Need help catching cowardly keyers

Need help catching cowardly keyers

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Discussion

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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DuncanM said:
Is this a joke? You don't owns a piece of road just because it's outside your house.

People can park where they like on a public road.
Is it a public road? is there parking at the OPs house? To me there's not really enough information to see if the OP could be upsetting someone else with the parking.

But.

If your car is getting keyed and it's parked away from your house. It's apparently happening in a systematic and deliberate way.

Do you.

A) rig up cameras and surveillance equipment to catch person doing it.

B) park your car somewhere else.

The OP hasn't said why he doesn't park in front of his own house, perhaps there's a good reason or it's impossible, but to me removing my car from the possible vandalism would be preferable to parking where I like and potentially facing more vandalism or the worry of more vandalism, just because it's a public road any nobody owns it and I'm entitled to.

If you live in a community around other people, parking is often a potential area for conflict. People have differing views on what's acceptable or not. People get upset about commercial vehicles parked at home, people having too many cars to park on their property, parking in front of others houses. All sorts of stuff. I'm not condoning someone vandalising someone's car, I've no idea what the situation is in the OPs post but where people park in residential areas can often cause issues.

It might just be random vandalism but I'd look into why it's happening rather than keeping my or my brother/friends cars there and trying to catch the person doing it.







Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 24th April 10:43

DuncanM

6,109 posts

278 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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BoRED S2upid said:
DuncanM said:
BoRED S2upid said:
sandman77 said:
Could be as simple as the owner of the house that you park outside that is doing it? Some people get very protective of the bit of public road outside their house. Any reason you don't park outside your own house?
This is probably the reason. If your not parking outside your own property your probably pissing others off as they can't park outside their property. People would prefer to show their annoyance like this than actually speak to each other!

Last year a guy who isn't a neighbour took to parking outside our house it pissed us off and I considered many options. In the end I had a word with him and he moved elsewhere.

Why aren't you parking outside / on your own property?
Is this a joke? You don't owns a piece of road just because it's outside your house.

People can park where they like on a public road.
Not a joke at all just offering a possible reason why the op is having his car keyed. An opinion many share. It annoys people if you park outside their house rather than your own.
But you're effectively saying that you understand the behaviour? Many options, did that include vandalism?

I just cannot understand the mentality, no one owns 'the bit of road outside their house'.

BoRED S2upid

19,641 posts

239 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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DuncanM said:
But you're effectively saying that you understand the behaviour? Many options, did that include vandalism?

I just cannot understand the mentality, no one owns 'the bit of road outside their house'.
No I didn't consider vandalism I'm not a moron. The op has pissed off someone this is a possible reason. People may not own the area outside their property and areas are a lot more congested than ours so it may not be as simple as the op parking outside his own home but before taking the law into his own hands the op may be better off just parking elsewhere see if the problem goes away.

DuncanM

6,109 posts

278 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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BoRED S2upid said:
No I didn't consider vandalism I'm not a moron. The op has pissed off someone this is a possible reason. People may not own the area outside their property and areas are a lot more congested than ours so it may not be as simple as the op parking outside his own home but before taking the law into his own hands the op may be better off just parking elsewhere see if the problem goes away.
Okay, was a bit worried then!

I guess you're right, people do get territorial when it comes to parking.

fido

16,752 posts

254 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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DuncanM said:
I just cannot understand the mentality, no one owns 'the bit of road outside their house'.
My parents had a second car tampered with outside their own house - possibly someone was cheesed off that he 'reserved' the space outside his house. I think it's safe to say that just having 'stuff' is enough to triger this mentality in people. We rigged up CCTV but it never happened again though we suspect it was someone along the same road.

Nimby

4,572 posts

149 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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You need a "trail camera" - normally used for spotting wildlife. Typically they take 8 AA batteries which last for months. Go for HD resolution and "black" infrared LEDs - the cheaper ones have IR LEDS that just overlap into the visible range so it might be spotted when it takes at night.

£70 to £100 typically; loads to choose from on on eBay, though Bushnell are the best known.

Gareth79

7,628 posts

245 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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To the OP: You say it's a 6-house cul-de-sac and you are parked at the end, could you post an aerial photo (remove street names if necessary) or draw a diagram?

I'm thinking the same as the others, it's just one of the people who live at the end who is inconvenienced, or annoyed that trucks can't turn around in the hammerhead. Obviously I don't condone vandalism but it might explain if the parking could annoy somebody enough to do that.

rockandrollmark

1,181 posts

222 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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In a scenario not too dissimilar, when I was a young-un we had a continued spate of break ins and a few cases of cars being stolen from the cul-de-sac where my parents lived. For a few nights some powerfully built director types hid out in the back of a neighbors van and waited for the scrotes. I'm not sure exactly how it all played out but apparently they burst out of the van when they heard yet another car being broken into. No more break ins happened after that night.

Now, as you're posting on here I'm guessing that you're a powerfully built director. I'm sure all your neighbors are too. Might be worth a try if this is a regular occurance.

fttm

3,665 posts

134 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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Motion activated cctv , hunting camera type jobby .Not a huge expense .

chopper602

2,172 posts

222 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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Nimby said:
You need a "trail camera" - normally used for spotting wildlife. Typically they take 8 AA batteries which last for months. Go for HD resolution and "black" infrared LEDs - the cheaper ones have IR LEDS that just overlap into the visible range so it might be spotted when it takes at night.

£70 to £100 typically; loads to choose from on on eBay, though Bushnell are the best known.
I was going to say that and I believe I saw one for sale recently at Aldi or Lidl, so might be one left . . .

Nobby Diesel

2,051 posts

250 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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chopper602 said:
I was going to say that and I believe I saw one for sale recently at Aldi or Lidl, so might be one left . . .
My thought too, but I then thought that as these are designed for wildlife filming, the focul range/depth of field, might not be good enough.
It might work if mounted inside the car though? Not sure if the movement sensor will work through the glass?

Sa Calobra

37,006 posts

210 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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Could it be a neighbour?

You can be in dispute and not know it. Parked in a perceived spot, parked in a way to them that angers them. At the top of my road if you parked in a 20metre stretch your car was keyed. Saw many like this. Same happened to me once. I theorised it was the old boy who lived there. Since he's gone magically nothing.

Jonmx

2,535 posts

212 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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Whilst criminal damage to someone's car is never acceptable, and you have my sympathies, you cannot carry out vigilante justice (which it seems you're insinuating, unless it's frozen sausages in which case carry on). The Police should have recorded a crime as you have evidence of the damage etc. However, it is a low value criminal damage (below £5000) with no witnesses, no suspects, no CCTV. What would you have them do; employ Mystic Meg? Thanks to our current PM's stint as home secretary there aren't enough coppers to go round. I can assure you that there is nothing they would like to do more than catch yobs that do this kind of thing.
As has been suggested, get some CCTV on the go. There are quite a lot of small, discrete spy cams you can buy online and hide either in your car, or close to it. Another option is to go to the local rag, being as you suggest several cars have been done over and get them to do a piece. That usually prompts the local neighbourhood policing team to put in extra patrols etc.
Good luck with getting it sorted, but I'd urge you to resist the Redbull and VBRJ! hehe

Winky151

1,267 posts

140 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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OP - is it just your vehicles being damaged or any of the other households too? If more than one (or even if just yours TBH) might be worth going door to door saying that vehicles have been damaged & your getting opinions from everyone in the cul-de-sac about ways to tackle it. The one who isn't interested/looks shifty about it all is your culprit so keep an eye on them.