Crime & Security

[oldbutspry]

What kinds of crimes do RVer's particularly need to look out for? And what precautions do people here take? For instance, what about using switches to turn lights on and off when gone. Or installing security cameras. Or replacing/reinforcing locks and doors. Most trailers don't look particularly secure for obvious reasons.

 

I'm guessing people usually have less valuables in trailers but there still could be tools, generators, jewelry, medicines, etc. I'm just trying to get ideas for how to be a bit less vulnerable to criminals.

 

 

 

[Dutch_12078]

In 70+ years of camping/RV'ing, I've never had anything stolen by two legged critters. Four legged critters are a different story though, especially the little ones that wear masks and the big ones wearing bear skin coats.

[Nolan]

In over twelve years of full-time RVing haven't had anything stolen. We do lock our doors on our RV, car and truck.

[oldbutspry]

Wow, the first two responses are pretty encouraging.

 

I would ask - why do you think you didn't encounter any crime? Not many criminals at the places you stayed? You didn't look like an easy mark? Didn't appear to have anything worth stealing? Just got lucky? Obviously this would just be a guess.

[jjwicklund]

We're on year seven no problems so far. We have hosted in some lonely places guess the crooks couldn't find us.

[2gypsies]

16 years of full-timing and traveling constantly and never an issue. We did a lot of boondocking on national forest and BLM lands and used public parks - national, state, etc. We feel RVers are good people. We wouldn't stay in the midst of a big city in a questionable park. We also are more trusting than some, I suspect. We don't worry about things we have no control over. We just use common sense and are aware of our surroundings. We used no security camera, no security lighting, no special locks. We didn't even lock our storage bay doors when we left. We figured they could take the stuff in there rather than breaking our bay doors to get to it.

[theeyres]

50 years of camping/rving and never a thing stolen. Most RVers are honest folks that don't go around stealing and non-RV folks know there isn't much of value worth stealing in most RV's. I do know some parks have had periodic problems with things like bikes stolen from outside the RV. When we left our geny outside I would put a cable on it and lock it to something. Never worried about our bikes because they weren't worth much. We have always traveled with a dog or dogs so we don't even lock the RV. If there was an emergency I wanted to let somebody rescue the dog or dogs.

[oldbutspry]

Hmm. Interesting. I didn't really think RVers would be the sort to steal. Instead, I was more worried that criminals might go to parks because it seemed like a good environment to steal.

[kfrimr]

We are going on 10 years of fulltime RVing. Never even an incident. We do RV parks but a lot of boondocking and off grid places. We've overnighted in Truck Stops, gravel parking lots, casinos as well as BLM and Forest service dispersed camping. If we don't feel comfortable and safe we move on. We look around and are always vigilante but are comfortable in our home on wheels.

[Barbaraok]

We pulled into a park one afternoon, and then pulled right out again because I got an uneasy feeling. 30 minutes later, pulled into another park down the road, stayed overnight, everything good. In over 10 yrs that is the only time we didn't stay. Another plus for getting off the road by 2 pm, you can always move on if something isn't right and still have plenty of time/daylight left to move on down the road.

 

A couple of other times the park seemed a little on the seeded side, so I locked the bay doors before we went to bed - - and in the morning I had to scurry to get them unlocked was we could get on our way. Normally we don't lock the bay doors - if someone really wants what's in our bay, would rather they took it than break lock/damage bay door. We do use the deadbolt lock on the door, but really RV parks are such that people are generally watching you and we have never felt we really needed to go overboard. During long stays we have grill sitting out as well as chairs, etc. and never worry about them - again if someone is that desperate for a grill, take it rather than damage our rig.

 

Barb

[wildmandmc]

No crime encounter yet. Probably because criminals don't have a market set up to sell the stuff, an what are they going to get anyway, a grill. or even a chair, Most RV's you can see in, so they don't know if someone is watching them from the inside. So we probably the safest place in the neighborhood .

[StarDreamers.us]

All that good news has been GREAT! However, times are changing. Be aware of where you are and what is around you. Also, as covered keep an eye out for others.

 

Safe Travels!

[hdrider]

We have been on the road for 4 yeas now and have stayed at 183 different camping spots with only 1 issue, someone stole a bike seat.

[DuneElliot]

I would hazard a guess that crooks don't think about people full-timing in RVs and therefore what might be in them, or they think that the only people who live full-time in an RV are people down on their luck and don't have anything anyway. I would think they see RVs/campers mostly as a vacationing vehicle and that most people don't have much of anything valuable in them despite many of them looking expensive.

[HamRad]

Quartzsite has had several years of problems with folks stealing generators. Other than a few stolen bikes and some beer coolers being taken we've heard of very few problems. RVers are great folks and generally do watch out for each other. Dennis

[Dutch_12078]

As Dennis said, RV'ers do tend to look out for each other. It's not uncommon to see neighbors helping stow someone's gear when a sudden storm pops up while their away. The other point is one Barb mentioned, situational awareness. If you don't feel comfortable in a given park or other location, turn the key and move on.

[Kirk W]

We have been RVing since 1972 and tented before that. Our only break-in was with the motorhome that was parked next to our house in Ft. Worth, TX and we were in the house asleep. We were fulltime for 12 years and once while campground hosts we had an incident where some kids stole an ice chest that was later found with the beer missing. We also once spent some time in an RV park in the city that warned us not to leave bikes outside because of the neighborhood it was located in. We have never done anything special for security and we still do not. We usually don't lock things up unless we are to be gone more than a few hours. I have heard of stolen fishing equipment from a boat left a distance from the RV, but not when in the campsite.

 

The most serious problem that we have ever experienced has been rowdy parties and folks who leave trash around. None of our RVs have had any sort of security system and we have known very few people who did so.

[Max Death]

My guess is that due to the close quarters of most Rv parks it would be hard to break in without being noticed. Imagine trying to get a tv off the wall and out the door without someone noticing.

I really doubt that anyone is going to drive around looking for folks in dispersed camping areas. Not enough profit for the time involved.

Much easier to break into a house that has landscaping and tvs and other things setting about then trying to remove them from wall mounts.

As DuneElliot stated they may not know whether you are on vacation or fulltime. Then again who has the most stuff someone in a S/B or in an Rv?

[Dutch_12078]

It seems to me from the news items I've seen over the years, that the most insecure place for an RV is on a dealer's lot. Every year I see stories about multiple RV's at one dealer or another being vandalized with TV's and other electronics stolen. Power cords seem to be another popular item for thieves at dealer lots for the copper. The second most prevalent theft location appears to be RV storage lots. In both cases, the lack of people around and the closeness of multiple targets would seem to be the attractions. Both are also usually in or closer to higher density population areas than most RV parks. That probably makes full-timer RV's the least likely to be hit...

[richfaa]

11 years on the road and 30 years of camping never a problem with crime or theft can't tell you why it just is. It appears that most theft occurs in storage facilities and we do not use storage facilities.

 

I don't know that security works for a RV as they are so easy to break into. Stay in a well lighted area and use common sense in selecting a campground or a place to overnight. We have turned around and left a C G or to due to that uneasy feeling.

[sandsys]

3 years of fulltiming as a couple and 3 years of snowbirding solo without incident. Once we chose not to stay in a campground that felt iffy but have stayed in nearly every type of overnight spot otherwise--sometimes with neighbors and sometimes without.

 

Linda Sand

[nana25k]

As others have stated it pretty much ch is situational awareness and instinct.

[oldbutspry]

Thanks everyone for all the input. Sounds like crime isn't that much of a concern.

[Kirk W]

Thanks everyone for all the input. Sounds like crime isn't that much of a concern.

While no place is 100% crime free, the RV world is about as close as one can get.

[bigjim]

This was in the news some years ago. A couple was kidnapped and killed and their TT was burned and their truck stolen by some excaped prisoners from Az. I believe they were at the Tourist bureau going into NM from the east on I-40 but I'm not sure of my memory on that part. I have boonedocked at the same one multiple times myself. My friend that passed away some years ago was volunteering and had his rig broken into and some firearms and a few other thing stolen and a brand new chair he had was cut up and left along with a note stating something about payback so we are pretty sure it was someone he had interacted with in his duties.. He also said that someplace he was staying they had some stuff like fishing gear and some generators stolen. He said they set them a "trap" with some bait and caught the culprits in that case. He RV'd for a long time and those were the only incidents in all those years that he spoke of.

 

When I volunteered at one particular large public campround we had occaisional issues mostly small stuff sproradically. The Leo's caught one guy that we all knew as a regular but always just picking up small stuff. We had some issues with firewood migrating from one campsite to another sometimes. This was a public camp with 355 sites on a lake with a marina in the park close to a large metropolitan area. They tended to have problems more often with theft at the marina from boats in the slips. Sometimes we had some conflicts often due to alcohol that was not supposed to be there but how do you know until you see it or a problem starts. We had a killing once at the marina due likely to a domestic dispute the best I could tell.

 

Mostly I think all the news about this is good but there can be issues so don't totally drop your guard wherever you are.