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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Auto Burglary Prevention in Seminole

Locks & Locksmiths in the News Tampa Bay Locksmiths
Author
Gilles Deacur
Residents of Seminole (Pinellas County) that leave their vehicles unlocked may find a surprise.

It seems that the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is checking vehicles and locking them after placing a nice brochure on keeping your car locked.

This program is targeting the Palm Harbor and Seminole areas because vehicle burglary reports are above average there.

The police checked 239 cars on the evening of Feb. 5 and found 51 unlocked. That's over 21%! Wow!

I have a hard time comprehending that it's 2010 and people still leave their cars unlocked.

The fact that the police are locking your cars for you raises a few questions:

If you routinely leave your only set of keys hidden inside the car, now do you call a locksmith to open the car?

If you leave your car unlocked because the locks don't work or you don't have a key to the doors, are you going to need a locksmith to open the vehicle?

I haven't had any calls related to this yet, and I wonder if this is going to impact business any.

Deputies begin auto burglary prevention
Posted by
Gilles Deacur
in Locks & Locksmiths in the News, Tampa Bay Locksmiths at 10:39
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Locksmithing and Domestic Disputes

Locks & Locksmiths in the News
Author
Gilles Deacur
One of the "hazards" of locksmithing is the potential conflict between the person who hired the locksmith, and the people they want to keep out.

Quite often, a locksmith is called in to keep employees, ex-wives, ex-husbands, unreliable contractors, etc. out.

It's always on the back of my mind, "What if the disgruntled (insert relationship here) comes back while I'm here?" I don't always enjoy the prospect of a job turning into a crime scene.

Here's a story about a locksmith in Oregon that had to change the locks for a woman who was trying to keep her partner out:

Oregon assistant AG Susan Gerber checks into treatment after being accused of strangling and punching her wife

The locksmith arrived to rekey the locks and witnessed a physical confrontation involving punching and choking, so he called the police.
Posted by
Gilles Deacur
in Locks & Locksmiths in the News at 10:17
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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

One Reason We Use Spool Pins

Locks & Locksmiths in the News Sunshine Locksmith Team Promotional Spot
Author
Gilles Deacur
Here's a news story about a couple that were going through a separation and the husband broke into the house:

Ill. murder suspect threatened to kill 2nd wife

The husband was a Chicago police sergeant and had lock picking tools.

The husband offered to change the locks on the house for the wife after the separation. The wife woke up in the middle of the night and found the former husband standing over her.

The wife did not know if the husband had made a set of keys or used the locksmith tools she said he carried.

When we (Sunshine Locksmith Team) rekey locks, we put spool pins into the locks whenever possible. This makes lock picking much more difficult. Not impossible, but it's going to be a lot harder for somebody without much picking experience to open the locks. I'm not aware of any other locksmith company in the Tampa Bay area that uses spool pins inside their locks. I don't know why. It does make a difference in the security level.

The next time you need your locks rekeyed we recommend you ask your locksmith to use spool pins (or mushroom pins). After all, it could mean the difference in your personal security.
Posted by
Gilles Deacur
in Locks & Locksmiths in the News, Sunshine Locksmith Team Promotional Spot at 18:47
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Child Locked in Car Almost Two Hours

Locks & Locksmiths in the News
Author
Gilles Deacur
Here's a story about a child in New Zealand that managed to lock himself in a vehicle:

One Click and Ashley's Trapped

It seems he grabbed his mother's keys and remote while getting strapped into the vehicle and ended locking himself in the car after his mother closed his door and went to the driver's side.

Sneaky kid. Remotes aren't toys.

The mother initially called the police. But the police couldn't open the car. So a locksmith was called that eventually got the car opened.

Careful with those keys, parents. It could happen to anybody I suppose.
Posted by
Gilles Deacur
in Locks & Locksmiths in the News at 18:39
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If You Have Weed, Don't Call the Cops to Unlock Your Car

Locks & Locksmiths in the News
Author
Gilles Deacur
Here's a rather funny story about somebody in Perkasie, Pennsylvania that tried to save a few bucks and ended up paying the price:

He Should Have Called a Locksmith

It seems somebody locked himself out of his car, and instead of calling a locksmith to open the vehicle, he called the police. People can either pay a locksmith and have a professional open the vehicle, or call the police and have somebody with little training open the car.

The police don't have the best tools or training to unlock a car. But that's not really the point of the story here.

The police arrived to unlock the vehicle and once the vehicle was opened they found marijuana and drug paraphernalia inside.

Not the brightest person. Good for the police.
Posted by
Gilles Deacur
in Locks & Locksmiths in the News at 18:30
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Friday, February 5, 2010

Police in Competition With Private Businesses

Locks & Locksmiths in the News
Author
Gilles Deacur
In some areas of the country, the police and fire departments open vehicles for free.

This poses several problems.


  1. These people usually have never been trained properly and have a much higher chance of damaging your vehicle. Then they leave you with the bill to repair.

  2. The time and resources spent on unlocking a vehicle should be spent where the taxpayers want the money to go... community protection and catching bad guys. Not unlocking vehicles for people that don't bother with spare keys.

  3. These services are usually done free, which hurts private enterprise that invests real money in tools and advertising.

  4. The police generally bypass the licensing requirements, business licences, taxes, paperwork, etc. that puts a legitimate business at a disadvantage.



Sure, there are instances where unlocking a vehicle by the police would be warranted. Such as if a child or pet was trapped inside. Or some other emergency that put somebody's life at risk. But those instances are very, very rare compared to the majority of vehicle unlocking calls.

This article discusses a locksmith that has this problem with his local police department in Marietta, Ohio:

Local businessman in competition with the police
Posted by
Gilles Deacur
in Locks & Locksmiths in the News at 14:53
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Thursday, February 4, 2010

Locksmith in West Berlin Provided Keys to Police

Locks & Locksmiths in the News
Author
Gilles Deacur
This story is about a locksmith in West Berlin that copied special security keys for the police that opened traffic light boxes, police call stations, and many stations in the city. Keys to a hotel, vehicles, mailboxes, and a television station were also made and given to the police.

File reveals West Berlin locksmith copied police keys for Stasi

What did the locksmith get sentenced to? Eighteen months of probation.
Posted by
Gilles Deacur
in Locks & Locksmiths in the News at 11:33
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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Difficult Eviction

Locks & Locksmiths in the News
Author
Gilles Deacur
Sometimes I get calls to rekey the locks at a house where people are still living. I don't enjoy being the guy that locks them out.

I've done dozens of evictions and foreclosures. The vast majority are peaceful without confrontation. (Some aren't, and will be the subject of a future blog I'm sure.)

This story here describes an eviction that was tougher than most:

Aptos renter evicted, arrested three days after police standoff

The Sheriff went with a locksmith to evict this renter, but the renter would not open the door.

Normally in this situation the locksmith would need to pick open the locks. This is the part I absolutely hate. I never know if the person on the other side of the door has a gun and they are going to shoot through the door.

Well, this renter had screwed the doors shut through the frames. And he had a history of firearm use at this house.

So I guess the police entered forcefully a few days later and busted through the doors. No locksmith needed. I would have refused to open that house on that situation. The police would have to use their forceful entry tools and bust the door down.

I'm sure the locksmith was able to get the house secured after that.
Posted by
Gilles Deacur
in Locks & Locksmiths in the News at 11:01
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(Page 1 of 1, totaling 8 entries)
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