I disagree with a couple of your points. First, of course these acts are random. That goes without saying. But the fact is these are crimes of opportunity. Thief comes to the boat launch, see no one around, and smashes and grabs. If they come to the boat launch and there is someone in the parking lot, the odds are pretty good they go drive off to the next area of opportunity. So that is obviously a deterrent. Let's take your next point - fear of confrontation. OK, if you go fishing by yourself (and most of us do at times). You always run the risk of being confronted by a thief. So does that stop you from going fishing? Doesn't stop me. Life is full of risk. Again, these are thieves looking for an easy score. If you are sitting in a car you may become the target, just as you may become the target while you're fishing. So if the risk is too great you do it with a friend, or, decline to do it at all. Fair enough, I wouldn't think any the less of someone who felt sitting there was too much risk. How about your next point - you are at the launch, see the break in and get the information. Now you contact the police and let them take it from there. You say that what is the use, the criminals will go free, the vehicle will still be damaged, and in the end nothing will change. I'm sorry, but to me that is a defeatist attitude that I have no interest in buying into. I believe we all can make a difference in this world and I believe if we give up then we have essentially said "go ahead and do what you will as I have no power". Again, I refuse to buy into that attitude. Look, there are thousands of members that log on to this web site. If someone was to organize watch groups it couldn't help but make things more secure. Note, I didn't say totally secure. This kind of crime is always going to happen. This thread is entertaining but again I just put out to everyone that maybe fishermen as a group have a little more power than they think. It works for neighborhood watch groups. Are you telling me that people that get involved in neighborhood watch groups are accomplishing nothing and in the end nothing changes? Finally, you say if you caught someone breaking into a rig you would not be able to act in a law-abiding fashion, so you would not chose to put yourself in that position on a regular basis. So if you did catch someone breaking into a rig just what kind of fashion would you respond with? Just wondering. And to be fair, I’ll answer my own question. Property is not worth killing or being killed, injuring or being injured. Property is just stuff and it can be replaced. I would make sure I was safe to return home to my loved ones, and gather what information I could to report the crime to the police. That’s it.