A SWAT team stormed my house

February sixteenth began like every typical Friday evening. My husband and I made a decision to remain dwelling, grill hen and make a salad for dinner. At about 6:45 p.m., we heard some loud rumbling overhead.

We walked onto the again patio, and two police helicopters have been overhead — shining lights throughout our property, and a recording echoed, “Police. You are under arrest. Stay right there and I won’t shoot you.” 

As I appeared throughout the fence, a swarm of armed members of the Phoenix SWAT Team with a number of canine have been circling our property. One of the fellows mentioned, “Yeah, there’s a jammer right here.” He picked it up. I leaned over the patio and requested, “What’s going on?” 

The police instructed me to go inside

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A SWAT member mentioned, “Ma’am, A South American gang is targeting homes to steal from. The jammer says you might have been next. Do we have permission to enter your property?” I mentioned, “Yes!” after which he requested one thing like, “If we find anyone, will you pursue charges so we can arrest them?” I replied, “Of course!”

I opened the driveway gates to our property and the visitor house whereas Barry tossed the police keys to open the safety gates. It seems that when the gang noticed we have been dwelling, they probably diverted their consideration to the house subsequent door. A house 4 doorways down from us wasn’t so fortunate. 

The house owner left at 5 p.m. to have dinner and obtained a notification his safety cameras have been offline at 5:05 pm. He thought the web went down. The gang broke in and took $25,000 in money and valuables price $100,000. They have been out and in in lower than 10 minutes.

How are they getting away with this?

The gang locations mobile and Wi-Fi jammers across the properties they’re focusing on. This approach, safety cameras and telephones are ineffective. A Phoenix police officer instructed me the gang in all probability seen nothing was down in our house.

Our dwelling’s safety cameras and web are hard-wired. Even when the thieves tried to jam the Wi-Fi indicators, the safety digital camera’s crimson lights confirmed they have been recording every thing. We additionally nonetheless have a landline.

But how scary is that? Your telephone would not work. Your cameras aren’t recording something. On the upside, the gang would not carry weapons. If they get caught, they’re going to spend about six months in jail earlier than being extradited again to Chile.

If you’d like to observe the motion captured by my safety cameras, I confirmed them throughout a Kim Komando Today video stream. I’m so grateful for our police pressure. 

Nothing is random

The gang totally scopes out properties beforehand. They drive the neighborhood and search for properties on actual property websites to get an thought of the place the first bed room is situated. They search for canine, too.

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It’s not solely an issue in Phoenix. This is occurring all around the nation. A good friend was robbed by the same gang in a guard-gated neighborhood in California. Kudos to Phoenix Police — they arrested three members of the gang who have been in my neighborhood that evening.

Invest in tech

We constructed our dwelling, so it was straightforward to put in the wiring for the web and virtually every thing related to it for the quickest connection that additionally gained’t be vulnerable to a jammer. Of course, you’ll be able to hardwire after building, however that is pricey and sometimes unrealistic. Here are some choices:

• Wireless cameras go kaput with no sign. Try a wired digital camera for backup.
• A cam with SD card storage is sweet, too, as a result of it’ll nonetheless report if there’s no Wi-Fi.
• Put up motion-activated lights. It makes it tougher for anybody to sneak round.
• A femtocell (consider it as a mini cell tower) might be sufficient to maintain your connection if thieves drop jammers outdoors — T-Mobile or Verizon.
• Have an Amazon Echo? Away mode helps you to management lights so it seems just like the house is occupied.
• This modern gadget makes it appear like somebody’s watching TV at your house if you’re not there.
• Put safety indicators in your property. Here are two for $7.99.

Get your house offline

Check Zillow, Realtor.com and Redfin for photographs of your house. The extra crooks know in regards to the structure, the higher for them. Here’s easy methods to take away these pics.

Zillow

• Go to zillow.com/sellerlanding/claimyourhome and kind in your tackle. Verify you’re the authorized proprietor by deciding on your identify from the drop-down checklist.
• Click the profile icon and choose Your Home from the menu possibility. Click on the tile to your dwelling, then Edit Facts from the Owner View of the property web page.
• Click the X within the nook of the photograph or click on on a person photograph and Remove Photo. To take away all photos, click on Delete all photographs. Hit Save Changes.

Realtor

• Go to realtor.com/myhome, kind in your tackle and click on Claim Your Home on your private home’s profile web page.
• Log into your profile and go to your proprietor dashboard beneath the My Home tab. Click the Remove Photos button.

Redfin

• After creating an account and claiming your private home, you may make adjustments out of your Owner Dashboard.
• Log into Redfin and go to your Owner Dashboard utilizing the drop-down menu beneath your identify within the top-right nook of the web page.
• Click on your private home and Edit Photos, then Hide itemizing photographs. Click Yes, Hide Photos when it pops up.

You’re not achieved but. It’s a good suggestion to blur your house from Google Maps and Apple Maps whilst you’re at it.

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Plus, we’re TikTook ideas that execs warn are your crops’ worst nightmare. Andrew has a wild story about getting scammed on a courting app. It’s chilly outdoors, so listed below are some high methods for staying heat along with your tech. And, as all the time, listener letters. You gained’t consider what one man known as me.

Check out my podcast “Kim Komando Today” on Apple, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast participant.

Listen to the podcast right here or wherever you get your podcasts. Just seek for my final identify, “Komando.”

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