sh*t luck...

[some1indavis.livejournal.com]

This morning, I come down and see that someone has taken the rear spoiler from our Honda civic that we just bought a few weeks ago. Its not even much of a spoiler, more like moulding on the trunk.

Here's a pic:

http://img34.picoodle.com/img/img34/4/4/7/f_spoilerm_8228f99.jpg

Of course the cost of something like this ($200) below our deductable, so its cash out of our pocket if we get another one. We're planning on going without one so we don't tempt another car thief. Have people heard about other thefts like this around here, where they just pull some car part off your car? What's next? Our bumper? Air bags? Windshield wipers?

I'm wishing that we didn't buy a Honda now. Our previous car (an older Honda) was stolen from our street not too long ago (the last post I did is on that). I figured that this one has an immobilizer so it should at least not get stolen, but this is something I was not expecting, especially so soon. The somerville police said that car thiefs don't hit the same area twice, which if true, makes it worse cause then there's at least two car thieves who have patrolled my area (and gotten away with it).

Wish we had a garage. Should we get one of those loud/annoying car alarms? Is there another town we should move to that is more safe where we don't have to worry about this kind of thing happening?

Is this just bad luck?

Comments

[ron_newman]

Do not get a car alarm, unless it's a silent one. Your neighbors will hate you if it goes off, and they may even further damage your car if it happens repeatedly.

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

"Is there another town we should move to that is more safe where we don't have to worry about this kind of thing happening?"

I recommend Whinechester or Wahllesley, or maybe Whoa-Is-Me-lton.

[nalz.livejournal.com]

Do you park on the street or in a driveway? In my experience that has been a bigger factor than what town you're in..

[some1indavis.livejournal.com]

we park on the street.

[kpht.livejournal.com]

LOL

[beowabbit]

I had my antenna randomly broken and a couple eggs thrown at my car about a year ago on a side street between Davis and Powderhouse Circle. It was within a couple weeks of Hallowe’en, if I’m remembering correctly, so I just guessed it was teenagers getting a bit more into the trick-or-treating spirit, but anecdotally it does seem like petty crime like this has been more common in the last year or so.

(Breaking off the spoiler sounds more like malicious vandalism than profit-motive theft to me, but on the other hand, if somebody just wants to do random damage to some stranger’s car, it seems like there would be much less labor-intensive ways of doing it. Weird.)

[komos.livejournal.com]

I'm terribly fond of my factory-standard alarm, and happily leave it armed wherever I park. No thefts, no break-ins, and no vandalism so far (not even from my kindly neighbors who apparently believe that property damage is the best response to petty annoyances). Beats the hell out of telling folks in the comm to watch the streets from their windows late at night for signs of suspicious activity.

Car Alarms

[ethanfield.livejournal.com]

On the noisy car alarms: They're not only annoying, but there is research to suggest they don't deter crime at all (http://www.transalt.org/files/newsroom/reports/caralarms/02summary.html#a) (people are so used to tuning them out that nobody responds to them), and may even enable more crime (http://www.transalt.org/files/newsroom/reports/caralarms/08ineffective.html#t) (criminal may use the noise of the car alarm to mask the sound of breaking glass, which people *would* pay attention to.)

Parking On the Street

[bostonartist.livejournal.com]

If you park your car on the street every night in Somerville, over the course of time it is just a matter of WHEN not IF your car will get broken in to, vandalized, hit or stolen. My unscientific rate is that there is a 40% chance of an "event" in any given year based on many years of parking on the street and observation. In particular, Honda's have a higher rate of parts being stolen off the car. Although unusual, my neighbor had all 4 wheels stolen off of her Honda Fit parked on a side street outside Union Square last year.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

You mentioned the possibility of other thefts, such as air bags jokingly, I realize. However, the theft of air bags is becoming big business. They are very small, so are easy to transport. And whenever someone has even a minor fender-bender that causes them to deploy, they must be replaced. So you can see that the market is probably quite large. My friend had hers stolen last summer, and quite a lot of damage was done to the interior of the car (dashboard, etc.) in trying to extricate them.

[derekp.livejournal.com]

It's not just sh*t luck. As you mention - you own a Honda Civic which is a popular car for both after market modding (as you have done) and for theft. Somerville doesn't exactly have low property crime and you own a car that's a popular target.

I had a friend who lived in Davis a few years back and drove some fancy trimmed civic coupe. After mutliple nights of her or her roommates seeing people case the car and 1 failed theft she sold the var (which was 3 years old or so) for a brand spanking new Jetta and never had another problem.

[hakamadare.livejournal.com]

telling folks in the comm to watch the streets from their windows late at night for signs of suspicious activity

heh :) actually, that is Somerville PD's recommendation for prevention of this sort of crime; they've found that it's one of the more effective options (over the long term) available to them. until the police department's budget changes significantly, they'll need to depend on citizens to be their extra eyes and ears.

some1indavis, i'm sorry to hear about your loss. my previous car was broken into once and stolen another time, and each time the experience was infuriating. some suggestions:

• have you called Somerville PD to report the theft? please do this, even if you're not planning to make an insurance claim; the theft will be recorded in SomerStat (http://www.somervillema.gov/Division.cfm?orgunit=somstat), which will help your alderman argue for more crime prevention in the Davis area.

• you're welcome to join the Davis Square crime prevention group; to join the mailing list, send email to watch-request@vecna.org (mailto:watch-request@vecna.org). the list is low-traffic, serving mostly to disseminate information about crimes and crime prevention efforts in Davis Square and surrounding neighborhoods.

-steve

Re: Car Alarms

[derekp.livejournal.com]

If a car alarm goes off in my neighborhood, I'm looking out the window to check it out. And if it happens to be a car I know with some people that I don't milling about, I will call the cops. Maybe thats just me, because I do see what you're getting at. Also, I admit to only knowing about 10 cars on my street well enough to know if that's not the owner.

Car alarms should somehow be more distinctive if thy insist on having them. So the owner could say, "That's MY car" instantly.

[some1indavis.livejournal.com]

thanks steve. we have reported the theft to the somerville police & thanks for the tip on the mailing list.

[some1indavis.livejournal.com]

actually the spoiler was standard on my car (I have a hybrid, which unfortunately comes with the spoiler). but yes, point taken.

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

Heh. I was hoping you would pipe up. *hugs*

[fantastic-salad.livejournal.com]

I don't see how car alarms deter vandalism.

Re: Car Alarms

[fantastic-salad.livejournal.com]

car alarms should be required by law to blare out the name, address, and telephone number of the car owner.

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

I park in my driveway and I still have my IPOD stolen two years ago :(

[komos.livejournal.com]

The Somerville PD recommends telling folks in the davis_square eljay comm to watch the streets? They're more comprehensive than I thought.

[komos.livejournal.com]

I care. Really.

[veda815.livejournal.com]

Perhaps putting a cover over the car at night would detour opportunistic thieves.

[diatomacearth.livejournal.com]

I'd call a car alarm more than a petty annoyance. It's ungodly intrusive at any time, but particularly at night, since I suffer from insomnia, and a car alarm can ensure I don't sleep at all.

[ruxxell.livejournal.com]

heres an idea: keep a live cougar in your car.
then, rig a sensor in your car to text your cellphone whenever anyone gets near it. when your cellphone alarm goes off, type in a quick keycode and text it back to the server and it will open your car doors and the cougar will maul the shit out of that guy.

pttoooo

[nora-rocket.livejournal.com]

*spit take*