anonu »

This is an an awesome project... the kinda stuff I wish I had more time to hack away at...

In the video he mentions his automatic bullseye dartboard project... even more impressive than this glitter machine IMHO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHTizZ_XcUM

Calculating a projectile's trajectory in realtime.... wouldn't even know where to start.

EDIT: dartboard code from that youtube link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rlmhdjoqzyumme1/darts.zip?dl=0

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#248

Post by codezero »

ragebol wrote: post #61

In the Netherlands, when I order a package and no one's at home when it's delivered, it either gets delivered to my neighbors or to the post office, with a note of where to pick it up. It's never left at my door AFAIK. How is this not an option in the US?

In a lot of places in the US, people don't know their neighbors, or at least, not well enough to trust them to care for their belongings. Kind of depressing to say, but still true.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#249

Post by dvtrn »

kitd wrote: post #226
rdtsc wrote: post #173

This needs careful consideration if you ever decide to do it. Depending on the local criminal culture they could exact revenge. Then also know where you live and can do a lot worse things than taking a package. Police might later be involved but it might not be worth it. You are dealing with people who have no qualms stealing so it's not too crazy to expect other rash and illegal acts from them. I can also see some i…

On the one hand, I suspect this type of crime is more the realm of opportunists rather than hard-core criminals who would exact revenge. On the other, glitter is actually quite polluting, so my preference would be some means of spraying the thief with brightly coloured dye.

I suspect this type of crime is more the realm of opportunists rather than hard-core criminals who would exact revenge.

One could argue that so called 'hard-core' criminals were once and in some cases still are opportunists, even if the outcomes of their crimes might or might not be more severe than stealing an Amazon package from someone's door step.

That aside though, I'm curious:

What makes you think an opportunist who clearly has the time and means to swipe packages from someone's door while they're at work wouldn't take similar time and opportunity to conduct other forms of petty deviance like vandalizing the car of someone who blasted them with glitter? They clearly have no qualm or compunction with theft, is avenge-fueled-vandalism that far up the logic latter to next steps?

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#250

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

modzu wrote: post #18

it's surprising and sad how 'average' the thieves all seem to be; i expected to see somebody down on their luck, not a guy in a lexus or with a $2000 bike in his room. im trying not to jump to conclusions about humanity. please help.

There was a news story last winter about a wealthy woman (in a new Lexus, in fact) who died while trying to steal clothes from a charity used-clothing drop box. Apparently she was standing on a stepladder with her head inside the box (it's designed to be theft-resistant) and slipped off the step ladder and was strangled.
Post reply on HN