View from the cop: Crime & punishment
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AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2007 > November > 06 > Entry
Take it inside
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I listed about 25 thefts from cars this past week. The total value of the items taken came out to about $15,000 in stolen items — and I didn’t count all of the thefts, just a sample. Add about 25% more to that. And then multiply that about 52 times so …
Whoa. That’s flirting with the million-dollar mark in about a year. That doesn’t really mean a lot to you does it — especially if you have never had the pleasure of coming out to a shattered window and your stuff gone. Even if you do though, it’s your loss, one time maybe, so the process is this:
a. get a police report and
b. report the items lost to the insurance. (For some of you less honest folks out there, add one Rolex and a set of $5000 golf clubs.)
Still, with all this, once you get your money, you’re happy because you’ve found closure. Two months later, new stuff is in the car and you’ve forgotten what got you here in the first place.
We get a lot of report request from victims whose thefts occurred some time back. They found out they need a police report when they claim the theft with insurance.
Crime numbers, especially thefts, can only go down so far, even if you hit the mother load of arrests, which we sometimes do. We’ll arrest someone for a theft and clear 30 more on the background investigation. Even so, you can only get so far, and then you’re at the mercy of potential victims and your hope that they’ll use common sense. So far, it ain’t looking so good for common sense.
Here are a couple of misconceptions about leaving your stuff in your car. Many people believe:
Their car is a fort and nobody would dare break in because it would shatter the window and that wouldn’t be nice.
The car alarm will scare them away.
It’s parked in a public lot and people will see them so they won’t take the chance.
They believe that in fact, there is such as thing as a “trunk monkey” who protects the car.
The car is safe in the garage.
To respond to number one, cars are not forts. They can be entered easily in the amount of time it takes to shatter the window.
As far as car alarms, the car alarm is a good device to notify people that they should be annoyed that your car alarm is going off. It’s also a good signal to you that someone has already taken your stuff.
As for number three, you’d be surprised what people will ignore.
Number four, Google “Trunk-Monkey” and, like me, wish that you had one.
Number five is something that we see more and more. It involves a combination of things that someone didn’t do that allowed the opportunity for someone else, who isn’t afraid to take a chance, to gain from it.
You and I wouldn’t dare think of breaking into someone’s garage at three or four in the morning. That’s because you and I are relatively honest and work and we’re not up all night smoking crack or meth. (I’m assuming — if you are, no need to read further.)
Most people, who park in their own garage, assume that it’s locked down so no need to lock the car doors and no need to remove things like laptops, GPS, guns, etc.
A number of thefts mushroom out to burglaries simply because the opportunity was there and, surprisingly enough, many times the victim sleeps right through it.
A familiar scenario starts with a bad guy breaking into the garage through an outside door or window, not wired for the house alarm (or the alarm is, many times, off.) He gets inside and opens the car door and takes what is there. Just for the sake of it, he checks the door leading to the house and if it’s unlocked, he listens for movement and if he hears nothing, he creeps into the kitchen. Nine times out of ten he finds a purse on the kitchen counter. He takes it and he’s gone. In some cases, he opens the garage door from the inside and leaves. The victim never heard a thing.
Three things that would get you out of trouble here:
First, set the alarm every night when everyone is in. If you don’t have it wired, wire the garage.
Second, take the laptops, GPS, and other things out of the car and then lock the car.
3.Third, get a dog that barks at noises at night. If you have one, don’t scold them. We use the combo-method. The Shih-Tzu begins the barking and Roxy, the Rottweiler, born of Satan, whose life’s goal is to chase my goober neighbors around, follows up with a low-baritone bark and a loud gallop on the hardwood, on the way to the source of the noise.
In my case there is a fourth thing although it never works and I pay for it ultimately: Politely request my SWAT-certified wife to check it out. (This never works. I don’t know why I do it, but at 4 a.m. it seems to me that the SWAT person would want to go find what’s left of the burglar. I thought SWAT people liked to do all that creeping around the corner stuff but apparently, it’s only when they’re at work that they like to do this.)
By the way, If you hear a noise, don’t forget to call 911 before you start creeping around in your underwear. (For those of you sleeping commando, put something on in case the dog can’t tell you from the would-be burglar. There are enough tragedies in the world.)
The fact is there isn’t enough self-initiated motivation to inspire one to prevent these thefts by removing the opportunity, opportunity being your stuff.
What If:
What if we quit writing reports for thefts when you left your doors unlocked on the car and / or you left your laptop on the seat and you didn’t secure the GPS?
What if the insurance companies declined your claim, citing “Victim Compliance” leading up to the theft meaning the victims were too lazy to carry their things in? It is laziness. It’s not like folks have a phobia about returning to the car once it’s parked.
Insurance companies would love paying out less money and police officers would have more patrol time on the streets. Win win?
In 2006 we defined our Part 1 crime problems and began to address them. The result was a 32% drop in overall Part 1 crimes in the first year. (Part 1 meaning the 8 most serious crime categories including larceny.) We found that the major culprit for our Part 1 crimes was the “Entering Auto” category or, thefts from cars.
We’ve combined prevention information that we’ve put out on television, radio, and print media along with a planned city-wide mail out, reminding people how easy it is to remove the opportunity by just taking your stuff out of the car. But, in all reality, we ain’t in Mayberry folks. It’s a big town with plenty of Bozos to go around. Crime displacement is a much-more practical strategy than eliminating it. We won’t go to zero on crime stats because they do it less. We just want them to do it less here.
When you get home and you dread making a hands-full trip or maybe two trips from the car, and you start to listen to that voice telling you it’s much more convenient to just leave it there because nothing is going to happen, stop and think of what it’s going to feel like the next morning when the first thing you find is glass on the driveway or worse yet, the garage. You’re going to wish you had taken those things out and and you’re going to blame everyone in the world, but your stuff, most likely, ain’t coming back.
It is fair to say that if you take the extra one or two minutes to remove those things you like so well, you will go on to lead a productive life and perhaps win the Lotto. Win, win.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By klm46135
November 6, 2007 7:48 PM | Link to this
If you are stupid enough to leave a laptop in your car in downtown Atlanta, put a bow on it and a gift card, leave the window down or door unlocked, and mark it down as a donation to the homeless on your taxes!!!! Morons!!!
By Sherry
November 7, 2007 5:07 AM | Link to this
Don’t only worry about break-ins — don’t be stupid like a guy I knew that left his handgun in his car while it was at the carwash — needless to say, it was not there when he left and he did not realize it for several days..burglaries don’t only occur with broken glass or doors…
By wilbur
November 7, 2007 9:03 AM | Link to this
You forgot one other item, shut your garage door! I used to patrol in a city a little to the north of SS and I was amazed at the number of people that left their garage doors open all night. That is an invitation to someone with less than honest intentions.
Also, with Christmas coming up be aware of your surroundings. After you go to Best Buy take your purchases home. Don’t stop at Starbucks or Friday’s, go home. And check to see if any one is following you. It happens, even in good neighborhoods.
By BexB
November 7, 2007 9:28 AM | Link to this
If I have to put something in my trunk that I don’t want someone to steal, I do it at one location and then drive to my next location for shopping, etc. NEVER arrive at a new destination, then look at your stuff and say “I think someone might want to steal that” and put it in your trunk. You know folks are probably watching you do that and know that it must be something great if you’re going to put it in the trunk.
By daniel
November 7, 2007 10:42 AM | Link to this
Amen to those tips. My student daughter learned a valuable lesson when she left an empty purse on her front seat. The thieves got an empty purse and dear old dad got a two hundred dollar bill for replacing a window. A thief doesn’t know if a box or purse is empty. They’ll steal something if it just looks valuable.
By missandie
November 7, 2007 12:40 PM | Link to this
Here, here Wilbur and BexB. With Christmas time upon us, remember: do not go shopping at the mall, bringing your bags back to the car becasue they are too heavy, placing said bag(s) in the trunk (or worse yet, on the seats) and go back to spend more money. Chances are when you come back, all your hard earned spending will be wasted and someone else will be handing out your gifts come Christmas day. And you will have a new bill or a window replacement to add to your credit card bills.
By Ima Nidiot
November 7, 2007 2:43 PM | Link to this
When you park your car outside, don’t leave the garage door opener clipped to the visor. Since many folks don’t lock the door between the garage and the house, a smashed car window leads to an uninvited guest….
By dawg_gone_truth
November 7, 2007 3:25 PM | Link to this
Problem solved, do like me and leave a half eaten burger in your car for three days and a wendy’s bag along with a sonic bag and a burger king bag on top of it and some old snotty tissues on the seat and the dude will just go to your neighbor and rip him off.
By Lt. Steve
November 7, 2007 9:05 PM | Link to this
Okay, my brain is fried. Anyone got a good subject to talk about?
By Cindy
November 7, 2007 9:50 PM | Link to this
Yes I do.
Happy Birthday! :)
By Cindy
November 7, 2007 9:52 PM | Link to this
Yes I do.
Happy Birthday! :)
By Linda
November 8, 2007 2:46 PM | Link to this
I live in NE Georgia and my husband and I were pulling out of the Kroger parking lot at 7pm. There in full view of everyone, were 3 guys breaking into a vehicle. Everyone just kept on driving, alarm blaring and glass everywhrer. I could not believe it. I called 911 and yelled at them, then we followed them and got the tag number. Do people have no shame? What if it was your vehicle or your family being attacked and someone just drove on by.
By James L.
November 8, 2007 4:29 PM | Link to this
What we REALLY need are those theft-prevention devices in use in Africa that involve flamethrowers, electric shocks, and .50 machine guns.
By Fred
November 8, 2007 4:55 PM | Link to this
Wow Steve, you have a soapbox. Or are you just lazy about your writing? It seems that every other column has to do with the stupidity of the “victims” over the failure of the police to stop them. Should we remove our seats from our cars if they are leather? Should we remove the copper wiring? How about that that pesky quarter that fell out of my hand from McDonalds and is floating somewhere on the floor?
Why don’t you just go ahead and abandon the party line and tell the truth. You can’t solve the violent crimes and you (the police) aren’t going to waste time on property crimes. Heck, if you get enough people believing it is THEIR fault some scumbag broke into their car (or as you stated in this column, their house to get to their car) it is only a short step away from, “That women WANTED to be raped.”
Just damn.
By Troglodyke
November 9, 2007 4:47 PM | Link to this
What we REALLY need are those theft-prevention devices in use in Africa that involve flamethrowers, electric shocks, and .50 machine guns.
I have always admired the car theft-deterrent system in RoboCop. I think it’s one of the first scenes of the movie, when a thief breaks into the car and gets all settled in the driver’s seat to drive off.
It’s priceless. It would never be allowed in a million years, but it’s nice to dream.
By Beth
November 13, 2007 9:11 PM | Link to this
Dear Lt. Steve,
I started making sure that I carry everything in the house with me [laptop, purse, etc.] after reading your article about this very matter a few months back. It’s good to see a reminder and at least now if something goes wrong I know did my best to protect myself !
By Cautious
November 16, 2007 9:35 AM | Link to this
These are some of the things I do in dealing with threats in general: 1) Perimeter doors are NEVER left unlocked. 2) Outside motion detectors that sound an inside alarm which can wake me up surround the house. 3) Vacation trips are announced after I’ve returned. 4) I usually do my yard work armed with my PPK in a concealed belt holster. 5) I’ve installed a professional surveilance system with numerous cameras outside. This system is web accessable. It isn’t going to stop someone from breaking in or doing damage but I’ll know who to look for afterward. 6) Valuables inside the house are hidden. This includes all check books and credit cards not carried as well as transportable high dollar toys like laptops and cameras. 7) I’ve installed a sophisticated burglary and fire alarm system. 8) I have a spreadsheet of EVERYTHING I own that lists all purchase data as well as serial numbers, warranty information and hot links to scans of the receipts and photos for big ticket items. 9) Valuable items sometimes get engraved with secret ID numbers. 10) I am totally paperless. I scan or download pdf copies of everything to the computer and the encrypted files are backed up to DVD (stored offsite) and a high capacity USB thumb drive I carry. 11) I sanitize my garbage. Nothing leaves the house that is personally identifiable. Scanned documents and address labels from envelopes all go into a burn basket and it is burned in the fireplace. 12) My laptop will “phone home” if it is ever stolen and someone tries to use it. 13) Nothing is ever left in plain view in my vehicle. 14) LoJack is installed in my vehicle. 15) I keep a low profile.
I have no sympathy when I hear someone whining after they were targeted and they did nothing to protect themselves. If my car window was ever to be broken, I would fix it, end of story. No police report (you really don’t think that the cops are going to expend any effort in catching them do you? Most likely you would have had to wait over an hour for anyone to even arrive). No insurance claim (my deductable is more than the cost of the window, not to mention the resulting increase in insurance premiums). Bottom line, if you want to target me, you had better hope the cops get to you first.