The Austin American Statesman has a slide-show of pictures from a home break-in. Here’s the accompanying article. (h/t to Kellene) Apparently the Austin homeowners had installed a webcam to be able to watch their dogs during the day. When the house was broken into and the alarm company notified the homeowners, the homeowners checked on the webcam and caught a series of pictures that ought to do a fair job at identifying the burglars.

What can we take from this:

• The break-in happened about 10 AM on a Tuesday. This is when many home break-ins occur (weekdays between 10 AM and 3 PM), because chances are high people are not home: both the house being broken into and any neighbors to witness the event.
• It appears the first guy came in through the window next to the front door. From the looks of the picture, the window was raised up, not broken. The only way that could happen is if the window was not locked. Folks: a determined individual cannot be kept out by locks, but when criminals are after easy targets, why are you making things easier for them? Lock your doors, lock your windows.
• A dog is not a guaranteed deterrent. From the looks of the pictures, the dog looks like he was just being friendly with the burglars, trying to chase and jump on them to say hello. Certainly the burglars don’t appear to have reacted as if the dog was acting in a threatening manner.
• The homeowners had an alarm system. It did not keep the home from being burglarized. Despite what the TV commercials say, the sound of an alarm going off doesn’t make the invader instantly shit his pants and run away. It’s likely the alarm did let them know they have a finite amount of time in the house (the police would probably eventually show up), but they still had enough time to grab $1000 worth of electronic equipment.

The homeowner:

And although the burglary has shaken her, she said she still feels safe in the neighborhood.

“I love the neighborhood and know a lot of the neighbors,” Emily McGuire said. “I know these kinds of things happen.”

This is a healthy attitude, because there are no places immune to bad things. The homeowners did appear to do all that they could (tho the window lock is in question). Furthermore, the homeowners are hoping that good comes out of it. One of those good things is to try to learn from the experience of others.