Fog Machine Stops Robbery

A man in Kaikohe, Northland, New Zealand strode into a convenience store with a machete. He was, of course, up to no good.

So the store manager activated his fog machine.

What, you don't have a fog machine in your home or place of business? This is, apparently, a long-used crime deterrent. Not only does the fog make seeing the loot and victims difficult. It can also coat the robber with traceable chemicals.

I had never heard of this, but now I think I really need one to get out of awkward conversations. For this scenario, a fog machine that hangs on my belt would be ideal. If find myself trapped in a one-sided conversation with someone who won't shut up, I can press the button and escape.

-via Boing Boing


Comments (4)

Newest 4
Newest 4 Comments

I learned that this actually has a name: security smoke, and it's been around for more than 25 years. The smoke makes it hard to see, so it actually reduces the loss (they can't steal what they can't see). It's also quite a surprise - and I suppose most criminals would run away rather than stick around and see what else is going to be triggered.
About identifying the perp - cameras would capture their image(s) before the smoke's deployed, but criminals usually hide their faces anyways, so the smoke's not a big factor in identification.
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I'm wondering how this deterrent works. Does the fog do anything but hinder vision? Doesn't it also hurt the chances of identifying the perp too? I guess it worked this time but I'm not sure why.
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I SO needed this for my cat Husie growing up. We kept track for 1 year of how many animals she brought home. It was over 230, and those were just the ones she showed us! The next people to own our land will think we were devil worshippers with the amount of bones in our compost pile out back. ;)
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*cat roams neighborhood*
*cat gets in fight with dog*
*dog scratches cats face*
*dog chases cat back to house*
*door doesn't recognize cat's face*
*cat runs smack into door*
*dog eats cat*

Poor kitty! :'(
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Im guessing Guyon didn't actually look to see how this worked. 'cause a scratch wouldn't change the cats profile silloutte enough. Perhaps if the dog bit off part of its face, but at that point, something tells me the cat wouldn't have made it back to the house anyhow.

No, i think the kitties will be fine.
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You have to understand the mind of a geek.

I mentioned this story to a friend of mine a few years ago. He is a scientist with Dynetics Corp. (worked on the M.O.A.B project, he was very stressed during those 3 months) and was currently working on an independent target acquisition system for individual bomblets.

His immediate response was to consider what system he would use to tackle the problem. I was certain I would see a new dog door next time I visited his house.
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