Modus Operandi by Mauro Corvasce (universal ebook reader txt) 📕

An easier method is to simply take the bolt cutters to a secluded part along the fence and snip the soft metal holders that secure the fencing to the fence post. This accomplishes two things: entry can be gained by simply lifting the bottom of the fence up and sliding under and there are no visible signs that the fence has been tampered with unless you are standing inches away from the fence post.

Getting Inside the Building

Our clever burglar has entered through the fencing and has observed that the doors are steel-reinforced with locks designed to slow entry into the premises. The windows are protected by steel bars. Some protective bars are designed with an interior bar that spins. If one were to saw through them, you would reach the inner bar that will spin as the saw blade comes in contact with it, making it impossible to cut completely through the bar.

We have seen resourceful thieves use building jacks or vehicle jacks to open the bars. The jacks are placed between the bars and, by activating the jack, the bars are bent apart so that one could squeeze through. Another method of defeating these bars is to pry them off the window itself or attack and remove a piece of the building where the bars are attached.

The burglar will use a method of entry that will be easiest and have the least chance of detection. Climbing on a roof, cutting a small hole, and lowering oneself down not only defeats perimeter alarms but gives a view of the room before entering. Another method is breaking through an outside wall to gain entry.

The whole premise of gates, fences, barbed wire, steel-reinforced doors and windows is not to keep people from getting in but to slow them down and give the law enforcement community a chance for apprehension.

If the merchandise inside the building warrants it, there will be armed guards on a twenty-four hour basis. Guards vary from a night watchman with a flashlight who walks through the building hourly to an armed patrol watch. In some cases, guard dogs will be used in addition to human guards or alone inside the buildings and in the gated area. These guard dogs sometimes have their voice boxes removed to stop them from barking so that they can more easily sneak up on the intruder. However, someone entering a building can disable guard dogs by sedating, poisoning, or simply shooting them.

Inside the Building

Once inside the building, the burglar will encounter a number of obstacles: Additional fencing and gates, brick and concrete barriers, and additional steel reinforced doors. The doors would most likely have alarms along with motion detectors protecting the hallways.

Alarm Systems

A major obstacle the burglar must overcome is the means of detection. Detection is accomplished through visual sightings by guards, special alarm systems to show the presence of an entry, and video systems that may be manned or recorded for viewing at a later date.

The only problem with video recording is that the thief may locate and remove the videotape before leaving. This is true in both manned and unmanned video stations. Sometimes the recorders are not turned on or the tapes are used over and over and the quality of the recording is poor, making video systems useless to the owner.

Alarms can be activated through audio transmission, by touch or vibration, light or heat sensitivity, and motion within the room. Transmission of the alarm can be sent over regular telephone wires or by cellular transmission. These outgoing alarm signals can be transferred to a central alarm center, the area police department or the business owner's home.

Once the alarm is activated, an audio alarm may or may not sound in the building. In some of the cases we have worked on, we observed that if there was an audio alarm present, it was disconnected prior to activation, or smashed from its stand shortly after sounding.

Alarm systems are powered by an alternating current—the electricity that comes from the electric pole that powers your home. Good alarm systems usually have a direct current or battery-powered backup. The backup is an additional protection from power loss. This power loss can be from a problem at the electric company, from storms causing black outs, or from the burglar cutting the power off to the building. As soon as the AC power is disconnected, the DC power activates, continuing the protection.

Educated thieves know that one method of disabling an alarm is to discontinue electricity to the building which they intend to burglarize. Cutting the electrical wiring leading into the building is one method of doing this, but it is quite dangerous. A safer and more effective way is to remove the electric meter from the meter box. This is accomplished by cutting the banding wire, undoing the locking clip, removing the band and pulling the meter straight toward you to disconnect the power.

You still have to worry about the DC backup system but once you gain entry into the building and locate the alarm system, you can then cut the wires coming from the batteries to disable it. By disconnecting the batteries, the alarm has no power to operate. Most good alarm systems not only have an audible alarm, whether it is a siren or a bell, but they will also have the ability to call an outside agency to alert them to the intrusion. One way to stop the call to an agency is to find the telephone lines going into the building and cut them with a wire cutter. But if the building has a cellular backup, the call will still go out.

The merchandise our burglar is seeking will then be located in a safe. This safe may or may not be hidden from view. In some cases, there will be two safes, one in plain view and the other hidden. The reason for this is the thief will spend most of his time attempting to