Keeping the homeless from sleeping on my property

Sorry that happened and sounds like it keeps happening.  I've had an issue with homeless people camping out at my office and have had to kick them out a few times.  I've got an 8' privacy fence there now, it seems to have gotten better.

At your house, I'd move.  I can't believe that there aren't multiple choices that fit what you want across the country, the country is a very large place.  Obviously that changes if you have to stay in the same SoCal area that you're in now.  At that point your options are limited and the suggestions of trained dogs, big fences, don't leave garage door openers or anything of value in cars parked outside, etc that people have already posted are good ones.

In reply to docwyte :

He said county, not country. I misread it the first time too. :)

Things that have a clear visual and/or audio indication to people that they've been noticed. Not alarms or signs that will tell *you* there's a problem. Something that notices people coming up and tells THEM they've been noticed.

Motion sensor lights and dogs are the obvious ones.

In reply to Beer Baron :

motion sensor lights that say "You are being recorded" would be cool.

I moved to the prairies. It's so flat you can see the curve of the earth.

You could see a crackhead coming for miles. Fortunately the -30c seems to take care of them itself.

When we lived in the city, hearing my Great Dane and Bernese Mountain Dog barking behind the door seemed to take care of everything. 

I guess a head on a pike as a warning to others hasn't come back into fashion yet?

Just wait.

So glad you and the wife are fine.  You handled it well.  Many people, especially here in the SE, would have taken the opportunity to shoot him.   

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Beer Baron :

motion sensor lights that say "You are being recorded" would be cool.

There is a guy in the neighborhood who has a camera system that does that. It's not connected to lights, but it easily could be.

bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) said:

I had the great misfortune to spend a weekend at the convention center in Tacoma last week. Got there late, and parked my new Jeep in the Marriott secure underground parking on the third level. Within a couple of hours the back window was smashed out and everything I took down was gone. Driving around the neighborhoods close to the downtown was a shocking depressing hell hole of crackheads, tents and filth. I thought Vancouver's downtown east side was bad but after driving around Tacoma I have a whole new appreciation for just how disgusting a city can become.

Edited to add that when I reported it to the Marriott they asked whether I would like my back window taped and covered with cardboard as that was a service they offer. So in other words business as usual.

Were you at the Tacoma Home and Garden Show? I was there the whole week! 

Tacoma is a great town...I'm curious where you were driving. 

Dogs are the answer.

Years ago my grandpa's tire shop suffered several burglaries.   We lived right next to the shop.

My dad bought a German Shepard and a Malinois and we put them in the shop every night.  The Malionis was probably the smartest dog we ever had.  The German Shepard not so much. 

Zero break ins for the the lifetime of the dogs - about 10 years - quite a few nights when the dogs went nuts barking but by the time we went outside no one was around.  

When the dogs passed away my dad had an alarm system installed with a silent alarm to the sheriff.   We  had 3 separate breakin's where the deputies responded and caught the perps inside the shop.   One of the perps pointed a gun at the deputies and they beat the crap out of him. (40 years ago people) .

 So dogs for the win.

In reply to dyintorace :

Ah!  Yeah, that makes a lot more sense....

My first line of defense is Bees!

I keep bees and have as many as 15 hives in my yard. I don't even have to close my gate.....  

Motion detecting lights and my neighbors ring cameras and dogs do the rest.

In reply to jharry3 :

Sorry to OP, that had to be traumatic and I hope you get a good solution fast. Between the dog talk and now the bees this had to happen...

Wow. Glad you and your wife are okay. I think dogs and/or motion lights/noises are the best. Heck, a motion sensing light that kicks a barking dog recording could do it. 

bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) said:

I had the great misfortune to spend a weekend at the convention center in Tacoma last week. Got there late, and parked my new Jeep in the Marriott secure underground parking on the third level. Within a couple of hours the back window was smashed out and everything I took down was gone. Driving around the neighborhoods close to the downtown was a shocking depressing hell hole of crackheads, tents and filth. I thought Vancouver's downtown east side was bad but after driving around Tacoma I have a whole new appreciation for just how disgusting a city can become.

Edited to add that when I reported it to the Marriott they asked whether I would like my back window taped and covered with cardboard as that was a service they offer. So in other words business as usual.

I hate Tacoma. I mean, I love it. But I also hate it. I can see the convention center from my bedroom and that whole Pacific ave strip is garbage. Seattle is worse, but Tacoma is doing it's hardest to match it.

Do you own enough land to start a pig farm and BBQ stand? 

That combo should scare them into the next county. 

Glad that you and the wife are pretty okay still. Not much help, but the situation reminded me of this for some reason:

KyAllroad said:

I guess a head on a pike as a warning to others hasn't come back into fashion yet?

Just wait.

I mean, if you really want to prevent crime that's the way to do it. Even mice can understand that sort of a warning. 

Wow, sorry to hear it.  Scary stuff.  How to keep them from sleeping on your property?  Big fence & motorized driveway gate.  Unfortunately, that's expensive.  Retail places use light & noise to make it uncomfortable to just hang around.

Car break-ins in FL are popular because people tend to leave guns in their cars overnight.  Hopefully he stole the gun to sell it, nothing else. All of the above suggestions are probably helpful.  I'll also second the dogs.  I have two, a giant malamute & a medium-size plot hound mix.  The only time they seem to bark is when I come home, park the car and am walking up to the front door.  If someone were looking to break in, I'd like to think it'd be enough to have them turn around.  They're actually friendly pups, but I'm confident if someone raised a hand at SWMBO the hound would mobilize.  The malamute is a wild card...but if he jumped up he'd be eye-to-eye with an intruder.

I have a few blink cameras from amazon positioned around the property.  They aren't great for video quality, but they do have motions sensors & live view, so they're helpful to see if there's someone on the property from your phone.  They do have motion sensors & a flood light version.  I've had a hard time getting cameras positioned so the motion sensors aren't tripped by shadows, tree branches or passing cars.

Court records are public, so you should be get his name from the police report and see if where he's locked up & when he's due in court.  When he does eventually get released you'll know to be a little extra careful.   

Dracula, psshhhh.  Go read what Shaka Zulu did.

Sorry Microbe, absolutely no help, did the cops offer any suggestions?

I had a client who was a deputy in Manatee County for many years. She said she had never worked a residential burglary, where there was a dog in the house. As she put it "not even a Chihuahua, any dog at all."

she said it wasn't as much the fear of being bitten as the noise, and even little dogs make noise.

This is a big reason why we got our dog. At the time I was traveling a lot and my wife was home with two little kids. 
 

A dog really is the answer for the OP.  But a dog is a 10-20 year commitment. Just be cognizant of that.  You are getting more than a security device you are adopting a family member. 

dean1484 said:

This is a big reason why we got our dog. At the time I was traveling a lot and my wife was home with two little kids. 
 

A dog really is the answer for the OP.  But a dog is a 10-20 year commitment. Just be cognizant of that.  You are getting more than a security device you are adopting a family member. 

Better yet, find a local animal shelter with a  "foster" program. My local no-kill shelter is always looking for people who can take a dog home for a week (or months) until they're adopted or heal from an injury, go through some training, etc.  Some dogs (all dogs?) don't do well in kennel-style shelters with a 50 other dogs, so having a foster program helps them get adapt a bit easier.   Foster a few dogs until you either make a decision about if you can/want to have one.  You can also adopt an older dog and skip the "puppy training" stage.  There was a thread a few months ago about the difficulties in adopting a dog.  Some shelters have an FBI-style vetting process. If you don't get a good vibe try a different shelter/rescue society.  Also, there are rescue organizations for pretty much any breed you can think of if you're convinced you want a certain pedigree.    

Pffft... if someone broke into my property, my dog would help them load the valuables.  Vicious pit bull indeed.

Motion lights and cameras will at least be evidence, but I'm not sure that will make theft a priority to detectives.

Just dropping in to add my "sorry you had to deal with that."

I keep thinking about cameras/security stuff, and keep thinking that anything that tells me when it's noticing motion is going to send me around the bend stress-wise. I worry enough without my phone going "Hey! There's a raccoon in the yard!" at two a.m..

I talked to my insurance agent a while back, and given what a paltry token the security system discount is, it must not have much effect. I may still do something just so I can check without running into anybody.