So I wasn't going to post this since it was kind of boring - on the 24th at 1 am I got a call from the alarm company saying our fire panel is going haywire and they just wanted me to know. I tried to remote into the cameras just to make sure there wasn't a fire.... Couldn't connect.
Tried to remote into a PC... And it was off, said it's been off for 45 minutes, so I figured it was a power outage as that usually makes the fire panel go haywire.... But our alarm company doesn't call us for power outages anymore, as we used to get a lot of them... So something didn't sit right with me, it's the company I manage and not my product... So I feel like if the alarm company calls, I better at least check it out... Wasting 30 mins round trip sure beats explaining why I got a call and thousands of dollars of merchandise is missing. (Realistically we have 150k in equipment and 200k+ in inventory.... But no one's going to walk away with rolls of vinyl or sheets of metal, so at best they steak a few of our computers.... All that work and damage so a crack head can make a few hundred bucks, I hate thieves)
So I checked the power companies website... Didn't see any alert on power being down I the area... So I told the wife I was going to go check it out, because if the breakers popped I need to fix it anyways so our printers don't get screwed up.... She decided to come with since it's 15 mins each way and would be fast.
We get to the building and all the power is off on all the outside lights, and the indoor lights we keep on.. But our neighboring businesses have power. So I go inside... Everything seems fine, grab the key to the electrical room to see if the main breakers popped... Then I notice a long cut at the bottom of the door.
Thought it was weird so I went up to it and pulled it... And the bottom half of the door flew open to complete darkness... Someone took a angle grinder and cut our metal door 1/3 from the bottom to break in. Wife was still with me, and all I had was a cell phone light.... So I said nope, get back In the truck now, and we pulled down the street keeping our headlights on the door and called the cops.
6 cars came.... They surrounded the building, waited for a k9 unit and then sweeped the building. They didn't get into our main building... But they cut a $600 door apart.... Then cut a section out of the next door (to see if there was a alarm on it) and turned off the breaker, and tried to break into the warehouse through the drywall - it was an hour prior to me showing up... So my working theory is they were going to come back in a few hours, see if anyone noticed the door was cut... And if the power was still off,.then break into the building.
Whole ordeal took 3-4 hours with me cutting plywood and aluminum to "fix" the door, tell the alarm company to call me if there's any further power outages, etc. I was really surprised and impressed that 6 cops showed up within 10 mins of me calling the non emergency line, and how serious they took it once they saw the door cut.
Then on the 26th I drove the wife to Portland so she can have in n out... We haven't lived in USA for 15ish years now, so decided to have a mini trip since it's only 6 hours away. I forgot my shaver so I went into the store.... I'm not joking when I say 90% of the items were behind glass. I thought I was just in. A sketchy part of town.... But it took me 20 mins to get the shaver as someone had to come with a key, then escort us to the front to pay.... Probably took 15 mins of the guys time for a $5 shaver!
We went to a few different targets and Fred Meyers... Everrrrything was locked up. All the laundry detergents... All cosmetics, mouth wash, shavers... Every single toy behind glass.... It wasn't as bad as the first store, but half of our weekly items would be behind glass.... At that point I'd just buy everything online instead of waste my time in that.
Is it just a Washington / Portland thing? Or is it like that everywhere now? Up here they lock certain things... I remember waiting 30 mins to get a can of spray paint at Walmart and then just walking out. Cant imagine everything being locked up though.... I foresee it coming with how bad things are getting... So I'll be doing everything as pay and pickup! I can't imagine locking stuff up isn't affecting the stores bottom line.... So theft would have to be really high in order to make it worth it.
Anyways... Long story! I'll include some photos. New door is going in on Friday, along with some solar cameras, and motion sensors added to our electrical room, as well as a camera pointed right at the door that'll alert us of any motion the moment there's motion. We have the warehouse and office wired up like crazy, the electrical room just has a door sensor on it which they bypassed by cutting the door... So if you're just relying on door sensors, now might be the time to rethink and get some motion ones as well!
Tried to remote into a PC... And it was off, said it's been off for 45 minutes, so I figured it was a power outage as that usually makes the fire panel go haywire.... But our alarm company doesn't call us for power outages anymore, as we used to get a lot of them... So something didn't sit right with me, it's the company I manage and not my product... So I feel like if the alarm company calls, I better at least check it out... Wasting 30 mins round trip sure beats explaining why I got a call and thousands of dollars of merchandise is missing. (Realistically we have 150k in equipment and 200k+ in inventory.... But no one's going to walk away with rolls of vinyl or sheets of metal, so at best they steak a few of our computers.... All that work and damage so a crack head can make a few hundred bucks, I hate thieves)
So I checked the power companies website... Didn't see any alert on power being down I the area... So I told the wife I was going to go check it out, because if the breakers popped I need to fix it anyways so our printers don't get screwed up.... She decided to come with since it's 15 mins each way and would be fast.
We get to the building and all the power is off on all the outside lights, and the indoor lights we keep on.. But our neighboring businesses have power. So I go inside... Everything seems fine, grab the key to the electrical room to see if the main breakers popped... Then I notice a long cut at the bottom of the door.
Thought it was weird so I went up to it and pulled it... And the bottom half of the door flew open to complete darkness... Someone took a angle grinder and cut our metal door 1/3 from the bottom to break in. Wife was still with me, and all I had was a cell phone light.... So I said nope, get back In the truck now, and we pulled down the street keeping our headlights on the door and called the cops.
6 cars came.... They surrounded the building, waited for a k9 unit and then sweeped the building. They didn't get into our main building... But they cut a $600 door apart.... Then cut a section out of the next door (to see if there was a alarm on it) and turned off the breaker, and tried to break into the warehouse through the drywall - it was an hour prior to me showing up... So my working theory is they were going to come back in a few hours, see if anyone noticed the door was cut... And if the power was still off,.then break into the building.
Whole ordeal took 3-4 hours with me cutting plywood and aluminum to "fix" the door, tell the alarm company to call me if there's any further power outages, etc. I was really surprised and impressed that 6 cops showed up within 10 mins of me calling the non emergency line, and how serious they took it once they saw the door cut.
Then on the 26th I drove the wife to Portland so she can have in n out... We haven't lived in USA for 15ish years now, so decided to have a mini trip since it's only 6 hours away. I forgot my shaver so I went into the store.... I'm not joking when I say 90% of the items were behind glass. I thought I was just in. A sketchy part of town.... But it took me 20 mins to get the shaver as someone had to come with a key, then escort us to the front to pay.... Probably took 15 mins of the guys time for a $5 shaver!
We went to a few different targets and Fred Meyers... Everrrrything was locked up. All the laundry detergents... All cosmetics, mouth wash, shavers... Every single toy behind glass.... It wasn't as bad as the first store, but half of our weekly items would be behind glass.... At that point I'd just buy everything online instead of waste my time in that.
Is it just a Washington / Portland thing? Or is it like that everywhere now? Up here they lock certain things... I remember waiting 30 mins to get a can of spray paint at Walmart and then just walking out. Cant imagine everything being locked up though.... I foresee it coming with how bad things are getting... So I'll be doing everything as pay and pickup! I can't imagine locking stuff up isn't affecting the stores bottom line.... So theft would have to be really high in order to make it worth it.
Anyways... Long story! I'll include some photos. New door is going in on Friday, along with some solar cameras, and motion sensors added to our electrical room, as well as a camera pointed right at the door that'll alert us of any motion the moment there's motion. We have the warehouse and office wired up like crazy, the electrical room just has a door sensor on it which they bypassed by cutting the door... So if you're just relying on door sensors, now might be the time to rethink and get some motion ones as well!
