Unpleasant surprise

[Oss]

My office was burglarized between last night and opening today

Someone went in thru a window of the upstairs tenant (real estate school) came down the stairs and bashed in a solid wood door till it separated from the frame.  This door had 2 deadbolts and is our emergency exit

No money, scotch (Chivas and Black Label fifths untouched) computers or pictures missing but they gained access to the locked fireproof cabinet which contains about 40 clients wills.

My suspicion is that a person who was cut out of an estate of recently departed  wanted to destroy a will to get money from the estate.  Will be cleaning for the rest of today and probably tomorrow

Going to put the door back together and back with a couple of 2x4 until I can get a steel door and frame for the side entrance.

Hope you all are having a better day than I am but at least i got to ride the Valkyrie here today

Oss

[Chrisj CMA]

Sorry to hear, but at least they seem to be considerate criminals....... Cops shouldnt have too hard a time tracking them down by the list of heirs on those estates........dont people think ahead....sheesh 

[Whistler]

Surely that crack CSI NY team can catch up with an amatuer like this!  Sorry couldn't resist! 

Curious do attorney's keep backups of such files on computers, or disks stored elsewhere? JDW

[fiddle mike]

Do I recall your office being burgled a couple years ago?  You need to move to a better hood, Oss. 

[Jay]

Bad news....are the secretary's OK?

[Oss]

fiddle  yes 3 yrs ago burglars removed window bars from the back window  Those bars are now set into the concrete stucco  This time I am not reporting the break in to insurance as nothing of value was taken. That is sad isnt it  You saying I would be safer closer to the mexican border?

jay  the secretary is fine   her nail polish was not stolen either  We did get a new applicant today but she was too young for anyone but maybe fudgie  if you arent on our email list you dont get pictures as this is a family board


I have not taken complete inventory yet but the 2 wills that I was worried about are still here.   I have copies of the Wills but there is nothing like the original as far as the Surrogate is concerned.  Could I prove a Will if stolen, yes, after all, I am OSS ESQ  but its a hassle.

All the pictures were taken off the walls so maybe they thought I had a safe  In reality we never see cash anymore  its all check or credit card  

I secured the thick all wood door with a dozen long screws, reset the deadbolts and aligned the door, repaired what needed to be repaired and screwed a 2x6 across the inside of said door. we will be fine tonite when I close in an hour  

and yes I back stuff up but not emails as those are also on the verizon server

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

Sorry to here this Oss, but glad no one was hurt and you got it under control. 

[G-Man]

Sorry, brother!  Let me know if I can help with anything!

[alph]

i use to do security systems, probably wouldn't be a dumb investment.  one burglury is enough.

[Oss]

you want to be woken up several times a year by false alarms and have to drive to the Bronx at 3am and when you get there no cops are there?

I do have a system  It only works if the cops actually come and check the perimeter of your property

The ones in NYC unfortunately are not what they once were

I have gotten a ticket for false alarm when I was B&E because they did not perimeter check

The system has been off for 3 years since I got that ticket  I am a few thousand ahead in not paying central system costs but I am thinkin of just reconnecting the sirens and lights after this.

[alph]

oh believe me i know what you're talking about!!

the thing is to set up a monitoring system that alows you to listen in to the system.  you can also have the security system call your house when ever there's an alarm instead of a monitoring company.  i had even set up systems that included survaliance systems that you could watch on your PC. 

i do know what you mean by false alarms!!  been there for sure!!

Oss, i feel your pain bro!  honestly!

[Valker]

Bummer on this, My Friend.
One pharmacy near here has an ideal security system. The guy has a phone with a speakerphone on it. When he leaves at night, he calls home on a dedicated number. His wife answers that home on speaker, he sets the store one on speaker, and they just never hang them up. He can hear anything that happens in his offices for just the normal monthly phone bill.

[JimC]

OSS,
I would do like ALPH says in the post above, set up your alarm so that it turns on a camera and records your office after an unauthorized entry.

You probably have most of the equipment already with your current system. The good thing is that with infra-red cameras the burglars do not even know that they are being taped. It can also be monitored by you on a PC from home.

You get the alarm, monitor it from your home PC, if there is someone actually in there, you call the cops yourself. If the cops don't get there in time, you have the burglars on tape. Most burglars are known to the local cops, they just have a hard time catching them in the act, this would do just that. Alarm systems have really gotten sophisticated in the last few years.

Jim

[Oss]

great ideas!!

and I am in the process of switching to cable from verizon and will have unlimited phone local and long distance (my home is considered long distance from work)

I really like the idea of being able to monitor from home and catch the slimebags in action

aint technology interesting?

[Ghillie]

I used to stress all the time after our shop was broken into. I bought a not too expensive 4 camera system and connected it to a computer. Hard  drive record everything. The cameras are set for motion and if one of the inside ones catches motion it emails me on my phone and I can log into them from the web and see whats up. Huge peace of mind.

[alph]

In northern Wisconsin there’s a town called Hayward.  Many rich people from Illinois and Minnesota have vacation cabins that they visit about once a year.  So of course they’ve got these extravagant security systems in ‘em that will go off ‘cause some raccoons or other rodents get in and trip the alarm.  Often the police will just drive up and not even get out of their squad car to do a visual check.  In the winter time they’ll do the same thing but there would be snow on the roads and the cops wouldn’t be able to see any tracks, but needless to say, the lakes in the back yards would be frozen and the thieves would drive up to the back patio door with their snowmobile, bust out the glass, steal what ever they wanted then leave knowing that the cops wouldn’t even think of getting out into the three feet deep snow to check the back door!! 

Boy, I can tell you some stories about security systems!!  There was another one were the local electrician figured out how to disable the system, then later he would come by and start a fire in the business ‘cause he didn’t like the guy……  a lot more to the story, but this can get a bit long…..

Al.