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Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

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Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#531

Post by tivert »

jjeaff wrote: post #520
ergothus wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the video we see many people stealing from porches with video cameras, and the author mentions that the police didn't take action even with video evidence. While I think your suggestion would reduce the chance of theft, I think you overestimate the accuracy of the risk-benefit analysis happening in the thieves' minds, as well as the actual risk involved. I mean, the activity is already dumb from a risk analysis po…

Problem is that some package thieves just trail behind the delivery truck. So even if hidden, they know it's there.

From what I've heard, they typically trail a block or more behind the delivery truck, which means they can't often see the exact houses that get packages. Their goal isn't to see where they're delivered, but to get to them before anyone else does.

If they trail too closely, they'll make the deliveryman suspicious.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#532

Post by Guest10928391 »

weberc2 wrote: post #455
Guest10928391 wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Booby traps are not "innocent". What happens if you stop responding and paramedics are sent to your property? They get paintballed because they approached your porch at night when there should have been no visitors? What happens if you put a car airbag in a booby trapped package, and someone steals the package and brings it home. Then later that day their child or spouse finds and opens the package not realizing it w…

We're not talking about liability when a trap injures an innocent person; of course the innocent person would not be held liable. When a trap injures a thief, the thief should be liable. I agree that traps are a bad idea because I don't trust most people to devise traps that don't harm innocents; however, this is markedly different than the argument that "when a trap hurts a thief, the thief bears no responsibility".…

I don't see this as a black and white situation where the thief should always be responsible for injuries they sustain.

What happens if I setup a machine to fire baseballs at high speed when someone touches my fake parcel? Some teenager comes to steal my package, catches a baseball between the eyes and dies or ends up disabled for life. I'm in the clear because the kid was a thief? Now, I don't think a thief deserves a payday when they slip on ice running from my property, but I also don't believe people should be free to create harmful traps without consequence.

What about those people that run wires across trails on private property? They've killed and decapitated people trespassing on motorcycles or 4-wheelers. Once again, don't blame the property owner that installed the invisible wire? They're in the clear because the person decapitated shouldn't have been riding on that private trail?

How about we don't try to harm thieves. We document and report the case to the police to the best of our ability. Yes, the glitter bomb is extremely innocent, but it's easier to say no to all traps than it is to define what type of traps are acceptable.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#533

Post by iamdave »

will_brown wrote: post #512

I just told this story on HN, but my car window was smashed on 10/13/18 and the theives got my wallet and house keys. They used my credit card at foot locker (~$500), The Store Manager confirmed two guys made the purchase and corporate said they would turn over the video if police just ask. A month later the bank fraud dept informed me someone was trying to cash a fake check ($1,600) against my account at an ATM usin…

there needs to be a platform to post these videos for the public to crowdsource the identity of these people.

And then what? Will the platform also have a portal that will let people en masse vex the local PD with messages containing links to the video until the precinct assigns an officer to the case?

What happens next? Is there going to be a timer or some kind of SLA on the platform that notifies people in the crowd "Sergeant Jones still hasn't found the bastard who stole from the Smith family down on the corner"?

Crowdsourcing criminal investigation, even a passive element of it like identifying mugs from home security footage seems like a rabbit hole I'm not sure we're prepared to go down (it also scares the bajeezus out of me because the general population, sorry to say this, aren't the rational actors I want involved in trying to identify perps so casually through 'platforms').

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#534

Post by deadmetheny »

scarejunba wrote: post #375
deadmetheny wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that shining paragon of virtue that is well-loved by everybody, the HOA.

Haha, Revealed Preferences show that people don’t abhor them as much as they say. They choose to live there for all the lovely things they provide and enforce.

Do they choose to live within HOA neighborhoods, or do they have little choice given that over half of the residential homes in the USA are bound by one? I would like to see if your source claims people like the HOA or if they are forced to tolerate them due to lack of options.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#536

Post by cwkoss »

DickingAround wrote: post #269
kawfey wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I learned from Nextdoor, that a neighbor of mine put cat litter in an amazon box, and later found out her car's driver side window busted in and the litter dumped on the seat. I now just have packages sent to lockers and UPS/FedEX access points, and I know a few who have packages delivered to their office. The crappy part is that she captured clear detail of both events but police couldn't be bothered. Nest and Ring…

That is a real shame. If the police are not going to mediate property disputes between people, they take a lot of risk those disputes will escalate into violence. Perhaps really-good passive defense is enough (e.g. package lock boxes) but I also hope the police understand the deeper reasoning around their position and role.

Police inaction is the main reason that I can't get behind political calls to ban guns: cops are not required to protect or defend you.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#537

Post by JibJabLab »

bduerst wrote: post #420
jki275 wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you cite a law that says they're not legal? Certainly if you caused someone harm using one it would be illegal in the sense that causing someone harm is illegal anyway, but a harmless trap like this one doesn't seem to me that it would be illegal. I'm not a lawyer though, so I'd be interested to see if there is some law I'm not aware of.

>Can you cite a law that says they're not legal? The Geneva convention, for starters. It's also a five second Google search: https://definitions.uslegal.com/b/booby-traps/

The Geneva Convention applies during wartime, does it not? AFAIK, we aren't in an actual war against theives...

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#538

Post by moate »

alexandercrohde wrote: post #137
TheLoneAdmin wrote: post #117

Hmm, I'd be worried about retribution. Spread glitter in someone's car, they might come back and torch your house. Assuming they can remember where they grabbed the package from.

Well, he has video of their faces, and possibly where they live, plus security cameras, so at least they'd get life or worse if they did.

I don't think arson carries life (or worse) sentencing.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#539

Post by blueboo »

iamdave wrote: post #533
will_brown wrote: post #512

I just told this story on HN, but my car window was smashed on 10/13/18 and the theives got my wallet and house keys. They used my credit card at foot locker (~$500), The Store Manager confirmed two guys made the purchase and corporate said they would turn over the video if police just ask. A month later the bank fraud dept informed me someone was trying to cash a fake check ($1,600) against my account at an ATM usin…

there needs to be a platform to post these videos for the public to crowdsource the identity of these people. And then what? Will the platform also have a portal that will let people en masse vex the local PD with messages containing links to the video until the precinct assigns an officer to the case? What happens next? Is there going to be a timer or some kind of SLA on the platform that notifies people in the crow…

If we as a society are OK with qualified law enforcement looking the other way, then we're OK with passing the buck to the unqualified.

Yes, it's a "rabbit hole [we're] not sure we're prepared to go down". We're not prepared. We're going down it

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#540

Post by zanny »

will_brown wrote: post #512

I just told this story on HN, but my car window was smashed on 10/13/18 and the theives got my wallet and house keys. They used my credit card at foot locker (~$500), The Store Manager confirmed two guys made the purchase and corporate said they would turn over the video if police just ask. A month later the bank fraud dept informed me someone was trying to cash a fake check ($1,600) against my account at an ATM usin…

The worst part is there is really nothing a normal person can do in a situation like this. You would end up paying substantially more to hire a lawyer to hound the police or pursue the investigation independently, and even if you brought the thieves to justice you would never recoup your costs.

I'm not smart enough to come up with solutions but there has to be something better than police unaccountable to anyone without excessive amounts of capital to effectively waste.

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