Go to worlds and get your car broke into...

[weberr]

Well, our team has gone to Worlds twice, 2013 & 2015, and both times we were broke into; both times in the the team parking lot!

It seems that crooks have figured out a way to insert a large screwdriver or pry bar just under the plastic door handle mechanism, puncturing through the metal door skin, and then they pry upwards really hard while rocking the vehicle to get the door locking mechanism to unlock. This happened on Friday with both of my two daughter's taking a nap in the truck! They were awaken, startled, to the rocking of the truck; the two culprits yelled holy @#$% and ran off.

If we had not been broken into in 2013, I would never have know what to look for this time; it's barely noticeable when you walk up to the door, especially at night. Walking to the dome Saturday (next) morning, I saw over 5 other vehicles with the same puncture hole right under the door handle mechanism. I ended up using a binder strap to hold the door shut when I parked the vehicle as the locking mechanism is unreliable now.

On Saturday, I caught a older gentlemen that was between a mini van and a tree. I stopped as it looked fishy. He stumbled out acting drunk and gave me the story he had just taken a wiz. I stayed back from my quest just to make sure, and he doubled back to the same area after a short time; very stechy. I could not find a security guard, so I ended up flagging down a cop car.

Worst yet, if you did see the security, they were either sitting in their cars or sitting on the hoods.

If it wasn't for the trailer, I would have parked in a gated parking lot. If we qualify for worlds next year, I may have to re-evaluate if I will be going. It's going to cost me over $500 to get the door fixed this time; we cannot afford another expense next year.

Bottom line: WATCH OUT and CHECK YOUR DOOR LOCKS FOR DAMAGE before you move your vehicle!

[krtanjek]

Yea, our RV was broken into the same method on Friday as well. They got off with all my clothes, my wife's clothes, 3 laptops, surface, ipad, couple rasberry pi's. And a big hole in the drivers side door. STL Police are following up on a lead on Craigslist for 3 macbooks that match our specs, hopefully it turns out.

If anyone has any description of the perpetrators it would be good so I can provide that information to the detective working our case.

Thanks,

Don Krtanjek
Mentor, TechFire 225

[mastachyra]

With this news and the murder that occurred at the City Museum on Friday, I'd say its about time the championships moved away from STL.

Aside from these things, I was astonished at the number of empty buildings in the downtown area. Everywhere you walked was dirty awnings and neglected buildings. It's really a shame. I wonder how STL can turn this around.

Is there hope that Houston and Detroit are better?

[planetbrilliant]

Originally Posted by mastachyra

Is there hope that Houston and Detroit are better?

I've heard Detroit isn't that great either, empty buildings and all that. I haven't heard anything about Houston. I looked online and acording to this website, Detroit is the #1 most dangerous City in America, with St. Louis in second. Houston isn't even ranked.

Edit: I found another site that ranks the top 100, with Detroit in 3rd, St. Louis in 14th, and Houston 68th.

[Kayla_Wallet]

Originally Posted by planetbrilliant

I've heard Detroit isn't that great either, empty buildings and all that. I haven't heard anything about Houston. I looked online and acording to this website, Detroit is the #1 most dangerous City in America, with St. Louis in second. Houston isn't even ranked.

Edit: I found another site that ranks the top 100, with Detroit in 3rd, St. Louis in 14th, and Houston 68th.

As somebody who lives in the Detroit area, parts are bad, but the area where world's will be held is more or less safe. There are parts that are bad but the downtown area itself isn't terrible. I don't worry about walking the mile or so from say, the Cobo center to Hard Rock Cafe, and the walk back, in the evening. It's well lit and not in a dangerous area. Flint, MI is actually more dangerous than Detroit.

[FrankJ]

Realize any urban area large enough to support a 400 team plus world event is going to have sketchy areas. Often close to the venues. Some of the basic ones: Travel in groups. Don't park overnight in open lots without security. Be aware of your surroundings.

St Louis really wanted us here. Too bad that secure parking for team trailers was not on the negotiated list of items for St Louis to provide.

[ebarker]

There have been problems every year in that north parking lot.

You would think you could hire the PD to put in a few of these for a few days. They are effective

[krtanjek]

We have attended the past 3 years, and have always been able to park our RV in the parking lot right outside the main entrance to the Dome which had an attendant in the lot. This year, the attendant said that any oversize vehicles had to park in the team parking lot where the trailers were located. We saw 2-3 security guards in that lot and had not heard about prior break-ins in previous years so we thought with security at the parking lot we would be ok just like previous years. The break-in happened in daylight not evening. This leads me to two conclusions, people have not reported to FIRST so FIRST was not able to coordinate proper security or the security guards just didn't care and let anyone do what they wanted in that parking lot.

Needless to say it is over and yes they took over $15k worth of computers, tablets, electronics, and all our clothes, but we are safe and that all can be replaced. It is just disappointing that with the 200 extra teams and roughly $1M more for those teams FIRST could not coordinate better security on the outside of the dome as they did with the badges on the inside.

[BenGuy]

Originally Posted by planetbrilliant

I've heard Detroit isn't that great either, empty buildings and all that. I haven't heard anything about Houston. I looked online and acording to this website, Detroit is the #1 most dangerous City in America, with St. Louis in second. Houston isn't even ranked.

Edit: I found another site that ranks the top 100, with Detroit in 3rd, St. Louis in 14th, and Houston 68th.

As someone who lives near Detroit, (about 45 min West of Detroit) there are some areas that are very bad neighborhoods, but along the river, downtown, where the possible venues are for the championships, it's not bad at all.

[runneals]

Yeah, my boss had a conference there in Detroit last fall and he said it really isn't too bad if you stay downtown.

For tips on securing trailers, check this thread suggested in another thread about stolen trailers: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=107113

Also take a look at http://www.dewaltmobilelock.com/prod...nd-gps-locator (looks like it's $250ish and $19/mo)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AzenSPDJqE < there's a project a team could do

I don't know if anyone has said this yet, but personally I think that team trailers put a HUGE glaring target on your stuff saying "hey, I have lots of valuable electronics inside of me!".
If a bunch of teams rented uhauls and flooded the lot with them, I'd imagine that it would have the thieves working long enough to catch them (maybe -- Thinking of probability here lol, feel free to comment other mathmatical deterrents here xD)

Remember, use the buddy system!

[hardcopi]

Maybe next year we should organize team patrols. Have each team volunteer a senior and a mentor to help patrol. Patrol in packs of 5-10 at a time and stick together. Most of security's job is to be seen. Let them know to observe and report.

At night we'd need cars to patrol the parking lot, but in shifts with this many teams working together shouldn't be an issue. This is becoming a serious issue, in 2013 we lost a $500 camera out of our pits. We have a nice new (ok a year old) trailer that we'd like to keep nice.

[nighterfighter]

Originally Posted by hardcopi

Maybe next year we should organize team patrols. Have each team volunteer a senior and a mentor to help patrol. Patrol in packs of 5-10 at a time and stick together. Most of security's job is to be seen. Let them know to observe and report.

This seems like a potentially very dangerous idea.

Security and police have their jobs, the students have their job (Enjoy the event, learn, get inspired) and the mentors have theirs (Help the students, make sure the students don't get injured). Assigning students to patrol an area already known to be dangerous? Seems like a not so good idea to me.

[Mschmeh144]

Originally Posted by nighterfighter

This seems like a potentially very dangerous idea.

Security and police have their jobs, the students have their job (Enjoy the event, learn, get inspired) and the mentors have theirs (Help the students, make sure the students don't get injured). Assigning students to patrol an area already known to be dangerous? Seems like a not so good idea to me.

First is a game about robots correct? Why not solve the problem with robots.
Maybe you could bring some old bots along and upgrade the battery and allow them to patrol all night. I would find it hilarious to see a potential theif get pelted with frisbees from our 2013 bot.

All humor aside, this is a pretty bad problem.

[Louis_]

Originally Posted by Mschmeh144

First is a game about robots correct? Why not solve the problem with robots.
Maybe you could bring some old bots along and upgrade the battery and allow them to patrol all night. I would find it hilarious to see a potential theif get pelted with frisbees from our 2013 bot.

All humor aside, this is a pretty bad problem.

You could use vision tracking, but I'm sure it'd be very hard in the night.

[jnicho15]

Originally Posted by Mschmeh144

First is a game about robots correct? Why not solve the problem with robots.
Maybe you could bring some old bots along and upgrade the battery and allow them to patrol all night. I would find it hilarious to see a potential theif get pelted with frisbees from our 2013 bot.

All humor aside, this is a pretty bad problem.

The 2016 FIRST Robotics Competition game is...
... Security Scramble!