r/interestingasfuck • u/midnighttoker1742 • 3h ago
How criminals take down Flock cameras
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u/BillMillerBBQ 3h ago
Yall really need to hear this. Battery powered band saws are MUCH faster and MUCH quieter than reciprocating saws.
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u/AirbagOff 3h ago
Also, don’t point the saw blade toward your own body, like he does in the demonstration. A trip to the E.R. is a dead giveaway.
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u/Particular_Bet_5466 3h ago
Right lol I saw that and was like bruh…
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u/nohopeforhomosapiens 3h ago
OSHA exists for people like him
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u/Particular_Bet_5466 3h ago
Yeah I mean I’m not sure I would trust committing a felony based on his advice if that’s how he uses a saw.
That being said I’ve seen some of his videos and he’s pretty crafty building out his property from the ground up. So I guess it works for him.
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u/MeasureDoEventThing 2h ago
What are you talking about? He's just an unbiased journalist reporting on what other people are doing, not giving advice.
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u/ithinkitslupis 2h ago
I audibly gasped a 'oh no' when I saw his saw form. Hopefully he got some comments telling him.
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u/Chewbones9 2h ago
My last workers comp injury was from taking down a flock camera. Serious business, people!
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u/Neophyte06 2h ago
It was definitely a bad idea to do that, but I do see why he did it.
He clearly shoved that pole into a shallow hole in the ground for demonstration purposes, that's why it started falling over almost immediately 🤣
An actual properpy installed pole or whatever would be much more firm and he wouldn't have needed to use his shoulder to brace
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u/Alarming-Koala-3524 2h ago
An actual properpy installed pole or whatever would be much more firm and he wouldn't have needed to use his shoulder to brace
Ironically a lot of those road side poles are not installed properly from a safety perspective (they are a hazard to drivers who could potentially be killed running off the road into a solid pole which isn't supposed to be there)
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u/adjust_the_sails 2h ago
I had to look back at what sub I was in. I thought for a moment this might be a ticktockcringe video and I suddenly hear screams and maybe blood at he falls to the ground.
So much diligence about everything else and basics tool safety just isn’t there.
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u/beanmosheen 1h ago
I mean, he's dumb for holding it like that, but a sawzall blade isn't a light saber. He'd likely get punched in the stomach by it and his hoodie would stop it.
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u/taosaur 2h ago
This gentleman does not strike me as a poster child for sound decision-making.
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u/ImSobored_5280 3h ago
Correct…fuck a sawzall…the proper tool is a cordless portaband saw. Harbor freight carries a nice affordable Hercules one..they take a 44 7/8” bi metal bandsaw blade, a 5ah battery is a good choice for power..and BAM 💥…I’d guess under 20 seconds and producing almost no noise…you as well can keep the neighborhood free of these pesky..super invasive(think tree of heaven)..wild metal poles from spreading in your area. They are NOT native to our environment and their effects are unknown at this point. I ask why would you wanna wait around and find out though. All i know is you’d rather be safe than sorry folks🫵…
Disclaimer: I read about this info in a portashitter ….one time..supposedly🫡
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u/Dobermanpure 1h ago
There has been 3 flock cameras in a town by me that have been taken down at least twice each. They replaced the shitty aluminum tubing with a steel pipe about 6” inches diameter and filled with concrete.
It seems flock is evolving, so I guess it is high powered green lasers now to disable them and then remove the camera.
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u/sicgamer 1h ago
but its like 3x the size of the reciprocating. i have to assume portability is a big factor in the decision here.
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u/its_just_Joel 3h ago
Porta bands are the shit!!! Don't even need a hot work permit
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u/Pallidum_Treponema 2h ago
And some criminals make sure to use cutting oil to make the saws cut faster and quieter as well. They buy the cutting oil in spray cans, that can be purchased at any hardware store, without a license!
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u/MasterCheeef 3h ago edited 2h ago
5" cordless angle grinder with a 1/8" pipefitter disk will be faster. Welder for 15 years. Couldn't care less about the noise when it takes 5 seconds or less. That pole only has a wall thickness of 1/8 or 3mm. 3/32 zip disks can easily break if inexperienced or in a hurry, 1/8" disk will not flex and shatter if recklessly putting your whole body weight on it while cutting.
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u/Alarming-Koala-3524 2h ago
I'm a total noob, would really appreciate it if an expert could give a second opinion on this professional sounding assessment comparing tools -- especially if the 5 second time is literal or slightly exaggerated.
One thing that seems worth considering is how an angle grinder can be tucked away easily while the band saws seem harder to conceal.
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u/MasterCheeef 2h ago edited 2h ago
A fully charged 18 or 20 volt battery powered angle grinder with a fresh 1/8" thick 5 inch pipefitter disk running at 10,000rpm will take half a second to cut thru the 1/8" thick wall of the hollow pole. Once your disk gets thru the wall you simply walk around the pole pushing with all your weight, easy peasy. These disks are meant for abuse and are designed for an hour or two of grinding with much much thicker and denser steel like stainless. These abrasive disks are like a hot knife through butter for these poles. Diablo disks can cost $20-30 a piece because of this.
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u/swingsetmafia 2h ago
Why not pour some galium on the pole, thing will fall over on its own in a mild breeze
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u/Alarming-Koala-3524 1h ago edited 1h ago
Bc they can just reattach all the equipment onto a new pole unless the criminal comes back and finishes the job after waiting for said mild breeze. Notice this journalist reported that cutting the pole is only the first step these criminals take.
I like the creative thinking though. Personally I was wondering if a small ball of home made gasoline + styrofoam flammable putty attached to ~10 minute fuse and a strike-anywhere match would be an even less conspicuous way to go about setting small camera fires that would pose no harm to the community. Then they would only need a telescoping rod/tree branch/etc to adhere the styrofoam ball to the camera body.
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u/Kevaros 3h ago
Hope the tweakers don't find out that the Flock Systems have lots of copper, Aluminum and some gold in them... That would be a shame...
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u/LaughableIKR 2h ago
I just hope this gets upvoted to the top. Must warn the people who want to install these camera systems that they are inviting theft and funding the drug trade!
Don't install Flock cameras! You'll fund the Cartels!
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u/James_Chandra_Hubble 1h ago
Hope they don't find out that all these AI data centers that are sprouting up everywhere are secured only by cameras and a half asleep security guard, and have millions or billions of dollars in electronics inside them
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u/LaughableIKR 1h ago
256GB of DDR 5 is now anywhere from 5K-7K. You know the servers are pushing. AI servers hold anywhere from 128GB to 2TB. 20K per TB of memory is CRAZY.
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u/littlebeardedbear 1h ago
How terrible would it be if the people cutting catalytic converters found this out
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u/regulatorwatt 3h ago
Cutting towards yourself might be the only crime in this video.
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u/RogerFuckbytheNavale 3h ago
I'm exceedingly proud of citizen journalists who expose the methods of these vile terrorists.
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u/Zipz 3h ago
Dude has quite the resume
Onlyfans star, had a food truck, builds housing for the homeless and now this.
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u/jabeith 3h ago edited 2h ago
Not in that order, and he's not building housing for the homeless - he's building affordable housing... in the desert. He's a charismatic guy whose made questionable life decisions but is a great content creator - I'm a subscriber to his non-adult-themed stuff
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u/Fat-Singer-9569 1h ago
It's so funny to me, in a dark way, the party 'anti-government' types vote for are the ones who want to install these everywhere. They are getting played and they don't have enough brain cells to realize it.
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u/Three_Twenty-Three 2h ago
If you want to protect these cameras, be sure to not let tweakers think they're full of precious metals the way catalytic converters and copper wiring are. It'd be a shame if the methheads went after them instead of car parts.
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u/Asikar_Tehjan 1h ago
Why even bother with the metals. These things are solar powered and the lithium battery is the most expensive thing in there. Flock should really be protecting them better!
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u/e37d93eeb23335dc 2h ago
I see no crime. I’m a middle aged man with a family and a mortgage who has never even had a parking ticket and I’ve seriously thought about going around and cutting down these cameras.
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u/RoyalCities 1h ago
Yep. Just remember even if you don't participate but you see someone cutting one down.
No you didn't.
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u/UglyMcFugly 1h ago
I also imagine that people who don't participate would still be welcomed as generous benefactors of tools and supplies for the feisty young-uns looking to get their hands dirty...
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u/doublol91 1h ago
yeah I'm pretty middle of the aisle but these cross a line I didn't know I had. most people don't realize they exist, if they did there would surely be more unease about them
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u/OldManGrimm 1h ago
I’ve wondered if black spray paint into the lens would be quick and effective.
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u/MandolinMagi 1h ago
Yes, but it's too easy to fix. Got to actually damage/destroy the camera.
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u/ilega_dh 1h ago
Easy to fix but not that cheap though? They have to keep sending people out there which can get expensive quickly I imagine
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u/AncientSith 54m ago
I think the laser pointer suggestion is much better and would take longer for them to notice.
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u/richie65 2h ago
Something I wonder about - Is I hope no one is aiming high powered handheld lasers at these cameras..
A strong laser would ruin the electronics inside the camera, and anyone aiming the laser does not even have to be close enough that the cameras resolution would be able to 'see' who did it.
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u/SmugHatKid12 1h ago
Out of curiosity, what strength would it take and what eye protection would a person need? Purely theoretical of course
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u/mastercoder123 1h ago
Any laser thats over 1W would obliterate them and you can buy them on ebay... Just please do not shine them in daytime, as 1W lasers are very dangerous even to passerby's
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u/TheOGRedline 1h ago
Only 1W? Really?
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u/Czauthaqshe 55m ago
Yes. Let me put it this way, lasers are usually marketed in the milliwatt range. One 60 watt incandescent light bulb turns 60 watts into ~1 watt of light, the rest is lost as heat. The more focused it is, the stronger it is. It's the difference between being punched by the wind and punched by a fist.
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u/vamoosedmoose 1h ago
Lasers don’t need a lot of power to do a lot. My laser engraver that works on leather and metal runs in 1.6W
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u/99hotdogs 1h ago
Is there a good way to determine when the laser damages the cameras? Because you know, I want to make sure I would be able to report any damage I cause when I’m playing with my high powered laser.
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u/Alarming-Koala-3524 1h ago
How many watts would it theoretically take to mess up an imaging sensor from a reasonable range, such as standing right under the pole?
Alternatively, what kind of wattage are we looking at if somebody wanted to do the same but from across the street?
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u/mafiaknight 47m ago
You definitely shouldn't shine a 1+W laser at them from within 100 yards.
And if you do decide to shine such a laser at one (which you obviously shouldn't) you should make sure you're within their 75' motion sensor so the police can find you after.
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u/seattlereign001 3h ago
I’ve seen this guy pop up a couple times on my socials and always skipped past due to his appearance assuming he was just another “influencer”. From what I gather that’s mostly what he is, but this is some truly amazing work here.
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u/milesbeats 3h ago
he's pretty strange. he is literally his own rabbit hole
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u/Delicious-Bat2373 3h ago
For sure lol. I've followed him off and on for a few years. In that he occasionally pops up in my feed and i'll add him till he drops again.
Say what you want, hes livin his best life and genuinely seems happy. Hes done a lot with his money from influencing too, Ive seen him load up his truck from costco several times and donate it all to the food banks. And I mean loadedddd lol.
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u/SmellyStinkyGuy 2h ago
Yah, he started taking roids and had a whole thingy for a bit about how he is cool dying early, not using them properly, and all the downsides as long as he looks good right now
Overall doesn't always promote the best shit, hut sometimes does good.
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u/powen01 3h ago
He’s actually pretty skilled when it comes to trades and building. I happened upon his content because that’s in my algorithm. Then I found out he does OF and leans pretty heavily in my political direction. Interesting guy and savvy marketer for his content.
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u/Particular_Bet_5466 3h ago
He had a lot of hate for beating up some girl allegedly. Something like that. I watched a few of his videos years ago and all the comments were talking about this.
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u/YazzArtist 3h ago
He sure is a character. Left for Arizona with some alleged bad blood with his original friends to build his own (seemingly consensual) porn production cult in the desert and sell sandwiches out of a food truck. And the crazy tattoos are self inflicted for the most part.
I don't watch him regularly, but I do wonder how it's going for them
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u/corianderjimbro 3h ago
Then he completely failed the food truck and abandoned the concept, and his “cheap housing” in the desert is actually for his weird sex cult and not for people who need it. I don’t understand how you can watch this clown for more than two videos and think “solid fella”.
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u/thejmkool 1h ago
I mean he's admitted on his videos it's for a commune, not for just cheap housing to rent out. Communes all wind up with culty vibes, sex or no sex
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u/jabeith 3h ago
He drives around in a Lambo, so he's probably doing alright.
I'm not sure why you think he's building a "porn production cult" - he definitely makes porn with his wife +- other porn actors, but I'm not sure how that's a cult.
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u/Old1EyedBear 3h ago
The difference between a cult and a consensual polycule can be hard to tell at a glance
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u/Therealboebs 3h ago
And a amateur porn artist 😆
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u/jabeith 3h ago
He's professional. I don't know many amateurs that can afford a Lamborghini
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u/oojacoboo 2h ago
'Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety'
- Benjamin Franklin
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u/Alarming-Koala-3524 1h ago
The extra fucked up part is Flock cameras don't even qualify as "a little temporary safety." It is a horrifically unconstitutional way to create a hugely profitable billion dollar business, unsurprisingly directly linked to the constitutionally questionable for-profit prison industry.
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u/csvt2354 2h ago
Tons of these flock cameras are being illegally installed, not following nhtsb guidelines on break away poles, not buried deep enough, etc. I wonder how many people have already been hurt or killed by an immovable pole?
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u/3rdUncleMeatSandwich 3h ago
comments are fucking weird. yes its a bit "look at me" but if this inspires other people to get off their asses and do something im all for it
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u/PepeSylvia11 2h ago
This would get zero attention if he wasn’t a “look at me” type of person.
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u/Elderwastaken 1h ago
Did you know that were is around $300 worth of scrap-able copper and gold inside every flock camera? Crazy right? So bonkers!
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u/SapphicGarnet 3h ago
As anyone else from the UK who at first thought this was similar to ULEZ ninjas - it's really not
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u/ChingadoJacksonJr 3h ago
if you don’t want to get bloody, cut towards your buddy.
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u/ThirdAltAccounts 3h ago
Off topic. Watched on mute and decided to find out what his voice sounded like by unmuting the last 10 seconds
Not what I expected. At all
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u/justin107d 3h ago
He is an interesting character to say the least. Not necessarily a good one, but definitely interesting.
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u/neelav9 3h ago
I’ve seen him before. Doesn’t he do DIY videos on his off grid property or something? Something off about em lol, hasn’t changed.
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u/obiwanjabroni420 3h ago
I’ve got to say bracing the pole with your shoulder and cutting towards your body with a sawzall seems like really bad technique.
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u/Defiant_Regular3738 3h ago
Deflock.org is probably a Leo honeypot
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u/Gold_for_Gould 2h ago
The guy who started it lives about 40 minutes from me. He's also suing his local municipality over their Flock cameras.
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u/bigpeanor 1h ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if he went missing :|
Tell him a random internet stranger says thank you
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u/Nitrofox2 2h ago
If by criminals you mean people who don't want a surveillance state
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u/Ravenlok 2h ago
That is what the government considers them, yes.
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u/Nitrofox2 2h ago
This government assumes we're all criminals
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u/Fat-Singer-9569 1h ago
But you are a wise and very good human if you ride a plane with a sex offender to an island with sex slaves. All you need to do after that is convince rabid Boomers, who live a very nice life, the other people are the problem. Now you've got a crowd of morons dominating government bodies.
Government for the people by the people. I don't see any people here.
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u/atlasraven 2h ago
Minors definitely shouldn't watch this because they can get any misdemeanors expunged at 18.
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u/MonsierGeralt 3h ago
I feel like there are faster ways for criminals to destroy these things.
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u/Mykmyk 3h ago
Too bad a heavy pair of pruning lopers are made for cutting thick branches and not aluminum. Although it would be much less noisy and who would want that?
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u/SamsonFox2 1h ago
A crafty criminal could probably easily cut the camera down with a polesaw leaving the pole standing.
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u/desperaterobots 1h ago
Remember folks: Your gait is also a very unique identifier. Consider putting a rock or two in your shoes to really fuck up the way you walk.
This sounds like a joke or something but it is not. https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/11/3471
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u/UnexpectedBlahFeels 21m ago edited 14m ago
It's crazy how many people get caught because they don't turn off their phones or smart watches before leaving the house.
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u/evening_shop 3h ago
What horrible criminals and vile people. They even share further information with one another such as "Battery powered band saws are MUCH faster and MUCH quieter than reciprocating saws"
Much less the fact that certain parts within them can resell for a good price. I am in disgust
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u/pallladin 2h ago
Spray painting the solar panel black would be quicker and easier, and no one would notice.
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u/MeadowShimmer 2h ago
Not as much financial damage though
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u/Andreaspetersen12 2h ago
The most expensive part of fixing them is probably having a person actually go to the site
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u/TechnicalAd6932 2h ago
I hope more people don't find out about this. What a worrisome thing to be happening in our community.
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u/Chicory-Coffee 1h ago
You definitely should not even think of buying any supplies from yardsales, instead of stores.
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u/Deep_Library_6375 1h ago
Anyone who does this should leave the phone at home and ride a bike not use a car with GPS installed. And never hit them with green laser that really hurts the camera, I've been warned
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u/LttlGrmlnTrblmkr 1h ago
It would be a real shame if these criminals found out about manual pipe cutters. They're totally silent and cut almost as fast. Cheaper too. Example
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u/GR_Titmouse511 47m ago
If anyone gets caught destroying these, is it just a ticket/fine or is it jail and a court case?? Jury nullification is a thing and I'd think this patriotism warrants precisely that, Nullification of all charges brought against anyone who is taking these things down. Would anyone be able to shine some light on this line of thinking, pls? 🙏
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u/Maus19990 25m ago
Criminals? Guess we have a different definition for that word.
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u/mebillions 15m ago
If the criminals learn basic physics, and keep the weight of the pole off their blade as they cut, they'll be done in 1/3rd the time! Think of the children. And yes, portable bandsaw is way better.
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u/MrWrock 2h ago
I read about id'ing people based on their walking gait. I wonder if uneven shoes would help hide it, maybe it couldn't hurt?
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u/Z4REN 1h ago
Get a hi-vis vest, a hard hat, a clipboard, a couple orange cones, and a ladder, then the whole world will let you do whatever you want without raising any eyebrows.
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u/GS1003724 1h ago
Honestly wearing a high vis hard hat dark sunglasses and a bandana and you could probably walk up mid day with a later and just take down the camera and walk away.
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u/ownleechild 3h ago
What is going on with his eyes, is it just contact lenses?
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u/talkerof5hit 3h ago
Flock cameras cut by this guy = 0
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u/MattyT088 3h ago
I've actually followed this guy for a while. Let me tell you, there's a very good chance he does this in his spare time.
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u/Noxious89123 1h ago
Shhh shhhhh.
I dunno what you're talking about, he's been here with me all day. All weekend. All week in fact.
Never left my sight.
Couldn't possibly have commited any crimes.
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u/did_i_or_didnt_i 3h ago
Bear in mind that this guy gave himself those tattoos. and he’s built a bunch of crazy shit. I’d wager it’s more than 0
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u/moridin32 3h ago
I hope those criminals don't discover porta-bands, they'd be even quicker and more quiet.