Police calls: Atherton, Woodside, Portola Valley, Menlo Park

As I read about all the thefts of tools, computers, phones etc, it occurred to me that it's much harder to resell things which are highly marked up. Immediately I took a sharpie and marked the top of my ibook with my name and email address. It is so visible that no one who doesn't have my name could use it accept in private. It won't guarantee no one would take it, but it does reduce its resale value markedly (no pun intended.) I have seen students put non-removeable stickers on phones, graphing calculators, ipods and other highly stealable items. In fact, as a math teacher, if a student left a calculator in my room, I often knew whose it was from the stickers. Construction tools could be marked with the owner's name in paint. Again, no guarantees, but if I were a thief I'd prefer an unmarked tool to one with a name.

Good point Margo, and nowadays our devices can be equipped with tracking, and our homes with cameras to monitor and report directly to us for any break ins or alarm set offs. Let's beef up our outdoor security systems and catch more of these Scrooges. I recently turned over video to police from my side yard surveillance camera of questionable activity near my neighbor's home.

>>>turned over video to police from my side yard surveillance camera of questionable activity near my neighbor's home

That's interesting.

In more ways than one.