Let me explain....
After thousands of property crimes on Lightcatch, and our unique approach, we probably had a lot better data to work with. With all this data the problem no longer seemed very complicated.
The majority of victims were doing one of two things. They were either trying to lock up their place with fencing and locked doors and lighting or they were trying to throw up cameras and catch anything that happens as proof to forward to the police,
The data showed that both of these approaches were almost the same in their effectiveness. All of the cameras people had installed had made very little difference.
What was happening in both cases was that the delays and lack of good data was
making it so no one could truly own the problem. Without good data about a crime coming into the system, criminals were constantly able to slip through the cracks, ending up back on the streets to do it again.
In fact, this problem has gotten so big it’s kind of surprising how it just snuck up on everyone. Take the city of New York for an example. Every morning of every single day thieves go out and steal 90,000 packages.
Every morning the police wake up, knowing another 90,000 packages are about to be stolen and they go out trying to catch the bad guys.
Instead of the thieves being afraid of doorbell cameras, Facebook, and next door neighbours, the criminals just don’t care. Instead of the police being able to catch and stop enough of them that the theives stop stealing 90,000 packages they can’t.
This is not just package thefts, there are also vehicle thefts, quad thefts, catalytic convertor thefts, copper theft, fuel thefts, trailer thefts, shoplifting theft, hundreds of thousands of bicycle thefts, thefts of items from inside your garage, and thefts from criminals breaking into homes and businesses.
The problem was all the same. In almost every case,
the reporting comes too slow, and the video footage is rarely good enough.This sickening pattern of theft happens all over the US and Canada.
Even though the two countries have different laws about crime, different rules about guns and self-defense, different police forces, and different court systems - none of these things make a real difference in keeping people safe.
Many of these crimes are being committed by desperate addicts, which means that they are not well planned and sophisticated, they are just desperate people who are willing to try anything.
When desperate addicts and a few repeat offenders can get away with this kind of thing over and over they end up causing a trail of emotional and financial damage to innocent people. They can get so used to forcing their way through crimes that sometimes when someone gets in their way the victim ends up getting killed.
It doesn’t take someone dying to have deep scars though. I’ve talked to many people who never expected something to happen to them. Even when the crime wasn’t that serious, the victims who live through it are often deeply affected for years afterwards. That is something insurance never pays for.
I want to show you today how many people are leaving these kinds of worries a thing of the past.