We realized shortly after the competition that someone had attempted to steal our truck from the gravel lot. Locking mechanism is damaged and plastic around door handle is damaged. Good thing I usually pull at least 2 relays so they cant take it. Anyways, I know there were several other teams parked there, anyone else get damage?
One of our parents had parked in the gravel lot next to our trailer. The SUV was broken into and rummaged through. The damage was precise. They knew what they were doing and how to do it. Nothing was stolen because all valuables were moved. They didn’t get into the rear where the tools were kept.
I saw some of those team trailers parked in the gravel lot and cringed. As Conner said earlier, our trailer with everything we owned was stolen over the summer.
There are lots of great tips in this thread on how to secure your trailer and discourage theft
Our trailer is rarely out of our site any more or at least parked in our driveway at home.
Glad your stuff was not stolen. Word of advice to all teams with trailers. Take the time and trouble to secure your trailer.
Edit: thanks for everyone that pointed out my omission!
Our teams Truck had the same damage done to the driver side door. They rummaged through the cab but nothing was taken as far as we have noticed so far.
Next year we will probably keep our Truck and Trailer at our Hotel instead.
I wonder if two teams were to team up (sorry for the double) and put there tralers next to each other and chain there trailer wheels together. It would be hard to steal either trailer. Just a thought.
As far as I know our trailer was ok, but we tried to make sure we parked on the road… maybe that helped. We also didn’t leave it overnight. Someone however took a $500 camera out of our pit. It was plugged in and charging then after a match it was gone.
The events are free and open to the public. It was not necessarily another team, although it is possible. This is why it kills me to see teams leave laptops unattended in their pits.
Well, as most of you know. The Robodawgs (teams 216, 244, and 288) had our truck and trailer stolen from our hotel in Toronto, Canada. It was unattended for about 20 minutes and it was done. And it contained everybody’s luggage and our backup robots.
However, the truck was found a couple weeks later and the trailer is still out there somewhere.
Next year we will probably have someone start staying in our pits, just hard to ask a kid to stay behind while our bot is on the field.
I do wonder if First could do something about having someone patrol the parking area. Each team spends thousands and tens of thousands on our equipment and it would be nice if someone was just driving through and sitting there to call the police. If First doesn’t do it we should. Just a rotating volunteer schedule. You see something, call the police and take a picture if need be. Usually just having people there will stop it.
The pits are more difficult. You just can’t leave your pits unguarded. Not sure what if anything can be done over night. Our team uses a total if 9 ipads for data collection and I personally kept those next to me when they weren’t in use. Except for occasional breaks to walk around (where I had another mentor watch them) I made sure our stuff in the stands stayed safe.
I don’t think it was a first team, just difficult for a kid to show up with an expensive camera without someone on the team going: “Where’d you get that and why do you have so many pictures of Team 2959 on it?”
While there is merit in this idea, this is not a place for volunteers. It would place untrained volunteers in a potentially dangerous situation.
FIRST did have security staff present in the parking lot on Saturday morning, but I do not know if they were present the other days.
The pits are more difficult. You just can’t leave your pits unguarded. Not sure what if anything can be done over night. Our team uses a total if 9 ipads for data collection and I personally kept those next to me when they weren’t in use. Except for occasional breaks to walk around (where I had another mentor watch them) I made sure our stuff in the stands stayed safe.
I don’t think it was a first team, just difficult for a kid to show up with an expensive camera without someone on the team going: “Where’d you get that and why do you have so many pictures of Team 2959 on it?”
It has been stated in the past by FIRST for teams to not leave any portable electronics unattended or in the pit overnight. Anything left in the pit should be stored and locked.
As others have stated, these events are open to the public and it is fairly easy to blend in and steal something in mid-day. Who is going to question someone walking around with a laptop or video camera when there are thousands of others doing the same?
