Car Window Smashed While Diving

[reign180]

Hey guys,

My girlfriend and I had a lovely morning dive at Bare Island, Sydney the other day.
We parked the car, geared up, locked everything up and went for a dive. Upon return the front passenger window was smashed and both of our phones and wallets were stolen from the glove box along with a few other bits and pieces.

Does this kind of thing happen around the world or is Australia the only "lucky" country where we have to think about this stuff when we dive?
Any ideas on how to stop this from happening again? Of course not leaving anything of value in the car is a great idea but that's still not going to stop someone from smashing another window to have a look inside.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mdb]

Smash and grap crimes are everywhere:
San Francisco tourists plagued by auto burglaries

 

[KDAD]

It can and does happen anywhere. One thing that I do when kitting up is to do so quickly and avoid alot of back and forth to the car so anyone watching doesn't get an idea of what I might be leaving behind. I also don't leave anything visible in the car. Bring only what you need and try to hide whatever is left in the car.

The thing with scuba is that whoever is watching and wants to break in knows that your car will be unattended for a while whereas anyone else in the parm can pop back anytime.

 

[The Chairman]

You're not alone: Increasing crime in Bonaire

 

[Caveeagle]

There have been a couple reports of this kind of thing this year in Cave Country (NC Florida). Both near dive sites, and in shop/hotel parking lots. Its risky when leaving your car when its obvious you won't be back for a predictable about of time.

I am no longer putting dive stickers on my cars, and try to make sure nothing is visible from the outside. I also just bought a 'Hitch Locker' so to secure my keys & Fob when in the water, where as I used to just hide it away somewhere.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Bring nothing of value and leave your windows down.
I know its kind of a stretch, but if you can manage to get some old beater car cheap and use it just for diving. It needs to be something that runs great and is dependable but looks like hell, all beat up with a "vintage patina". Chances are they'll see it and not even bother, but leave the windows down anyway. Windows that are down won't get smashed.
And then for any valuable necessities like cash and cell phone, install a super heavy duty lock box somewhere hidden with a huge pad lock. It needs to be strong enough that they'd need tools and time time to get into, which they won't do. They want to be out of there in a minute or less.

 

[CuzzA]

Sorry to hear this. It's unfortunate that happened and equally unfortunate is our vehicles are soft targets for smash and grab unless you have a motion alarm.

I own a couple products from GunVault including a biometric vault and they've never failed me.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to buy their nano vault with a cable and secure it under a car seat or in the trunk. They're pretty cheap.

"An ounce of prevention..."

http://www.amazon.com/GunVault-NV300-NanoVault-Combination-Lock/dp/B003841ZBS

There are similar options available as well but I would want one with a combo lock rather than a key.

 

[drbill]

Unfortunately not a rare occurrence. Put valuables in the trunk?

 

[CuzzA]

Unfortunately not a rare occurrence. Put valuables in the trunk?

As long as your alarm would go off upon opening. Of course there are ways to disable an alarm as well.

Locked safe mounted or cable tied is the only sure bet. Of course a cable could be cut with bolt cutters and a cheap lock box could easily be pried open.

 

[Phil_C]

Been a problem in the UK for the last 35 years - when I was in the police this sort of crime was our bread and butter. Beauty spots where people parked to go walking got broken into looking for binoculars or cameras, sports centres looking for gear or money, dive sites and beaches for cash and valuables left behind whilst people were diving/swimming. Shopping centre/mall car parks were targeted for shopping people had return and left in cars whilst they continued shopping and so on.

Sadly human nature, there will always be those people looking for any opportunity to make a quick buck at someone else expense.

The best you can do is make it hard for them. Mostly they are not brave, so they are not looking for a confrontation, pick busy places to park where they are likely to be seen and interrupted, look for well lit open spaces especially if there are security cameras, and most importantly hide whats in the car from view. More often than not they break in because they can see something, or have been watching and have a fair idea of what they will gain. They do not often go on a fishing trip just to see if there is something there - that is too risky for little gain.

All good ideas above regarding lockable safes or boxes concealed in the car, I have a steel cubby box with a lock in my Landrover, and three lockable steel chests in the back, everything goes in there, it is visible, but also very obvious it is not a 2 minute job to break into.

This is the same make as mine, but this one is in someone else car, for me I will spend thousands on dive gear, a couple of hundred to keep it safe is a no brainer.

They want in and out quickly and a quick exit from the area. - P