kicking in doors with your foot? stupid. no gloves, stupid. breaking windows without duct tape or a wet towel, retarded. not checking to see if someone is there first, double retarded.
boring...

fist i have to agree with you no gloves no protective measures on the thiefs part if they were professionals they would take precautions i would think

if i was going to break into someones house and steal from them i would not care what got broke and i would take care not to leave any fingerprints or dna as that is also now on a data base that big brother can track if it wants too

They are amatures, but I attacked this issue from a different angle. Read my post in the main forum called 'Cat-burglars'...

~RS

Thievery depends on quickness as thieves go around kicking in doors & smashing windows for access. But the best way of getting into a house would be using the quietest means possible, as most often homes that are broken into are usually lefted unlocked. The same goes for stolen cars.

How about showing some imaginative ways to get in a secure house?

- I've used a universal remote on a garage door, as this works on homes with attached garages.

- Apartment landlords often use cheap bathroom locks on frontdoors that you can open with the credit card trick.

- Many basement windows can be "jiggled" unlock.

- I heard of another guy that used paint remover to go through one of those old "coal shutes" some homes have.

- There's also a hundred easy ways to get around surveillance equipment.

Can't they talk about that kind of stuff?

pokerhed - they do check to see if someone is there first. Remember him getting the phone number from information and calling the house.

howlinjoe - the show is still young. They seem to show new stuff all the time. Hey maybe they will see this post and take some of your sugestions.

I dont know if burglars are too worried about their fingerprints or DNA being discovered with the style of robberies they are showing on this show. They are in and out, smash and grab in under 10 minutes. If you were a burglar and expected to murder someone en route to your potential prize, then ya it would make sense to wear some gloves or whatever. Oh ya and its a tv show. And talking about the creative ways to break into a house, I think the point of this show is to show viewers and the "victims" just how easy it is for them to get inside. If I knew a robber had to perform a circus stunt or wiggle down a chimney to get into my house, then it wouldnt hit home like they want their show to hit home with the viewers, say just walking through the front door, or kicking a wimpy door in

You don't suppose that they don't take all of those precautions because they know they're not really stealing the stuff, do you? The 'burglar' knows the homeowners are watching him. Why would he jump through all of those hoops?

I'm guessing that they did take those precautions when they were actually making their livings stealing.

I think most of you people are forgetting the BIG PICTURE. This is a TV show about how to make people more conscious about home security. It is not the "Politically Correct way to break into a house by taping a window or using a towel and other stuff like that.
I'm sure Matt & Jon know all about how to break in and not get caught. If you ask me these guys are Pro's. But remember this is TV, Hollywood, They are probably told to do something Flamboyant so it looks good for ratings. The show is an hour long and its geared toward informing homeowners on how to be safe and secure.

I don't think thieves care about fingerprints and DNA becasue they are usually under 18 and not in the system yet.

When I was robbed, the thief used my bathroom and left a few nice prints around the house. They never caught him (and the reason why I say him is because he left the toilet seat up).

The show is getting boring and very predictable. First off, these guys are NOT convicts…as in being to prison, or having an extensive criminal record. If you ever read their Bios you will find that they were nothing more than bored teenagers who got away with crime until they had a brush with the law, and got caught later after they became adults, and were fined and given probation. That’s it! If they were lucky they might have spent 1 day overnight in jail.LMAO! (I don’t think Jon or Matt would make it in prison lol) In any event, I find the drawer riffling, mattress flipping, closet emptying, door kicking and sugar bowl tossing getting very old!

Glorification of any criminal behavior

I whole heatedly agree with you. Give it a few months and the knuckle head copy cats will be coming out of the wood work trying to mimic the behavior on this show. I notice that there is no disclaimer at the beginning of the It Takes a Thief Show at least warning to people “not to try this at home” or “attempt this behavior or activity.” I can see it now……someone gets busted burglarizing a house and indicated that he learned it on It Takes a Thief lol. Here comes the lawsuit from the homeowner against Discovery. Even Myth Busters has a disclaimer throughout the show! How come It Takes a Thief does not have a disclaimer.

Many television shows have met their demise due to people using or recreating the behavior. {Lets not forget the MTV show Jack A**} It was a funny show, but had to be canceled due to people copying the behavior and getting seriously hurt. I know that I am going to get the usual response about people being responsible for their own actions blah blah blah. The fact remains that this show is going to single handedly cause problems. Glorification of any criminal behavior against persons or property under the guise of “educational TV” is pure liberal garbage. This is nothing more than irresponsible programming. Trying to trivialize and make light of burglary/robbery and trying to make it palatable for the public is wrong.

How many burglaries have resulted in homicide and abductions! Trying to mainstream burglary as just a property crime is pure %100 BS!! It is much more than that. If you want to get responsible advice regarding home and personal security, contact your local police department or insurance company. Enough said!

A real thief would never take stolen jewelry to a pawnshop. Pawnshops report everything they take in to the police department! You have to give a photo ID and a thumbprint. That is probably how these clowns illustrious criminal careers came to a halt.

I haven't seen a window being broken once without gloves. IN FACT, find a show where Jon hasn't worn gloves.

Did you really just say DUCT TAPE AND A WET-TOWEL? Duct tape, is almost a valid arguement. Wet-towel? What are you using a wet-towel for? I would love to know.

Either way, breaking a window isn't a big risk at all unless someone hears it obviously. Often times, if people look at a broken window, they don't immediately think it's a burglary. Broken windows just aren't that uncommon nowadays to consider them as being a cause for alarm. How many times have you broken a window as a kid playing baseball or something?

Duct-tape he says... please. If it's a quick job, in and out, and your gonna tape up the window ?

You also said they didn't check to see if anyone was home???

WOW?

I guess from your neck of the woods ringing a doorbell doesn't seem to signal an intent to reach anybody inside... ?

And even then, there's no need, the guy knows there's no one in the house, but he does it anyway, it's not all about finding out if someone's inside, but if someone happens to see you, they see you ring the bell and they'll disperse after that.

On the pawnshop comment-not all pawnshops are run cleanly like that.

About DNA-hard to do so when you don't spill blood, are actually wearing gloves (apparently someone needs glasses), I mean the only type of DNA even remotely possibly left behind on any of the tapings would be hair, and even then, the guy always wears a hat.

Nevertheless, this isn't real robbing, it's a simulation.

[This message was edited by mod_ivy on 03-24-05 at 06:49 AM.]

[This message was edited by mod_ivy on 03-26-05 at 01:52 PM.]

I find it rather humorous when kcjailer contradicts himself so often. but when you do it as a reply to your own post? in one post you say these guys are amateurs they don't know what they are doing its all show, in the next you talk about how they are teaching the up and coming thieves how to do a better job. Which is it? I for one enjoy the show.

quote:

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Originally posted by crowncty:
A real thief would never take stolen jewelry to a pawnshop. Pawnshops report everything they take in to the police department! You have to give a photo ID and a thumbprint. That is probably how these clowns illustrious criminal careers came to a halt.

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That's funny b/c on the news just the other day several pawn shops were busted up for selling LOTS of stolen goods; seems it's a common practice to me ... just an observation.

quote:

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Originally posted by crowncty:
A real thief would never take stolen jewelry to a pawnshop. Pawnshops report everything they take in to the police department! You have to give a photo ID and a thumbprint. That is probably how these clowns illustrious criminal careers came to a halt.

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Which is exactly how my burglars got caught, LOL!

Okay, it wasn't jewelry -- it was a COMPUTER!! DUH!! Ya know, serial numbers???

Remember Michael Jordan's father was murdered by a couple of jerks who used his dad's cellphone and took photos of themselves playing with the loot. Um, they got caught.

So what's a "real" thief?

Hi,i dont think anyone here is looking at the big picture..... the point of this is not how to break into a house, but how to protect it.....john and Matt are not worried about DNA or fingerprints becauase they cant get caught (people all ready know who broke in and there on national TV!) also about the pawn shop thing..... i think thy're just saying that, they cant really say where they sell the stuff because that would probably not be a good thing to advertise. the big picture is to rob a house, make an example, and protect

Exactly, Bibbles. A lot of us get it. Those who condemn this show as a burglar tutorial are seriously overestimating the number of burglars who might be watching The Discovery Channel versus the number of decent Americans who think this is a valuable public service. Not to mention the assumption by the naysayers that this is novel information to the criminal element of society.

I've mentioned before that anti-crime reality shows are not new. Heck, ten years ago I watched B.J. Bittenbinder give "Street Smart" tips for pledges on PBS! The furor among a very few posters here is kinda absurd. Just MHO, of course.

Even if these guys left hairs or DNA behind, it might not matter. Remember, if the cops have nothing to compare it to, it's useless. Do cops even seriously bother to take that much evidence for a home robbery? I think they just take the information and leave. It's not murder. DNA analysis is expensive too, I've heard.

Anyway, like I said before, if I rob someone, and there's nothing for the cops to compare the evidence to, it's useless. There's no national DNA database or anything. Did you know it's easier to get away with random murder than to get away with a murder of an acquaintance or friend? If I killed a random person, the cops have no idea why that person was killed, and who could have done it. Any evidence found at the scene would be useless. Now, if I killed my girlfriend or dad, then the cops would come around, and put the pinch on.

That's how people get caught.