Package Thefts – A Favorite Area Pastime

Neighborhood Security

I received a film clip from a Ring doorbell which shows a package thief on 128th St, just east of Canyon Road.  The home owner was expecting a package earlier from UPS but had been advised that because of a shipment delay it would arrive the next day. However later that same night the package was delivered, but the UPS driver did not knock, ring the doorbell, or otherwise advise the homeowner.

The thief got out of a vehicle with its flashers on, raced to the victims door, snatched the package and raced back to the waiting vehicle (a total of 14 seconds and it would have been quicker if the thief had not fumbled the package).  The thief appears to be wearing a T-Shirt with US Army on it.

43

It’s SPRING and the deer are going to work at 0630

Interesting Things

Over two decades ago in the early morning on 136th Ave. E. I witnessed a faun panic and run across the road into a gate so hard it snapped the faun’s neck, killing it.  Fortunately it did not hit one of the children who caused it to panic, because both the child and the deer would have been seriously injured. Below are pictures from a couple of our newest Neighborhood Cameras, which show deer and people “going to work” just after 0630hrs.  In the pictures below we see one little guy seemingly waiting patiently for a break in traffic to cross the road. In the bottom three pictures we see two other deer heading south on 136th Ave. E. along with the traffic.  Let’s be careful – for the sake of the deer and ourselves.

2018-04-19_06-36-38[M][0@0][0]2018-04-19_06-36-40[M][0@0][0]2018-04-19_06-36-39[M][0@0][0]2018-04-19_06-36-43[M][0@0][0]2018-04-19_06-36-47[M][0@0][0]2018-04-19_06-36-35[M][0@0][0]2018-04-19_06-36-36[M][0@0][0]2018-04-19_06-36-44[M][0@0][0]

Be On The LOOKOUT for License AAK 0463 (Currently on a White Honda with a Black hood)

Neighborhood Security, Safety

This week Bad Guys driving a White Honda with a Black hood entered Shawnee Ridge around Midnight and stole a package from the doorstep of a house on 111th St. Court E.  The vehicle was seen on cameras from two houses in the area and working backward from the information provided we were able to positively identify them as having license plate AAK 0463.  Vehicles using this license plate have been identified in several incidents of theft and vandalism in our area.  Police report that they do not have an address connected with that license plate and it is presumably stolen.  Two of the case reports associated with this vehicle are #  1730100721 and # 1808501544 (or it might be 18045014544, the Deputy’s writing is unclear)   .

Because this incident was reported to the Sheriff’s Office as a repeat incident involving the same vehicle license plate, a Sheriff’s Deputy was sent out to take a report.  Unfortunately the home from which the package was stolen did not have cameras, so there was no direct evidence that the people driving the Honda (AAK 0463) were responsible for the theft.  All the Deputy could do was take a general report.

This incident did show that cooperation by neighbors who have cameras works.  We were able to identify the vehicle and get its license plate because we had pictures of the vehicle and a definite time it was in the Neighborhood. When more people have cameras, everyone benefits.

For a look at previous post about this license plate see: Tis the Season “to have your packages stolen”  &  –ALERT– Recent Suspicious/Criminal Activity In Our Neighborhood.

image_18-02-13_00-48-05-25  2018-02-13_00-19-52[M][0@0][0]2018-02-13_00-48-04[M][0@0][0]

DANGER –“Trike Drifters”–DANGER

Neighborhood Security, Safety

Our Shawnee Ridge neighborhood is occasionally visited by a group of young men
who are “trike drifter” enthusiasts. (check it on google and YouTube) They bring their
homemade tricycles to the top of the cul-de-sac on 111th Street Court East, mount up,
and go down 111th St Ct E, turn right on Shawnee Ridge Rd, turn left on 136th Ave E,
turn right on Jennifer Ct E, spin out in the cul de sac.
This last Sunday, January 14, they showed up for their joy ride around 12:30pm. An
SUV dropped off 3 or 4 young adult men and 3 or 4 children, all wearing helmets, and
all with these trikes. I confronted them as I have the previous times and tried to
convince them how dangerous their activity is.
This is the 4th time in 4 years I have witnessed them coming to our neighborhood to
“trike drift”. What they are doing is very dangerous, for them, and, in my opinion,
potentially very dangerous to pedestrians and bystanders. These “trikes” are built with
a wide wheel base and low to the ground. It is almost impossible for cars to see them
approaching intersections and bends in the road because of their low profile as they are
coasting downhill as fast as they can. Parked cars along Shawnee Ridge Rd create
blind spots along that stretch. They seem to have very little capability to slow or stop
quickly, and they do not, probably cannot, yield the right of way to vehicles, bicycles, nor
pedestrians.
They also disregard common sense when they are shuttling “trike” riders to the top of
our street. One time, 2 of the riders were in the trunk of a small car with their legs
draped over the handle bars of the “trikes” towing them to the top of the hill. Another
time, 5 or 6 men and their trikes were in the back of a pickup truck.
This most recent occurrence is the first time I’ve seen children involved. It was hard
to guess ages with helmets on, but they looked no taller than 10 year old children. The
driver of the shuttle car said 2 were her children. I could not convince her how
dangerous and irresponsible this was.
They insist what they are doing is legal, but doing only 2 or 3 quick rides and then
leaving speaks otherwise. They come in to the neighborhood fairly quietly and leave
rather quickly. Most people don’t notice them unless they happen to be outside. I am
done talking to these people, especially now that they have young children involved.
They do not care what you think and will let you know it. They are going to do what they
want ….. unless law enforcement is involved. I urge anyone observing this activity in
our neighborhood to call 911, tell them that a group of people are “trike drifting” down
our streets, that they are acting in a reckless manner and being a danger to others, that
they have done this in our neighborhood several times before, and, based on previous
encounters, they will only be here for approximately 20 minutes.
Jay Kennon
13725 111th Street Ct E.

Some of the “Trike” riders and their tow vehicle. License Number AMN 3334

S2018-01-14_12-37-19[M][0@0][0]

DANGER! Curves Ahead.

Safety

Carol Silvernail wrote me recently.  She said:

Have you noticed that the guardrails on Military, going down the hill, past 122nd, have taken several hits from accidents recently?  I called Pierce County today and learned that they have sent the job out to bid.  The job is beyond a simple repair so that’s why it is going to take longer to fix but they hope to get it repaired as soon as possible.  

Here are some photos of the worst spot on the guardrails.  Lets be careful going down that hill, especially now that winter is here. I did not hear of the accident when it happened, but if the vehicle was not stopped by the railing they were in a world of hurt.

S1840002 S1840003

A Primer on IP Cam, DVR, & NVR Network Security

Neighborhood Security, PC Suggestions to Neighbors

The availability of low cost residential IP (Internet Protocol) Cameras, Digital Video Recorders (DVR), and Network Video Recorders (NVR) has brought significant benefits to individual home security and monitoring at a distance.

Some of our BLOG users have purchased these devices. If you are participating in the Sunrise Terrace Snapshot Repository we have assured you that your personal network remains secure when using the outbound FTP transport configuration provided to you when you added your camera, DVR, or NVR to the Sunrise Terrace Repository site.

Most of these IP devices are capable of additional methods of content sharing and remote access that may have already been activated by the manufacturer as part of a vendors “plug and play” or “out of the box” automatic usability features.

In this BLOG POST I review five basic network configuration settings essential to maintaining the security of your personal network and the IP devices attached to that network.  Making changes to your userID & password pairs, DDNS settings, remote access protocol, and router logs varies depending out your router make and model.  Most of these changes can be accomplished using your routers GUI interface and will not be difficult.  Consult your router operating manual for specific instructions.

The first suggestion (1) and best way to protect your IP devices from intrusion is to change the manufactures default administrative userID and password, or better yet disable the vendor administrative userID and create your own access credentials!

Suggestion two (2) is to disable DDNS service on your IP device unless you are using a DDNS service for your own remote access to IP cameras, DVR’s, or NVR’s on your network.

Suggestion three (3) is to change IP device remote access service to a non-standard port.  The standard (well known) ports for some protocols are HTTP:80, RTSP:554, HTTPS: 443, and Server:8000.  Choose a port different from the well known ports and one above 2000 if possible for the operating systems of your camera.

Suggestion four (4) is to monitor your Internet Router activity. Keeping your router visible so you can and monitor the router LED’s for transmit and receive activity is an indication of a possible attack.

Suggestion five (5) is to check the router log periodically or when you observe continuous or unusual router activity. External access attempts to your personal network will appear in the router log (if you have activated logging) and you can use that data to filter or deny unwanted traffic to your personal network.

The five suggestions above are easy tasks and are the basis of good Internet security for IP devices on you network.

I hope this BLOG POST has been helpful in securing your personal network.

Footnote: IETF RFC-1918 private network ranges start with the IP Addresses: 10.0.0.0, 172.16.0.0, & 192.168.0.0.

Tis the Season “to have your packages stolen”

Neighborhood Security

Nowadays almost everyone gets packages from shopping online.  Costco, Amazon.com, Sears, Walmart; it seems like almost every retailer has an online presence. More frequently during the Holiday Season there are shoppers out there who are shopping for packages left at your front door. Package thieves are already working the area and at the end of this article is a picture of a thief working near Spooner Farms and Hwy 162 , our old friend the 2001 White  4 door Honda Civic, license AAK 0463, and a couple of pictures showing a package thief with a red Dodge Caravan with rather distinctive damage.  The license number of the Dodge appears to be AIG 1656.  A friend sent me the pictures of the  woman with the Dodge from a group of Facebook pages he says is  devoted to Puyallup Crime.

This season let’s make it harder for the bad guys and girls. When you order things, try to keep up with the tracking numbers and know when to expect them.  If you are not going to be home, ask a neighbor to keep a lookout for your package.  If the item is particularly valuable, ask for the driver to obtain a signature before leaving it.

I have good high resolution cameras which record my visitors, and my deliveries.  If you don’t have a camera system at your home, or if your system produces fuzzy pictures, perhaps you might consider purchasing a wildlife camera just to record the coming and going of delivery men during the Holiday Season.  Wildlife or trail cameras, as some people call them, can be purchased for prices between $50 and $600 plus tax, however most trail cameras are less than $200. A steel security enclosure for the camera can also be purchased.

If you do purchase a wildlife camera, be sure to put it in a place where it will not be noticed.  Otherwise you might be missing your package and your wildlife camera.

AAK 0463 during package theft - cropedPackage thiefpackage theft 1package theft 2