Burglarized yet again

[yanajon]

For those of you with your head still buried in the sand regarding safety in Guanajuato ---
My wife and I drove off for 1 1/2 hours yesterday afternoon, and once again came home to the aftermath of another burglary in the house. This time they used a hydraulic device to bend the bars on the windows apart enough to allow entry.
All of my wife's jewelry, my expensive camera, and my fire-proof box containing various important papers, memorabilia from my deceased mother and my kids, etc is gone (I'm sure that in time we'll discover other things as well).
This time we DID call the police who informed us that no officer would be coming to investigate until Cristina and I came to their office and filled out the necessary "paperwork". We weren't excited about leaving the house with broken/bent bars , but armed both teenaged kids with baseball bats and went to their office. The forms only took about 20 minutes and a couple of hours later (6 hours after the burglary) an officer did arrive only to tell us that nothing could be done.
This marks 5 robberies in 4 years (3 radios from my pick-up parked on busy streets and twice in the house).
One wouldn't think by looking at the house that it would be an easy task to break in, as ALL windows and doors have bars, but with this hydraulic device (small and very available at larger ferreterias), nothing is secure.
I suppose I could wrap the house in razor wire or electric cables (400 volt), but I really don't want to live like 'that'.

Tomorrow (Monday) morning from 10:00 until 12:00 is a weekly meeting open to the public at the Casa De Cultura, usually attended by the chief of police, the Secretario de securidad and often the mayor.
I will be in attendance and intend to inform them that all of Guanajuato's publicity of being a safe and secure city for tourists is a lie. I personally know 3 people who have been assaulted in the street in the past 3 months. One has been in a coma since early November. I know few people who haven't been robbed. I intend to inform them that I will do everything in my powers to inform potential tourists thinking of visiting GTO, to think again.
My neighbor (Mexican) who usually attends these meetings feels that with a large turn-out from the Gringo community supporting me, something positive might result from my little 'speech'. As you know, tourism is everything to GTO and my spreading the word certainly won't help tourism.

We can no longer leave our house together. One of us will always be home and 'on guard'. No more drives into Leon shopping together and no more get-aways to the beach.

Fool me once, shame on you, but fool me 5 times -- who's the fool?
My house will soon hold a "for sale" sign. We're leaving.
My dreams of retiring and living in peace in beautiful Guanajuato are a bust.

[DML]

That is horrible. I am so sorry that this has happened to you. Can I ask where you live?

[jesm]

So sorry for your difficulties. As a help to fellow residents can you offer any insight as to why your home has been burgled now twice. Is it a "target of opportunity" affording concealment, or please any objective ideas as to why there? Prying open iron bars is a brazen undertaking not for the faint of heart and, especially in daylight, not done without considerable risk of discovery. Thank you.

[yanajon]

We live on Temezcuitate just below the Paneramica.
Behind our home is a vacant lot, and can only be seen from a couple of casas, one of which is currently vacant.
Another reason (I suspect) is that when they see that the car is gone, they know at least I am gone -- or maybe they watch??
It's a simple thing to just ring the timbre and if someone answers say "opps, wrong house" and if no one answers, the house is empty.

[Barbara]

I'm so sorry this has happened to you, and I hope that it doesn't happen again.
Just a reminder that it's important that all of us, no matter where we live, watch out for our neighbors. My dog wouldn't stop barking because a guy was knocking on doors yesterday (he has a good sense of strangers and alerted us to burglars next door a year ago). This time, I asked from the window "quien buscas?" and he answered that he needed money for his sick brother. I told him no, and that he should go away because on our callejon we call the police when we see a stranger.
It's important for communities to organize. We had two meetings with Lic. Ugalde, the director of public security, and now we have a police patrol on our alley and he got some branches cut that were blocking a streetlight. It's not perfect, but it's a start.
Good luck at the meeting tomorrow.

[Kay Curtis]

Years ago when I lived with my daughter in San Diego, CA, we had our house burgled a couple of times and the insurance people said this is a common practice for professionals. They get a small take on the first time through and then are assured of a lot of new stuff the second time around.

[colleen]

I am very sorry to hear about your loss. It could happen to any of us. I live in an area of nice homes, all very open to the street and easy to enter. Even I could jump over the gate when closed. All the homes face different directions. People have moved in and out of the neighbor house and I haven't even seen it. I don't know the neighbors, I've never seen them. BUT everyone has a set routine. Anybody walking up or down from the Panoramica to Pastita can figure out who is home and who is gone during specific hours.

Once while my husband was home along with the dogs and the gardener and maid, the neighbor's house was broken into. I suppose it could look like they are repairing something on the gate. The neighbors were so angry with the police officer who patrols. But it is so easy. All you need is someone watching the cop and calling if he should start to walk up the street. They must have backed a car or truck up to the house because TV's, computers and other things were taken. If a neighbor had been home and seen it, they might have called the police. But we didn't see anything and the person across from the entrance was at work.

The laws here are so different and even if the police are chasing the guys, once they enter a home, it's all over. I don't think a Mexican is going to report anything. It would take a miracle to catch and convict anyone. I was very glad to hear that there was a miracle recently when a car was found and maybe the person who stole it.

I think it's probably a very good idea to stop pretending that this is some kind of "magical" city. It's just another city in a country that does not deal with house-breakers the way we would expect. Some friends were approached by 2 men who talked about their dog. They wanted to be noticed. Then they climbed a wall and broke into a property. When they came out with the "goods", they held them up to be photographed. They were that arrogant. Just awful.

[RandR]

Sorry to hear about the loss.

I'd like to share our experiences with a couple different situations. We are not permanent residents of GTO, but we do own a small home there and we visit as often as we can, but our primary residence is Tucson.

Several years ago, our home in Tucson was burglarized, while I was making a brief visit to the local hardware store. The police did show up, eventually. The thieves were never apprehended as far as we know.

In April 2013, we received an email saying our home in GTO had been burglarized. Not just one, but three neighbors called the police, who showed up immediately and arrested the three teenagers, who were still inside.

For us, the bottom line is that bad things can happen anywhere, you minimize your risk and live life.

We have always felt safe in GTO and have never been in a situation that made us uncomfortable, although we always take reasonable precautions, like we would anywhere in the world.

[cam00]

Unfortunately, I addressed this very problem in an earlier post on a Chicago Tribune article that appeared here, that characterized Guanajuato in fairy tale like imagery. I gave recommendations that included hi-intensity lamps/and or an alarm installed at critical locations around the perimeter of a persons house that would be activated by motion sensors. These systems are relatively cheap at Radio Shack. I recommended carrying a hand-held taser that is legal defense in this city. I recommended upgrading any padlocks to ones with a hardened case and closing bolt that uses security type keys. There were some on here who derided my suggestions. Since then, while in embajadores, I was attacked and struck in the face, also kicked in the legs a few times. On another occasion, a $500 Citizen watch was stolen from me. Regarding the 1st instance, the guy was somewhat drunk, so he did no physical damage.

It's only going to get worse, sadly, because the global economy, and MEXICOs economy are degrading, and will result in more types of all crime.
I live right below where your house was burglarized, and I am virtually certain I know which band of young theives caused the crime. Email me privately on this list and I will fill you in with the relevant info.

With the information you provided, I will devise something that will bring a big surprise for anyone attempting to "bend the bars" here on this property. Jesm is uneducated to assume that bending ordinary window and door bars on apartments or houses here in MEXICO is a difficult thing. It certainly isn't. I'm sorry for the break-ins, and hope that I can help you feel more secure with any security devices you might decide to implement. I have the tools and knowledge regarding these types of systems and would be glad to help.

[doncoulter]

Regarding Tasers, I quote from a post I made earlier: "According to Taser de México, which ought to know, Tasers are restricted to police use in Mexico (http://www.taserdemexico.com/mexico/ ). The website says that apart from police use, both the sale and the importation of Tasers are illegal here."

If someone has a reliable source to contradict this, I would like to see it.

It's my understanding that stun guns, which are different from Tasers, are legal here.

Don