There is a program that I think more people should see. It’s an example of what television can do when its not trying to appeal to the rock bottom. The program is It Takes A Thief on the Discovery Channel. If you haven’t seen this program you better. It’s education that will save you money and protect your home.
The program is about 2 ex-con. Both are former burglars that have reformed. They now lead productive lives. For this program they go into neighborhood, exactly like yours. Rich, middle income, homes or apartments. They evaluate the area and select a home. I mean they figure out which is the best home to rob. They then have one of the partners introduce to the family and explain what they plan to do. Which is that the other partner (sometimes with a crew) will attempt to rob their home. When the family says yes, cameras are put in, the family locks up and they go to a truck to watch what happens next.
The other partner comes in, and tries to do what he can. I have seen this show several times and the latest one (5pm on April 7, 2006) took the most time to break in and rob the valuables. It took him, and 4 accomplices, 10:59:09 MINUTES. The estimate of what he stole was over $100,000 at a guess. Even the home owners weren’t sure of the value. The haul included, autographed sport memorabilia, paintings from the 1700's, antique small vase and pocket watch, a Tiffany silverware set, a wallet with money and credit cards, a passport, a Bose stereo system, and a Volvo car as well as much more. And I repeat it only took 11 minutes to do this, as well as taking a little extra time to go to the neighbors house and a try to steal his Camero that was sitting outside (lucky for the neighbor it had no engine, though it did get a broken window).
After the family gets to see John steal everything he thinks is worthwhile on camera, they go in and see the damage. When John robs the place he is as nice as a real thief, the place is a wreck. Sometimes he may miss a couple of items, but not normally and usually nothing valuable. Then they call him up and he brings it all back. They then walk thru what he has taken and how easily it would be for him to fence the items and why he picked what he did. They will appraise his haul, based on street value and what it really is worth. In the above mentioned television program 3 paintings were worth 75k, the Tiffany set was 15k, a small vase 4k, a pocket watch worth 5k, and that was barely what he took. I have seen episodes where dogs, neighbors being home, various times of day and night make no difference when he breaks in. I have seen episodes where John has brought 1 - 4 people to assist, and even brought up moving vans to help them take more.
Next Matt goes and helps the family out. He shows them what they should have, installing alarm systems (that can include video motion capture), safes, safety deposit boxes, locks, and more. They also clean up and replace items broken by John (and any crew he may bring) during the robbery. Once the new security and sometimes landscaping is done, they let the family get comfortable and tell them John will be back at some point in a week or so to test if they are using the new items and try to break-in again. Sometimes the families don’t keep up and John get in. Many times not. Either way both Matt and John then wait for the family and go over what John did or tried to do. During the show they also provide tips from Allstate Insurance on how to insure and protect items in the home.
If you have anything in your home that is valuable, or that you feel attachment to, you need to see this show. It’s worth the hour. And its amazing to see what you can lose in 10 minutes.
This is what I think, what do you think.
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