So a few nights ago, here in New Haven, CT, my car was broken into. My front passenger window was smashed, my door dented, and (among other things) my new Garmin GPS was stolen. How mean.
I drive an old Jaguar XJ6, and my GPS was actually in the passenger-side glove box. My new Adidas Superstars were sitting on the back seat, so I’m assuming they were worth breaking my window. And once inside my car, why not look around. And then why not leave my door slightly open, so that once I get back to my car, my battery is dead. Geez, guys.
Anyway, I will get my window replaced this Saturday, and eventually I’ll be able to buy back everything that was stolen from me.
For now, I’ve taken the time to research a little bit. What could I have done differently? One thing I’ve found online is called GadgetTrak.
GadgetTrak provides proven theft recovery solutions for a wide range of portable devices including cell phones, PDAs, removable media devices (iPods®, Sony PSPs® digital cameras, flash drives, GPS devices) and Apple computers. GadgetTrak can tell where your stolen gadget is, who stole it and even what they’re wearing.
If you can connect your device via USB to a computer, you can use GadgetTrak. It’s a piece of software that, once your device is connected to a computer, will be triggered to send its whereabouts to your GadgetTrak account. You can then print out this information and present it to your local law enforcement. Then, if they care, you’ll be one step closer to getting your stuff back.
When I first noticed my car was broken into, I tried waving down three cop cars. All looked at me, but none stopped. So while those of us in New Haven are probably out of luck in this sort of predicament, it’s worth a try for others of you.
Any other tips or ideas? Let me and your fellow HackCollege readers know in the comments.
Ken
on December 13, 2007 @ 1:42 pm
Hi Rosario,
In addition to GadgetTrak technology, there is also a service component in that we work with law enforcement to return your devices. We have found that law enforcement are somewhat apathetic in theft cases as they usually have not means to really do anything about it, no evidence etc. When the have evidence and a way to follow up and recover devices they are usually more proactive. Also 5% of the time when a recovery is actually made, larger crimes are revealed from drugs, larger property crimes etc. Shoot me an email and I will set you up with a free account.
Kind Regards
Ken Westin
GadgetTrak Founder
Devin
on December 14, 2007 @ 10:50 am
hey, hey!
can i get a free account?
this technology looks really promising, i’m just concerned that if it gets very popular, thieves are going to figure out easy ways to get around the software (ie, plugging into a computer w/ out internet, then wiping the hdd)
How To Find Free .mp3s on Google | HackCollege Podcast
on December 14, 2007 @ 2:18 pm
[...] myself warm by screaming to the radio. (Note: My car is currently without a front passenger window. See my last post.) Now, this might sound lame, but I really like Linkin Park’s new “Shadow of the [...]
Jason Shore
on December 14, 2007 @ 5:21 pm
I know exactly how you feel. I had my car broken into twice in one week! I finally invested in an alarm with a 2-way pager system so next time I can catch the thieves red-handed!
Cheap In Car Sat Nav
on January 30, 2008 @ 4:49 pm
Here in the UK a lot of ‘higher end’ vehicles make use of vehicle tracking systems where the owners pay for the service. In the event the vehicle is stolen the Police are notified and they use special equipment in their cars to home-in on the stolen vehicle. It wroks a treat! Cheaper versions with the use of GPS have been tried tested and we get asked for them all the time. However, if the thieves are aware of this then all they need do is park indoors. Dohhh!
brenda
on February 20, 2008 @ 10:11 am
I just had my gps stolen in New Haven, CT last night. TOM TOM GO 720 ..I spent around $550 for this thing. Along with my Ipod. My passenger side window was broken as well. Doesn’t seem like I can do much about it…
brenda
on February 20, 2008 @ 10:13 am
also..i have that same dent on the door frame
Rosario Doriott
on February 20, 2008 @ 10:21 am
@brenda: You can’t do much now, but you can add the tracking system I wrote about to track a future thief. Where in New Haven? My car was broken into next to Cafe Nine.
brenda
on February 20, 2008 @ 11:11 am
near whitney ave
J
on March 12, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
My TomTom 720 was also just stolen 2 nights ago in Sterling, VA. Having lived in CT I know that New Haven is the pits also, too many illegals and troublemakers.
Bi-Folding Doors
on April 24, 2008 @ 3:14 am
I saw a car with a smached window at my local cinema - we were in my girlfriends car, so she wanted me to ask the security guards what happened. They said that the owner of the car had left the sat nav stalk in the window and this is why they had broken in… just before the security guards started work!
I have a sat nav, and one thing i would recomend if you have a ’stalk’ is to remove it BUT also wipe the area on your window screen so that you remove the sucker mark…. only problem with this is that your window may now have one really clean bit!
V
on June 27, 2008 @ 8:40 am
I had my car broken into in Hartford, CT. Front Passenger window smashed , Mio c230 GPS stolen from glove box. Called 911, they recorded the crime details on phone, gave me a report number and guy said “You are all set” !! I was really shocked at this response, police didn’t bother to even have a look at crime spot. I am new to US and really appalled at Police response.
Covert GPS Vehicle Tracking Systems
on July 7, 2008 @ 4:40 am
Many companies are now fitting tracking devices covertly to their employees cars, which a lot of workers are understandably unhappy about.
The flipside of this however means that if a vehicle is stolen it is so much easier to recover it, and from the company’s point of view, this means the system more than pays for itself right away.
JS
on August 3, 2008 @ 5:19 pm
My car was just broken into in New Haven as well. Broad daylight today right outside my apartment!
My front window was smashed and they took my ipod and gps (which were in my center console.)
Did I mention we were moving in today? Welcome to the neighborhood!