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Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

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Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#781

Post by manigandham »

jon889 wrote: post #648
Clanan wrote: post #579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry you're going through this, but I think it's prudent to consider the converse of the situation you're desiring. What if CrowsourcedCriminalMugs.com did exist, and your face was erroneously added to it? Isn't this whole idea just a form of high-tech mob justice?

This is basically the point of the police, imagine this crowdsourcing thing did exist, but instead of everyone being able to see it only a select number of people who had been trained how to capture people and bring them to the courts without harming them could see it and respond. And they got paid to do this by everyone in the local area paying some money for them to do it. That’s what the police should be.

That's not the police, that's a paid private militia to round up people you "identify", with no accountability. Do you not see how that can go wrong?

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#782

Post by cat199 »

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…

> 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

sooo, like, down with trial by jury?

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#783

Post by nickpsecurity »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #586
zanny wrote: post #540

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 with…

>even if you brought the thieves to justice you would never recoup your costs. // Assuming the video in OP is genuine the thieves, IIRC, are pretty well off. They certainly have assets that could be forfeit -- nice cars, comfy furniture, smartphones, etc.. These people don't appear to be stealing through necessity.

Exactly. Small claims court at a minimum. They might even get a summary judgement if they have person's face, voice, address, bedroom, and so on to point identification is solid. Two of these were straight-up in their house with pictures of what's in it. Realistically, present the stuff to the judge who might order police to collect remaining evidence. From there, they can be arrested, sued, stuff seized, or whatever.

Lots of possibilities. Don't even need a lawyer if going into small, claims court with video from something they stole. Only thing that concerned me was the confetti and fart bomb possibly counting as battery, booby traps, or whatever. I'd probably just set it to record and track even though other stuff was hilarious.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#784

Post by michaelmior »

moate wrote: post #528
lucb1e wrote: post #497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> average 3 deliveries per day Wow. I really wonder what the environmental impact is of just one household doing this. I think I order something once every.. two months maybe? Three? And if I could get the desired electronics in a local store, I probably would. Edit: To reply to the three initial comments at once, I see your point. I was thinking "but it's not just about the last mile, it's about getting that package…

I mean, how is it environmentally worse that one guy go make a whole bunch of deliveries to a whole bunch of people vs one guy driving to the store and back? Couldn't you make the argument that the distance being traveled for OP's packages is only the distance between the package immediately before and after his package? The product is getting delivered to your house both ways, it's just that one is by you and the ot…

Really only half the distance between the stop before and after. There is also the fact that extra packaging is necessary when an item is shipped versus picking it up in a store. I don't have a great idea on how to measure this impact.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#785

Post by stordoff »

jboles wrote: post #696
jiveturkey wrote: post #602

Earlier quoted context omitted.

now that the video has gone viral, this guy is potentially in big trouble. booby traps are illegal per se. and if someone claims latent injury (eg glitter in tear duct) ... watch out. he has also inspired people to make their own booby traps.

There seems to be a principle around that but it applies only to children and trespassing, not adults and theft. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attractive_nuisance_doctrine

It doesn't apply in the US, but I'd be cautious of a claim under the Occupiers' Liability Act under English Law. It covers all persons, including trespassers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupiers%27_liability_in_Engl...

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#786

Post by briffle »

nkrisc wrote: post #753
will_brown wrote: post #693

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s fantastic. My very rough ideas are definitely more along the lines of identification and not vigilanteeism...However I am with you 100% and am pro glitter bomb.

I think even just the sink bomb part that instantly emptied as soon as it was opened would have the same effect. It's probably easier to build and could all be done mechanically. You can get some pretty foul stink bombs, then triple it. If it made their car unsellable out their house miserable I'd call that a success and no one got hurt.

They have artificial cadaver scent for training police dogs. It might work well. https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/analytical-chromatography/analy...

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#787

Post by electricslpnsld »

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.

> 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.

Eh, somewhere in between. Back when I lived in Oakland (where there was/is a serious package theft problem) everyone in the neighborhood knew who stole folks’ deliveries (camera systems are basically free these days). It happened daily and the cops were too busy fending off corruption and sex trafficking scandals to give a damn. 20% of the time it was some high schooler and you would yell at their parents and get your shit back. 80% of the time it was semi-organized teams of people from a few towns over who would roll up to the end of the street in plate-less cars and drop a couple dudes off on foot. Dudes on foot would walk down the street and grab packages off people’s porches while the car would drive up to the next intersection. Dudes hop in the car, car hits the freeway and is in another city (and soon County) in no time.

Definitely intentional crimes (these things take planning, including networks to fence the stolen goods), but if you yell at them they just move on the next house without retailiating. The second you start harrasing people and causing a ruckus the police have fewer excuses to ignore the issue, and your easy source of cash is gone.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#788

Post by baroffoos »

woolvalley wrote: post #597
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?

Since the USA is a car culture, you can safely ship to work and put the packages in your car trunk after you commute. You can ship to home the low value packages and if theft isn't common enough for you and amazon will just reship you on the rare case that it gets stolen. This breaks down if you don't do car commutes although, in urban places like NYC & SF or can't ship to work.

Don't need a car to move boxes. I have never had a package I couldn't fit on my bike.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#789

Post by 55555 »

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…

A website is a fine idea but I'm not sure you need it. Just get the footage and make a post on Facebook. If it goes viral in your area, they may be identified by PM.

Re: Glitter bomb tricks parcel thieves

#790

Post by agensaequivocum »

nicoburns wrote: post #732
agensaequivocum wrote: post #712

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not necessarily, there are instances where both perpetrator and victim are armed and the perpetrator walks away because of it.

Really? Because pretty much the only situation in which I'd be tempted to shoot another person is if they also had a gun (otherwise they're pretty likely to shoot me). If I'm unarmed, then I'm likely to be safe, even if I do get robbed.

Here's an example: https://youtu.be/TmWnvN_XsMY
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