All posts by Kirk Hall

Branches Blocking Sidewalks & Street Lights

Sunrise Terrace Neighbors,

A concern has been raised regarding low hanging branches that force pedestrians to walk further out in the street and block illumination from the street lights.  Please check your property sidelines for branches which may be hanging out in the street or sidewalk. Branches blocking the street lights just make it darker for everyone.  Pierce county has trimmed some areas but other areas are the responsibility of the homeowners. Please help keep our Neighborhood safe to walk in and as well illuminated as possible.

 

Please Come! Neighborhood Meeting. Important Guest Speaker.

Sunrise Terrace Neighbors,

Please come to the annual neighborhood meeting this Tuesday, Oct. 22, 7pm, at Sunrise Baptist Church.  We just got confirmation that a deputy from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office will be a guest speaker.  He will update us on changes in the department and a new code enforcement program.  He is familiar with our neighborhood issues.  Bring your questions and concerns about safety.  We will also get a brief update on sr162.org.  Meet your neighbors, enjoy some cookies, and vote for new board members.  We suggest a $5/household donation to the neighborhood fund.   

—– Car Prowler —– New Tricks to Enter Your Car

A friend just let me know about a new trick thieves have to get into your car. You may remember a series of car break-ins in Seattle where several cars parked outside of condominiums were entered without damage, and the owners swore that they were locked when the owners went to bed.

The trick for entering a modern locked car depends on two things: (1) The car must be new enough that it only requires that the car key fob be present in the vicinity for the car to unlock and be started. (2) That the thief has a new  device which captures the fob signal and amplifies it so that it appears to be in the vicinity of the car.  The whole thing is explained in an article on the Edmunds.com web site: https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/technology/how-to-protect-your-car-from-keyless-entry-hacking.html

Dangerous Scam Repeats

Last night as I watched the news, the scam I reported on in this site on 29 May was reported again. (see below)
A well dressed man and woman in a nice white car with two children exchanged gold jewelry for “gas money” from a victim at a gas station. The “Gold Jewelry” turned out to be fake.  This scam has being going on for at least a year.
If you are approached at a gas station, parking lot, park, etc. or flagged down on the street or highway, remember that the person who has approached you may be a career criminal.  Follow the advice below.

 

Dangerous New SCAM

On the news tonight was a piece about a Dangerous New SCAM. People from California through Washington State have been robbed beside the highway because they gave in to their natural desire to help.

The victims  have pulled over to help a (usually well dressed) family with car trouble. There are children in the car  and the parents make a heartfelt plea for monetary assistance, often offering their jewelry as collateral.  If you accept that Rolex and give them all the money in your wallet (say for the sake of argument you just cashed a check and have $300), you just got ripped off by about $280.  The Rolex, along with all the other jewelry they have is fake.
A woman here in Washington stopped for a well dressed family driving a nice car.  After hearing his plea she gave the man $20, but he followed her to her car and grabbed other cash she had there (cash which did not belong to her, and which she had to sell belongings to replace.
This vicious SCAM is spreading.  In the future if you see a family stranded by the side of the road, with someone frantically trying to flag you down for help, DO NOT STOP.  Instead get a description of the car (and license number if possible) and the people in it.  Then call 911, giving the location of the vehicle and any other information you have.  Tell the 911 operator you suspect criminal activity and you believe that these people have police scanners. Warn the 911 operator that if the call goes out over the air, the crooks will move.
If the people are innocent and are really in trouble, then you have provided better help than you could give.  If they are crooks, then you have provided help to all the rest of us.

Vandalism in Crystal Ridge Estates

Last night (3 Sept.) I received an alert that  occupants of a vehicle somewhere near the intersection of Crystal Ridge Dr. SE and 39th St. SE had shot out the window of a vehicle.  The persons in the vehicle shown below had used a BB gun of some sort to do this act of vandalism.  Unfortunately even though the reporter provided a picture of the vehicle used in the crime, it was not clear enough to distinguish the passengers.  However the strange white markings on the right rear wheel make it very distinctive thus easy to recognize.

I have been monitoring the crime situation in our area and there a lot of car prowls and package thefts happening.  If at all possible, put your vehicle in a locked area at night and have someone at home when you are expecting a package. Of course having someone at home will not guarantee that you will not lose a package to a thief.  In one incident I know of the package was on the porch less then 3 minutes before it was stolen.  Obviously by thieves who were following the delivery truck.

Vandals_1445

Doorbell Cameras

Doorbell cameras are advertised everywhere these days. They are convenient if you wish to be able to see who is at your door.  Most of them record to the cloud if you pay a fee, so that you can review what happened if you do not receive the direct feed.  “Ring” brand doorbells have a feature which sends out notices when other “Ring” owners post about bad things which have happened to them, like mail thefts or car break-ins. Unfortunately I see many people commenting that their “Ring” did not pick up the bad guys. They seem annoyed by this failing.

The simple fact is that doorbell cameras are meant to serve one function, to give you a visual of the people who have come to your door, and (if you are a subscriber to their cloud service) give you a record of who they are.  To do this satisfactory, the doorbell must be positioned so that it is able to observe people approach the doorbell directly. Many houses have the doorbell off to the side so that its field of view is limited.

I personally have a “Ring” doorbell installed at my home.  However I also have a full CCTV security system that I have just upgraded to 4K  (8MP) cameras.  This system gives me a full 360 degree coverage of my home, with one of the sharpest pictures on the market today. Because the cameras have a 131 degree field of view my neighbors benefit from  coverage by some of my cameras.

Mail Thieves –Again!

I received the following e-mail from one of our neighbors.

This morning ( 7/12/2019 )about 6:30 am when leaving for work, my husband and I found a bundle of mail in the grass along the side of our cul de sac (we live one street down from the addresses on the mail we found). I don’t think the mail was there very long given the misty morning and the mail was only slightly damp, and not soaking wet.

There are 3 addresses affected, all on 136th Avenue East: 12402, 12403 and 12421. These items were coupon newspaper mailers, and store mailers so were addressed to the address or Resident and only 3 items had names on them.   There was one window envelope with no address that had been ripped open (contents taken) that was from Credit One Bank and the words Personal and Confidential are on the front of the envelope. Not sure if a solicitation offering credit or if a bank statement/credit card because there wasn’t any content left, only the ripped envelope, so unfortunately there’s no way to know who it belonged too. I reported the theft to the USPS this morning (call 800-275-8777, press 5, then say FRAUD, then say THEFT, which gets you to an operator). He instructed us to give it to our mail carrier to collect, to do local reporting and then deliver to the rightful owners.

Bottom line for all this is that the mail stolen seems to be either mail which was not removed from the boxes after the mail delivery or mail that was put out the night before for pick up the next day. PLEASE remove your mail after it is delivered and PLEASE do not put out mail at night for pick up the next morning. {Or if you must do either or both, then PLEASE get a good strong locking mail box and mount it on a good strong post.}

Dangerous New SCAM

On the news tonight was a piece about a Dangerous New SCAM. People from California through Washington State have been robbed beside the highway because they gave in to their natural desire to help.

The victims  have pulled over to help a (usually well dressed) family with car trouble. There are children in the car  and the parents make a heartfelt plea for monetary assistance, often offering their jewelry as collateral.  If you accept that Rolex and give them all the money in your wallet (say for the sake of argument you just cashed a check and have $300), you just got ripped off by about $280.  The Rolex, along with all the other jewelry they have is fake.
A woman here in Washington stopped for a well dressed family driving a nice car.  After hearing his plea she gave the man $20, but he followed her to her car and grabbed other cash she had there (cash which did not belong to her, and which she had to sell belongings to replace.
This vicious SCAM is spreading.  In the future if you see a family stranded by the side of the road, with someone frantically trying to flag you down for help, DO NOT STOP.  Instead get a description of the car (and license number if possible) and the people in it.  Then call 911, giving the location of the vehicle and any other information you have.  Tell the 911 operator you suspect criminal activity and you believe that these people have police scanners. Warn the 911 operator that if the call goes out over the air, the crooks will move.
If the people are innocent and are really in trouble, then you have provided better help than you could give.  If they are crooks, then you have provided help to all the rest of us.

 

 

Joining a Social Networking Site Not a Good Idea, Checking with the CrimeReports web site a Good Idea

Dav Eide and my wife recently received an invitation to join a social networking site called NextDoor . Someone is spending a lot of money to send out these invitations. Both Dav and I like the idea of the CrimeReports web site but definitely do not want to join any social networking site. In Dav’s words “Our neighborhood BLOG is better and more secure”.  Dav is going to comment on this POST about the advantages of checking with the CrimeReports web site.  On 17 March 2019 I wrote about CrimeReports for the Blog  and gave the link to the CrimeReports web site for this area. On the site it appears that the Puyallup area is virtually crime free, but that is because the Puyallup Police Department does not report crimes to the web site.  If you are interested, you can follow this link to our area by clicking on this link to CrimeReports: https://www.crimereports.com/home/#!/dashboard?lat=47.16112394046272&lng=-122.35061645507812&zoom=12&incident_types=Assault%252CAssault%2520with%2520Deadly%2520Weapon%252CBreaking%2520%2526%2520Entering%252CDisorder%252CDrugs%252CHomicide%252CKidnapping%252CLiquor%252COther%2520Sexual%2520Offense%252CProperty%2520Crime%252CProperty%2520Crime%2520Commercial%252CProperty%2520Crime%2520Residential%252CQuality%2520of%2520Life%252CRobbery%252CSexual%2520Assault%252CSexual%2520Offense%252CTheft%252CTheft%2520from%2520Vehicle%252CTheft%2520of%2520Vehicle&start_date=2019-03-03&end_date=2019-03-17&days=sunday%252Cmonday%252Ctuesday%252Cwednesday%252Cthursday%252Cfriday%252Csaturday&start_time=0&end_time=23&include_sex_offenders=false&current_tab=list&shapeIds=&position_id=hyxk-v3np-row-rdux_e7gm__aa6i&shape_id=false .

Carol Silvernail asked me if there was a local Pierce County site which gave local crime information.  I found this site: https://matterhornwab.co.pierce.wa.us/publicgis/?theme=0  .  It covers our area and even covers the Puyallup area, but it is a little trickier to use than the CrimeReports . To get to the data about crimes you have to enlarge the area you are interested in. In the post before this one I gave direct links to areas of the Pierce County site which I think may be useful.

Any of you are welcome to join NextDoor. Just because Dav and I don’t think it is a good idea does not mean that you have to stay off it.

Please remember that the Sunrise Neighborhood Blog  is more secure than Social Networking Sites, and is the “Official” means for disseminating information about our Neighborhood.