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Vandalized first full night up and running!


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Well I had my first show up and running for one night and when I woke up this morning some kids had torn things up. I figured out a great way to stop them. Lowes has a horse (electric shock fence) system that runs of off of two D cell batteries. I bought a couple and wrapped the wire around the displays on the ground that are susceptible. I hope the little buggers come back soon, I tested it out, really packs a whallop!

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That sucks. I hope that works. The cop said I had every right to shoot them if I owned a gun when the vandals were in my yard. Not worth a life though to shoot someone over it but scare them atleast.

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what all did they do.... makes me mad somsone would chose to do that to someones hard work.... though thats how many things in this world go....



hope they get some smarts shocked into them about what to tamper with...

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That COP should be fired then.

You can't even use deadly force unless someone is in your house. And even then there are rules.



Brad Caudill wrote:

That s***s. I hope that works. The cop said I had every right to shoot them if I owned a gun when the vandals were in my yard. Not worth a life though to shoot someone over it but scare them atleast.
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I really don't understand this mentality. The big thing around here is for kids to go around and pop everyones blow up characters. LAME!! Last night one of my good friends caught a couple of kids right in the middle of popping his snowman, and they were even taking pictures of the act. He use to be a police officer, so he grabbed the first kid in an arm-bar, drug him in his house and called the police. Instead of pressing charges, he made the kid's parents come and pick them up and pay for the snowman... $100.

Finally a little payback...

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really don't understand this mentality. The big thing around here is for kids to go around and pop everyones blow up characters. LAME!! Last night one of my good friends caught a couple of kids right in the middle of popping his snowman, and they were even taking pictures of the act. He use to be a police officer, so he grabbed the first kid in an arm-bar, drug him in his house and called the police. Instead of pressing charges, he made the kid's parents come and pick them up and pay for the snowman... $100.

Finally a little payback...





thx for the good holiday cheer :( ...... made me laugh...
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greenmeanie wrote:

That COP should be fired then.

You can't even use deadly force unless someone is in your house. And even then there are rules.



Brad Caudill wrote:
That s***s. I hope that works. The cop said I had every right to shoot them if I owned a gun when the vandals were in my yard. Not worth a life though to shoot someone over it but scare them atleast.


I know that every state is different. Although I don't agree with the officer's advice, thankfully it was given to someone who would not shoot first and then ask follow-up questions.
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greenmeanie wrote:

That COP should be fired then.

You can't even use deadly force unless someone is in your house. And even then there are rules.



I don't think that's alltogether true. I recall seeing an episode of American Justice about a repo man in Texas being shot while out in the driveway hooking up to a car he was contracted to recover. In Texas, the owner of the property has the right to use deadly force to protect it. (I think they also said "after dark") He was not charged with any crime for killing the repo man. It seems that gun laws and the use of deadly force is a little different from state to state.

jeff
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greenmeanie wrote:

That COP should be fired then.

You can't even use deadly force unless someone is in your house. And even then there are rules.



Brad Caudill wrote:
That s***s. I hope that works. The cop said I had every right to shoot them if I owned a gun when the vandals were in my yard. Not worth a life though to shoot someone over it but scare them atleast.


He said it in front of the kids. I think mainly a scare tactic but I would not do it. I own guns but they are all at my parents house.
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  • 2 weeks later...

You would be supprised how different gun laws are from state to state! I would never consider shooting someone over xmas lights, but deadly physical force laws definaltly are not one size fits all!

Back on topic,

I plan on putting up signs that say "24 Hour Video Surveillance" when I start doing displays. And actually do it, you can get some pretty cheap cameras and walmart and lowes. The displays you guys are putting up are not cheap and the cost of the cameras will be very small as compaired to.

I have seen some that you can hook to your computer and it will only snap a pic when something in its field of view changes.

When I grew up we would never think of doing something like this. If we got caught doing something wrong our biggest fear was that the cop would bring us home to our parents!!

How times have changed.

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It seems that vandalism is as common as Christmas lights this time of year, at least according to the police reports in the local newspapers. The Friday before Christmas someone stole my sign, floodlight and doormat. Christmas Eve someone tried to steal one of my controllers, but only got half way through disconnecting it before something scared him away or he noticed that the box it was in was chained to a bench.

Next year I'm going to be doing a lot more security and surveilance, I've already ordered an infared security camera and 4 port DVR card off eBay. The additional displays for next year are going on the roof, out of reach, and any vulnerable controllers are going in locked boxes bolted to the porch!.

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jeffmill wrote:

greenmeanie wrote:
That COP should be fired then.

You can't even use deadly force unless someone is in your house. And even then there are rules.



I don't think that's alltogether true. I recall seeing an episode of American Justice about a repo man in Texas being shot while out in the driveway hooking up to a car he was contracted to recover. In Texas, the owner of the property has the right to use deadly force to protect it. (I think they also said "after dark") He was not charged with any crime for killing the repo man. It seems that gun laws and the use of deadly force is a little different from state to state.

jeff

GreenMeanie's response would be typical for where he's from, up in the NE. Here in Texas, you can use deadly force to protect your property at any time. No limit on the 'after dark'. If it is on your property, everything is pretty wide open. Off property (someone stealing your car for example) it becomes a little more complicated, but not too bad, involving 'public areas' vs someone else's private property.

Generally in these cases, the result is a 'no bill' from the grand jury. Basically the grand jury reviews the evidence and determines if you are within your rights. It's about as close to a standing ovation as the law is going to give.
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be careful with some of the low cost video cameras out there.. and cards too... many of them only record a couple frames per second and not much better resolution than 320 x 240. a 320 x 240 picture can be tough to ID someone in. the only time video cameras actually work is if the video is high enough quality that there can be no doubt as to who committed the crime.

as a deterrent they work good... kids will just pick another display to bother, my fear is now that there are so many of us going animated that the controllers themselves will begin to gain some "street value". up until now no one knew what controllers are.. but now that animated displays peppered local and national TV in 2006, im sure the units will begin to take on some type of value.

my suggestion is to use CCD (NOT CMOS) cameras that feature a resolution of 350 TV lines or more and video capture cards that do the same. and also software that will capture at least 10-15 frames per second.

kids punching holes in inflatables and pulling down light strands is bad enough but when they start trying to steal our $300+ controllers thats when it gets Big time.. both for us andthe thieves. in most states doesnt it become grand theft if they steal more than $1000 in property?

-Christopher

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eldoradoboy wrote:

kids punching holes in inflatables and pulling down light strands is bad enough but when they start trying to steal our $300+ controllers thats when it gets Big time.. both for us andthe thieves. in most states doesnt it become grand theft if they steal more than $1000 in property?

-Christopher


I plan on having my controllers located inside. I have a utility room on one end of the house and an enclosed portch on the other. It will make wiring slightly more work but I think it will be worth it.

I guess that will work untill my display gets too big for that type of setup. But I have a very small yard so that probably will not be unitll I move.

Nice tip on the cameras too.

John
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As many of you know I had almost $4,000 in damage last year. Be careful of the negative ways such as electric fences & stuff. If someone gets hurt - you will end up the bad guy in the end, even though they were vandalizing your property, especially if it's kids. I suggest using some type of alarm as I did this year. It will save your stuff before they get too far.

John

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Do a search on PC for a continuity alarm. I ran a thin wire through everything in the yard, then hooked it to the alarm box. I had certain places tied together with loose wirenuts. If anything is moved or someone breaks the connection the alarm goes off. It costs about $15 to make.

John

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