Rash of Auto Burglaries

Last Monday was a tough day for a lot of B'game car owners.  Eleven auto burglaries between 6 and 11 am!  Dwight, B'game Ave. twice, Paloma twice, Lexington thrice, Channing, Willow, and Bancroft.  And we are not talking about the hotel section of town either! Point those cameras outward for a few weeks!

Another photo from the July 6 Post Police Blotter

 

Comments

[resident]

Wouldn't it be nice if our city council would worry about these sorts of crimes that turn peoples lives upside down by making them insecure in their community instead of how to create affordable housing and sustainable whatever?

[Tom Jones]

Lock your car up!

[resident]

Most of these cars are locked. Most of these cars are new enough that they lock up by themselves after a few minutes if the owner doesn't do it. This is probably one or two people who kow what they are doing and have the tools and tricks.

[Becca]

Where do you get this report Joe?

[Joe]

That is just a photo of a section of the Daily Post that I cut out. It struck me because of the 11 in a row auto burglaries. There were other police reports before and after it in that day's edition.

[Hannah Arendt]

For Every Action or Non-Action; There is a Reaction

Non-Action: No Camera's:

Reaction:

Much of this activity is coming over the Peninsula Bridge and over Peninsula Ave. Additionally; numerous thieves are riding on bikes from San Mateo Peninsula area into Burlingame Streets scoping out our houses and cars.

They go up and down our streets looking in driveways and car windows. It is real easy to identify someone on a bike who is riding for exercise or getting around versus someone who is a thief looking to commit crimes.

Whether this City likes it or not...you need to have CCIT cameras covering all main areas, including; Broadway, Burlingame, El Camino, Peninsula, etc and need to identify clearly every single person and car entering Burlingame from the outer-perimeter of the City.

We have a great Police Department but they have their hands tied. Even if you added 5x more police officers, you still couldn't curb the level of crime resulting from constant monitoring of our main arteries.

Good luck; but frankly I don't think you would know what to do with it.

[Joe]

You make some good (i.e accurate points) but you are a bit unclear on the camera issue. My original comment applies to people's home cameras, not the City's or BPD's cameras. Home cameras are sprouting up all over. The latest Nest camera will be even better. So if your car is in front of you house--like many of them are in B'game- it could be monitored. But you are right about the bicyclists who are not out for exercise.

[Connie G]

Hannah is correct. Industrial cameras are needed rather than some Nest or Ring types. You can use those home ones for your sense of security but they do nothing for reading license plates from 50-100 feet or identifying faces of thieves.

Until Bay Area wakes up and changes its stupid Sanctuary City policies you can look forward to increasing crime in your community.

Thank you for your input.

[Derk Nilruvian]

Facts about illegals who are criminals: http://theweek.com/articles/650402/truth-about-americas-illegal-immigrants

[hillsider]

The Daily Post Crime Report today lists a bunch of people by name who were arrested. Maybe our police are reading the Burlingame Voice and responding to good ideas. I like this change.

[Joe]

I just added the second photo from July 6-- a string of 6 burglaries in under an hour.

[Bruce Dickinson]

Seems to be the same areas over and over again, where these automotive break-ins happen. Think Burlingame police needs to "walk the beat" and patrol on foot or stake out an area with an un-marked car. Whatever arrests were made obviously has had zero impact on curbing the problem.

Pretty basic and easy techniques, if you ask Bruce Dickinson.

[resident]

Cameras are cheaper.

[[email protected]]

This event sounds almost impossible to contain.
Without Courts punishing the people who participate in Petty Crime to the maximum-if they are ever caught, until "WE" take personal responsibility for protecting our "Goods," Petty Theft will continue to increase.
There is no one to blame but yourself.
Since Illegals have received the privilege of having a California Driver License, they need good Car Stereos too.

[Joe]

Great, just great. Some legal idiot who didn't bother to read Malcolm Gladwell's book. From today's Merc:

Auto burglars are having a field day in the Palo Alto area.

They come from as far away as Oakland, Richmond, Emeryville and San Francisco, several law enforcement officials say.

Their preferred M.O is smashing a car window and grabbing whatever valuables they find inside.

“It’s a huge problem with no end in sight,” said Wayne Benitez, a patrol sergeant with the Palo Alto Police Department.

Benitez, who has been on the front lines of law enforcement for nearly 30 years, said that under new laws, particularly Propositions 47 and 57, criminals are not going to jail for property crimes, and they know it.

“There is no answer, because even if we were to send our detectives out there, and do a stakeout, and we actually see the person, they’re going to run,” he said. “As soon as they jump into the car and speed off, we can’t do anything. They just speed right by us, and they can wave to us and pretty much we’ll wave back because we’re not allowed to chase a car for a property crime.

“Even if you catch somebody, which is very rare, there is no punishment behind it. So that’s another layer of frustration. … It’s almost making a mockery of the entire judicial system.”

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/27/smashed-palo-alto-area-a-hot-spot-for-auto-burglars/

[Joe]

Here is some great news from BPD. I've seen an uptick recently in auto burglaries and it appears to me that even locked cars are getting opened without damage somehow. I'll be researching that, but in the meantime--nice work, BPD
----------------------------
THIEF ARRESTED IN STOLEN CAR WITH STOLEN PROPERTY FROM MULTIPLE BURLINGAME RESIDENTS

Burlingame, CA:

On Wednesday, January 31st, at approximately 11:15 AM, a Burlingame resident reported that his backpack containing a laptop had been stolen from his unlocked vehicle. The victim was able to track his property to the area of the Woodlake Shopping Center in San Mateo.

Burlingame Police Dept officers responded to the shopping center and located 18-year-old Cristian Gutierez of San Mateo inside a stolen vehicle with the victim’s laptop and other property. Also in the vehicle was property stolen from other Burlingame residents. That recovered property had also been stolen from unlocked vehicles in the City. Gutierez was arrested for grand theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, and possession of stolen property, and was later transported to San Mateo County Jail in Redwood City.

The City of Burlingame has experienced a recent surge in thefts from unlocked vehicles, specifically in our residential neighborhoods. To prevent falling victim to these types of incidents, residents are urged to always lock their car doors, and never leave anything of value in their parked vehicles whenever possible.

Lieutenant Jay Kiely
Burlingame Police Department

[Joe]

Check out these factoids from ESS EFF:

The San Francisco Police Department on Thursday published its year-end crime statistics, which show the number of property crimes reported in the city increased 14.69 percent from 2016 to 2017.

However, the numbers rose at an even sharper clip — 24.95 percent — when looking at just thefts from vehicles. There were 25,067 such crimes in 2016, but that number climbed to a record 31,322 last year.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Property-crimes-violence-increases-in-San-12723981.php