someone tried to break into my neighbor's house

I came home tonight from a nice dinner and a show with some friends and turned the corner by my house to see police cars all over by my neighbor's house. I remarked that I hoped it wasn't MY alarm system that went off because I knew that's what they were there for, an alarm call. So I go in and head upstairs to let my kids (four legged kids) out and sure enough the cops are all over in my neighbor's yard and so I unlock my gate which is always padlocked and I step outside of the gate and I see one of the cops swing around and I say 'I live here' (don't want to get shot) and he turns back around to the window. They thought the person or people were in the house. I heard the cop say 'this is the police, come out of the house now'!!! At that point I went back inside my yard not knowing if the person(s) were still around. I waited a while and went back outside the gate when I saw the cops searching the area with their flashlights. I talked to one of the cops and he said they did break a window, slide it open and attempt to get in but as soon as the motion sensor caught them the alarm went off. They were probably long gone. The screen from the window somehow ended up over the fence in my other neighbor's yard. I talked to the cop for a few minutes and then went back inside. I didn't ask him (and I should of) what kind of light he had but it looked light a Streamlight. (non LED) It was kind of dimming as we talked. Time for a battery change.
Back to the drama.....all four yards and property lines meet at the back of our houses. The house they tried to break into is 'kiddie corner' to my property. They most likely ran up the side of my property to get away. My neighbor's house has been empty for going on two summers now. She is elderly and went to live with her grand daughter I think. They have a kid cut the grass. The rest of the house has gone to hell. The trees and bushes are overgrown. The house is pitch black at night. They let papers and stuff build up on the porch. Boo Boo the fool could tell nobody lives there. I figured this would happen eventually and I was right. They really need to sell the property to somebody that will take care of it and actually live there.
I don't like it when crap like this happens in my neighborhood.

I know it happens everywhere but it's very unsettling. Oh how I wish I was home and in my yard to hear the glass break. My SL TL 3 would have lit up my neighbor's whole yard!!!
I have been wanting to put a motion light on that side of my house because it is very dark there at night. That's where I go to test my lights, it is that dark. Well this incident has put a fire under my butt. I called my friend tonight to ask him when can he come to install the light for me.

ChocolateLab33 -

I wish there was an easy fix to this. My first reaction was to say track down that grand daughter and politely request she stop paper delivery. But that doesn't stop the fliers. And then your dealing with a human you don't know. Them humans...just never know what kind of reaction you're going to get from them.

Then I thought maybe give the city a call and see if they might be able to do something about the condition of the house. Of course, they'd have to know how to locate the owner and most likely the grand daughter.

Gets kinda complicated. Possibly the owner is a sweet old woman that can't afford to fix up the house. It's likely she doesn't want to sell the home place. Tough thing to deal with.

Great to know the alarm works.

Good to know your city's finest were on the scene before you arrived. Sounds like they were handling it professionally. Still that must have got you a little amped up.

While I was typing I thought of something. Would it be reasonable to let your other 2 adjacent nieghbors know that you will be stepping up the flashlight testing and the vacant house will be a target object?

As of tonight they have boarded up the window from the inside and screwed a piece of plexi-glass onto the outside window frame. They also tied a dog leash to the tree in the yard to make it look like Fido lives there and I did see lights on inside the house. After the break-in or attempted break in, now they are trying to make it look lived in. DUH!!!
I called the village a month ago and told them the house was empty. They said as long as the grass is being cut, etc... bla bla there is nothing they can do.
The cops do arrive quickly in my town, I must say they are on top of it, especially when it's an alarm call. They pull up without lights or sirens to try to catch the people in the act.
I know the elderly, sweet woman who used to live there and she kept the house up as good as she could until she got to old. Now the kids or grandkids or whoever are just letting the house deteriorate. It's sad. If the window isn't fixed, and you know it won't be within a couple of weeks, I will call the village. Code enforcement will make them replace the window.

Oh, one more thing, my useless neighbor's on either side of me would not notice if I was out testing all of my lights at the same time. They never turn on any outside lights and they are totally oblivious to what goes on. I, on the other hand should be in charge of a neighborhood watch. (if we had one)

Nothing organized by me I just do a couple of walk arounds at night. Best to go with someone, I know but I go alone. I do a couple or three ride arounds at night during the week. Circle the neighborhood before I come home from the store...that type of thing.

I also sweep the area with light at different times...sometimes not at all. Most of my neighbors are used to seeing that if they are outside. I just catch a couple of darkspots...sweep...stop on cars I don't recognize. No home windows. Some neighbors have mentioned that they appreciate me doing that. Sometimes they'll walk with me.

I have been wanting to put a motion light on that side of my house because it is very dark there at night.

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A friend of mine (non-flashoholic) averages two cars stolen from his driveway per year, and installed a motion-activated light. It does SQUAT. The last time there was an incident, the motion-activated light simply lit up the erstwhile crime scene for the criminal. When a car drove by, the guy just stopped looking suspicious and stood there smoking a cigarette.

A 911 call brought the cops over an hour later. Since then, my friend's been sleeping with a 9mm pistol under his pillow. He keeps talking about installing a security camera system but has yet to do it. I should email him today and remind him. (I feel an excuse for a handheld IR illuminator to "test" the new camera system...)