What are these people doing in my neighborhood?

[Roamer]

I will ask and post back.

[pokeshell]

what puzzles me, however, is it is not the same photographers.  from the sound of things is it a lot of different people in at least 3 different vehicles.  I wonder if it is a gang of some kind.

I wonder if it is a gang game of some kind.

[flippydidit]

Just in case these clowns get any ideas about expanding west with their nefarious plans, I'll let them know in this post what to expect.

They'll come to our gate that is marked "No Trespassing".  Should they still decide to walk up to our house, they will either hear growling or someone state, "Stop where you are!" (or both).  They will then wait patiently and quietly until the deputy arrives.  At that point they can make their case as to why they are trespassing.  Any photos will be deleted by the deputy before they leave.

I commend you and your neighborhood for being proactive, and I hope you are able to get to the bottom of this.

[Armchair Quarterback]

  I once read that in Italy it was common practice that you never would just show up at a friends apartment or house and knock on the door.  You always arranged your arrival first and were greeted.  My wife and I are moving toward this.

This is what we do and it works well. RARELY one of my very good friends will show up unannounced but I try to encourage a call first / text first protocol. I don't think you'd regret moving to that. We don't even answer the door unless we're expecting someone or expecting a package. We are both in law enforcement and of course weary and cautious of everything 

AQ

[NevadaMan]

Wow.  Definitely burglars if you ask me.  I hope something was done.

[thefuzz1290]

Just in case these clowns get any ideas about expanding west with their nefarious plans, I'll let them know in this post what to expect.

They'll come to our gate that is marked "No Trespassing".  Should they still decide to walk up to our house, they will either hear growling or someone state, "Stop where you are!" (or both).  They will then wait patiently and quietly until the deputy arrives.  At that point they can make their case as to why they are trespassing.  Any photos will be deleted by the deputy before they leave.

I commend you and your neighborhood for being proactive, and I hope you are able to get to the bottom of this.

Its not trespassing if they're on a piece of property that would normally be available to other strangers, such as the UPS guy delivering a package or religious solicitors. These areas are usually the driveway to the front porch...now if he's around the back of your house, at minimum he's loitering (though check your local laws since they vary from state to state). If you ask him to leave and he doesn't, then it becomes trespassing.

Now to answer the OP's question, it could be a number of people. I've run into real estate agents scoping out the competition and peeking in windows to see how the property they're selling compares (internally) to the rest of the neighborhood to set a better price point. I've seen private investigators walking their fine line between lawful and unlawful surveillance...same with bonding companies. I've seen tax assessors who don't like confrontations do the same. Then I've also seen burglars casing homes...though they usually case higher end homes like that.

Best advice is to keep your eyes open and write down the year/make/model/tag of the vehicles involved and get the best description possible of the person and then report it to the police as suspicious activity.

[Vulcan]

OP: any updates on this situation?

[flippydidit]

Its not trespassing if they're on a piece of property that would normally be available to other strangers, such as the UPS guy delivering a package or religious solicitors. These areas are usually the driveway to the front porch...now if he's around the back of your house, at minimum he's loitering (though check your local laws since they vary from state to state). If you ask him to leave and he doesn't, then it becomes trespassing.

That's true for most urban residences in our state.  However, here in Florida our "out in the sticks" home has "Posted, No Trespassing" signs all around our perimeter.  It incorporates a gate to our driveway with an intercom.  Even with our gate unlocked and open, the person would be trespassing if they drove up our private drive.  Deliveries are made at our gate.

To the OP-  You may also be dealing with an insurance investigator attempting to determine fraud (assuming you recently filed a claim).

[Garandman]

We have a family friend who takes pictures of houses that are in foreclosure. She does the same thing as described, only usually alone. She occasionally gets questioned, but she has a business card with a contact at the bank to confirm her activities.  She does not hang around after she takes the pics - she has to do as many as 30 houses a day.

[frjoeb]

A lot of you are kind and trusting of your fellow man. I still think these people were up to no good.
If they worked for a company why did they not have name badges or marked vehicle. Why didn't they
just identify themselves when confronted.

"If you got a plate number, why do you not have answers yet? What area do you live in?"

  We give the plate number to our Community Watch Officer. He can only tell us what area the vehicle
is from and if it is registered to the type of vehicle it is on. They say it is a privacy issue.

I live in the far southeastern corner of the Orlando area. Our area is remote and has very minimal crime.

Roamer,

If you have a friend or know some one who is a bail bondsman they can take the tag number and pull all types of info for you.  You may want to try that if you want info.

[Connecticut Prepper]

"All incidents have 2-3 people that are looking at people’s property, looking in windows, taking photos – and then running to a car where someone is waiting and they drive off."

I had this exact thing happen where I live, some people in a white van were seen on the property a few times.  Not sure if it was this same van or not, but a woman who lives behind me had someone follow her from the street to her drive way in a van, when she got out they got out and approached her, she screamed when she saw this and they got back in the van and took off

[Roamer]

Got in touch with the neighborhood watch leader. She said that our Sheriffs office contact person had been changed and
this new one does not respond to info requests like the last one. So we have no new info and so far no repeats of this activity.

[Mountain State Prepper]

Our neighborhood also has some similar wierd activity.   Here it was the door-to-door "salesman" with some bottle of enviromentally friendly cleaner....."just let me show you this great new...blah blah blah".    A week or two later, notes in our mailboxes about cars being broken into.   

I'd keep a camera handy too and take what others here are advising to the next level.....take a picture of them, taking a picture of you!   

Stay safe!

[Blu]

I did not know that there were neighborhood watches......

Deer cameras work great on mail boxes.  They snap many pictures a second and can be had for $60

Any updates? 

[Roamer]

No updates yet. It has been really quiet in our neighborhood as far as crime.

Blu: Where can I get a game cam for $60?

[fritz_monroe]

Blu: Where can I get a game cam for $60?

I haven't seen them as low as $60, but have seen them on clearance at Dick's Sporting Goods for $75-$100.  Granted, it isn't the top of the line model, but it is decent.

[Blu]

amazon has 2 mp camera for that range, you will have to spend a bit more to get something with a better size.