Author Topic: Help me catch a thief  (Read 4082 times)

Brad Johnson

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Help me catch a thief
« on: December 19, 2023, 12:50:26 PM »
We have a food thief in the building. Drinks and food regularly disappearing from desktops and break room fridges. We want an inconspicuous self-contained camera we can mount somewhere in the room, or even in the fridge, to try and catch the sorry SOB. Game cams are right out due to most of them being fairly obvious, plus it needs to capture video in at least 1080p/30 or higher.

Suggestions for something that won't break the bank?

Brad
It's all about the pancakes, people.
"And he thought cops wouldn't chase... a STOLEN DONUT TRUCK???? That would be like Willie Nelson ignoring a pickup full of weed."
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griz

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2023, 01:02:54 PM »
Just out of curiosity, what are you going to do once you catch him/her?

I ask because we had a food thief once.  He stole a lot of other stuff too, computers and other valuables, so the missing lunches was just an annoyance.  Security was called once, they just laughed. 
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HankB

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2023, 01:11:56 PM »
Whatever you do don't put a box of brownies made with chocolate ex-lax in the fridge,  the poor thief might miss a day or two of work due to  . . . "intestinal distress."    :angel:
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RoadKingLarry

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2023, 01:21:23 PM »
Sandwiches made with Carolina Reaper peppers.
Sandwiches made with Syrup of Ipecac mixed in with the mayo.
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K Frame

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2023, 01:22:41 PM »
Well, I'm sure that when the thief is caught, your HR department will give him a 3-day suspension, with pay, to think about what he's done.

We had a food thief when I was at the newspaper. Everyone knew who it was. Big fat Italian sports writer. He was told repeatedly not to take food out of the fridge. He didn't listen.

I lost half of a VERY good sub to him, so I waited a while and... made a big ass bowl of chocolate ex lax pudding.

Bastard was out for a couple of days. Then I put a note on his desk letting him know that, if he continued the error of his ways, he might be risking another case of "stomach flu."

He finally got the message.

I'd say try coating something irresistible in Ghost Pepper infused oil, but you're in Texas. Person may like it. 
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BobR

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2023, 01:30:26 PM »
Why don't you figure out what he/she/they/them steal the most and then prepare a trap. It is easy enough to cause mild to severe discomfort and also make it obvious by the use of different peppers with different levels of capsaicin in order to make it quite obvious to the thief it has been found out and also to the people affected by its shenanigans from the howls of discomfort. If it is reported just have everyone deny any knowledge but the odds of it being reported are slim because then they have to admit they are stealing the food.


bob

Brad Johnson

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2023, 02:18:59 PM »
As much as I would love to use the Capsaicin Trap method, it's already been tried on campus and the trapper got in more trouble than the trappee.

If nothing else, we can have the person banned from entering the building. We have that much building-level authority. Not sure what Campus will do, but Custodial and their parent department seem to take a dim view of thieves and liars. All the thief may get on a first offense is an official HR-level reprimand, but I'll let them deal with it so long as the person never sets foot in here again.

Brad
It's all about the pancakes, people.
"And he thought cops wouldn't chase... a STOLEN DONUT TRUCK???? That would be like Willie Nelson ignoring a pickup full of weed."
-HankB

K Frame

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2023, 04:55:02 PM »
I read one of those stories in Facebook about someone who kept losing their food, so he prepared a really HOT set of wings.

The thief took the bait and started screaming and vomiting and, of course, filed a complaint.

Person with the hot wings was confronted by the powers that be and was told intentionally poisoning someone was a fireable offense or whatever, so he simply picked up one of the wings and ate it. Said he didn't see a problem with them, ate another one, and said it wasn't his fault that he was preparing his food the way HE liked it, and it certainly wasn't his fault if a food thief couldn't handle is preferred spice level.

True or not, no clue. But I've known people who could pull that off with some of the stuff that they eat.
Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring—it was peace. — Milan Kundera


The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind
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MechAg94

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #9 on: December 19, 2023, 09:12:04 PM »
Cool.  I have not been keeping up with what is common tech for that stuff.
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HankB

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #10 on: December 19, 2023, 09:41:00 PM »
As much as I would love to use the Capsaicin Trap method, it's already been tried on campus and the trapper got in more trouble than the trappee . . .
Don't tell me the trapper put his name on the hot lunch . . .    :facepalm:
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Government is a broker in pillage, and every election is a sort of advance auction in stolen goods. - H.L. Mencken
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. - Mark Twain

Brad Johnson

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #11 on: December 20, 2023, 05:22:35 PM »
We called the PD to see if they had any surveillance equipment, but ended up having them start an investigation. Turns out ours wasn't the only affected location. They had a couple more reports and were able to filter down by commonalities, finding a person of interest in less than an hour.

After reviewing our internal security cameras I'm relatively certain its one of two persons, neither of which would surprise me. We'll see.

Brad
It's all about the pancakes, people.
"And he thought cops wouldn't chase... a STOLEN DONUT TRUCK???? That would be like Willie Nelson ignoring a pickup full of weed."
-HankB

230RN

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #12 on: December 21, 2023, 10:46:20 AM »
I had a labeled lunch bag disappear once, but it was a one-time thing.  We had a rule that you had to label stuff in the fridge mainly so if  if it was forgotten and it went stinko, we could contact the stinkerator.

Nothing formal, no "lunchroom monitor," just a kind of community standard.  I guess if you saw everyone else's stuff labeled, you start doing it automagically.

I got questioned once on popping the button to open the µwave oven door and I explained that I did that to keep it aired out.  Over time I noticed it was also being left open kind of routinely.
« Last Edit: December 21, 2023, 11:04:55 AM by 230RN »

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K Frame

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #14 on: December 21, 2023, 08:07:30 PM »
Last time I took anything out of the work fridge that wasn't mine was about a year ago.

In fact, I took a TON of stuff out of the fridge that wasn't mine...

And I threw it out.

I got into work on a Monday morning, went to put my lunch in the fridge, and the whole thing was room temperature. It had been off the entire weekend. It was on a power strip and it got bumped and turned off, I'm guessing when the exterminator did his biweekly inspection.

I shitcanned anything that was open, in a lunch container, etc. The only thing I left in the fridge was sealed drinks.

Then I hung a sign on the fridge telling people what happened and left the containers on the counter for people to pick up.
Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring—it was peace. — Milan Kundera


The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind
-- Theodorus Gaza

Opportunity

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #15 on: December 22, 2023, 06:25:33 AM »
Need to protect your office food!



RocketMan

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #16 on: December 22, 2023, 10:25:08 AM »
I had one of these for a lunch bag when I worked at the Target RDCs.

https://www.amazon.com/Fred-M-T-Emergency-Transport-Insulated/dp/B007M2OHEY/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=lunch+box+organ&sr=8-5

It seemed to keep the pilfering down.
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230RN

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #17 on: December 22, 2023, 04:05:57 PM »
^

Very sudden laughter resulting in coffee "spit take."

Declaration Day

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #18 on: December 23, 2023, 07:52:12 AM »
There's a known lunch thief where I work.

He stole my lunch once, two years ago. I knew it was him; after some investigation regarding who was working the night shift in that building accompanied by some carefully-asked questions, it couldn't have been anybody else. I also found my food container in a trash can that sits right in front of the punch clock where there is a camera. I went to the company owner about it and he said "there's nothing we can do". I told him he could check the camera footage and see who tossed my container, but he replied "that wouldn't prove anything". I threw a big enough fit over it that the facilities manager bought me lunch the next day, and a supervisor bought me lunch the day after that.

Company rules are enforced according to skin color where I work; if you aren't white, you won't get in trouble for, or even questioned about, minor infractions like lunch theft or showing up to work 5 minutes late every day.

If I were to get caught habitually playing around on my phone during work hours, I'd get called into the office, lectured, and possibly get written up.  If a non-white person is doing it, management stops the whole operation, gathers us in a circle, and gives the whole crew a lecture on how "we can't be doing this".

Indeed, that is what happened when a non-white employee thought it would be funny to tack weld the door shut on an employee restroom with people inside, and it was caught on camera.

Brad Johnson

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #19 on: December 23, 2023, 11:01:45 AM »
Talking to a beer buddy yesterday and found out he'd tagged a food thief with a single tortilla chip. Someone at his office was helping themselves to his chip bag. He bought a Paqui One Chip Challenge and put the chip in his bag. Said it was funny as hell when they found the guy. He was dripping sweat, puking in a trash can, and sobbing "Oh God! Oh God!" over and over.

Brad
It's all about the pancakes, people.
"And he thought cops wouldn't chase... a STOLEN DONUT TRUCK???? That would be like Willie Nelson ignoring a pickup full of weed."
-HankB

HankB

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #20 on: December 23, 2023, 11:05:41 AM »
Talking to a beer buddy yesterday and found out he'd tagged a food thief with a single tortilla chip. Someone at his office was helping themselves to his chip bag. He bought a Paqui One Chip Challenge and put the chip in his bag. Said it was funny as hell when they found the guy. He was dripping sweat, puking in a trash can, and sobbing "Oh God! Oh God!" over and over.

Brad
I love these feel good stories!   :rofl:
Trump won in 2016. And again in 2024. Democrats haven't been so offended since Republicans came along and freed their slaves.
Sometimes I wonder if the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it. - Mark Twain
Government is a broker in pillage, and every election is a sort of advance auction in stolen goods. - H.L. Mencken
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. - Mark Twain

Ben

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #21 on: December 23, 2023, 11:16:05 AM »
If I were to get caught habitually playing around on my phone during work hours, I'd get called into the office, lectured, and possibly get written up.  If a non-white person is doing it, management stops the whole operation, gathers us in a circle, and gives the whole crew a lecture on how "we can't be doing this".

There is little that I hated more at any job I've ever had than the lowest common denominator management style of,  "You 99 other people should know better!!!".
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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #22 on: December 24, 2023, 10:12:34 AM »
Need to protect your office food!


I could pick those combination "locks" in seconds with no tools and without damaging them. They are only slightly better than useless! Oh, and the key lock? Got a paper-clip?
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tokugawa

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #23 on: December 25, 2023, 08:06:27 PM »

Indeed, that is what happened when a non-white employee thought it would be funny to tack weld the door shut on an employee restroom with people inside, and it was caught on camera.

Pull a fire alarm and send that *expletive deleted*er to prison.

K Frame

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Re: Help me catch a thief
« Reply #24 on: December 26, 2023, 08:37:52 AM »
"Indeed, that is what happened when a non-white employee thought it would be funny to tack weld the door shut on an employee restroom with people inside, and it was caught on camera."

Let me guess... he got promoted, while everyone in the restroom was docked pay for taking an extended break.
Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring—it was peace. — Milan Kundera


The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind
-- Theodorus Gaza