Crime Update - 5 Year Trends

I had a chance to sit down with Chief Mike Matteucci and Lt. Jay Kiely for an update on police affairs.  I would say that I was meeting with the "new" chief after Chief Wollman, but Chief Matteucci's been in the position for a year already.  Time flies but the Chief move up through the ranks here in town and it appeared to be an easy transition .  Voice readers will recall a three-part series I did five years ago on various department initiatives including the Quality of Life team, the actions to reduce property crimes and technology initiatives.  During our discussion, it was clear that many of the initiatives have come to successful conclusion or are continuing to progress.  The most notable shift in the crime figures came in Vehicle Burglaries (i.e. of locked vehicles) which jumped near the end of the year especially downtown.  BPD has some on-going tactics to fight this trend that I won't go into here.  Here are the monthly averages:

Monthly Average                    2015    2016    2017    2018    2019

Residential Burglaries                5        5        2            3        3

Vehicle Burglaries                    22       23    25        21       39

Commercial Burglaries                8        9        4            5        4

Other Thefts                              56        60      51        56      61

Robberies                                   1        1        1            1        2

Stolen Vehicles                          10        9        6          4         6

Vandalism                                  14       13    13          11       12

 

"Other Thefts" include porch pirate package thefts, shoplifting and stealing items out of unlocked cars.  B'game averaged 127 crimes per month in these seven categories last year.  Having now subscribed to the daily email crime summary for several months, I can also say there are a semi-regular occurrences of other, more serious crimes like assault and sexual assault.  Fraud, scams and DUIs are also represented on a monthly basis.

As the city's population grows with all of the building taking place we should expect to grow the police department budget as well.  It may not have to grow linearly with population, but it will have to grow.                                                           

Comments

[Joe]

This news from last week should help a little, but as we have seen with Apple heists when one crew is caught another steps in:

An operation dubbed “Operation Shattered Glass” by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office netted eight arrests and more than $2 million in stolen goods from a series of burglaries in San Mateo County, according to authorities.
The investigation came to a head in the early morning of Jan. 23 when the Sheriff’s Office crime suppression unit along with other agencies executed eight search warrants and multiple arrest warrants. The warrants stemmed from multiple auto, residential and commercial burglaries throughout the county. Most of the stolen property in these burglaries were electronics, laptops, cameras and commercial retail merchandise.

A total of eight suspects were arrested and booked into San Mateo County Jail. More than $150,000 in cash was seized during the operation as well as three vehicles and a residence totaling over $1.2 million, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/eight-arrests-in-massive-county-burglary-spree/article_0a83eda2-3f1b-11ea-9e57-6f58c8509952.html#utm_source=smdailyjournal.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1579964411&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

[butternut squash]

Does anyone know what kind of sentences these fine contributors to society will receive if found guilty?

[MBGA]

Got off the train yesterday and saw a homeless person with shopping cart, bags, dirty like the SF types, sleeping on a bench at the train station. The apple store is on my walk on my way home so I stopped there knowing I'd find at least a couple of our Burlingame police officers there guarding iphones. I reported it to the friendly officer and she said she'd call it in. I don't know whether she did and whether Burlingame is going to take care of this. I sure hope so.

[Sign me up]

The proposition that made theft under $950 almost not worth reporting is the problem. I read this today

A California lawmaker has introduced a bill aimed at cracking down on so-called “porch pirates” by making repeat offenses punishable by more prison time.

Sen. Brian Jones, R-Santee, introduced Senate Bill 979 as a means of dealing with “habitual offenders who keep dodging real punishment for their actions.”

“While the advent of increasing home delivery of goods has benefited consumers, retailers, and the economy in general, it has also lead to increased theft of packages from outside Californians’ homes,” Jones said in a statement. “This ‘porch piracy’ epidemic is serious and needs to be addressed by our criminal justice system. Current law is weak on the punishment of this type of theft but this bill will increase the consequences significantly.”

But does it have a chance to pass in California? Doubt it, it makes too much sense.

[Sign Me Up]

The police had a guy cuffed in the US Bank office on Burlingame Avenue around noon today. 3-4 officers on the case.

[Joe]

I've been wondering about the crime rates vis a vis COVID-19 and shelter-in-place. The daily alert from Crime Graphics hasn't been noticeably different to me. But per the DJ:

Crime is generally down in San Mateo County since the coronavirus outbreak, but officials are concerned certain crimes may increase as the crisis continues.

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said he’s seeing a 50% decline in cases in all branches of his office. Violent crime, residential and auto burglaries are all down and his office hasn’t received a single hate crime case this year as reports of hate crimes against Asian Americans elsewhere are increasing since the outbreak of the virus.

According to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, there were 179 total crimes last week compared to 233 crimes during the same week in 2019, a 23% drop.

Law enforcement officials have admitted that officers are less inclined to arrest these days, opting to keep their distance from others and cite and release whenever possible, though they stress anyone posing a threat to public safety is still taken to jail.

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/drop-in-crime-seen-in-san-mateo-county/article_2f53ac4a-70a7-11ea-adad-433b84ac9cb4.html#utm_source=smdailyjournal.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1585404015&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

[Joe]

Some good news here:

Francisco Antonio Cruzramirez, 20, of both East Palo Alto and Modesto, has been charged with 57 counts of felony residential burglary and was booked at the Maguire Correctional Facility on $5 million bail.

Between September 2018 and May 2019, Cruzramirez allegedly committed 13 burglaries in the Sheriff’s Office’s jurisdiction, 12 burglaries in South San Francisco, 12 burglaries in Belmont, seven burglaries in Burlingame, five burglaries in Foster City, three burglaries in San Mateo and two burglaries in San Bruno.

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/alleged-prolific-san-mateo-county-home-burglar-arrested/article_414840a4-843f-11ea-8d4e-eb0a253ce456.html#utm_source=smdailyjournal.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1587564011&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline
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He's done 7 burglaries in B'game and we average 3 per month (see above) so there are a few more guys out there to get.

[resident]

I hope BPD is prepared (and authorized by the city council) to do what it takes to keep Burlingamers safe these days.

[Peter Garrison]

Short stroll down the Ave yesterday to get a paper: One junky car drove along with a raised fist sticking out the window. Avenue stores being boarded up. Sheriff and BPD cars patrolling; talked with one officer who just got honked at and on the back of the car was F12 which is code for F Cops.

Keep our LEOs in our prayers.

[Joe]

Here is the message that went out to our business community yesterday:

Hello business community leaders,

I wanted to share with you a message from Chief Matteucci. Can you please pass it along to your networks?

The Burlingame Police Department would like to take this opportunity to alert local businesses to the recent trend of looting activity in smaller suburban cities. Although no looting has taken place in Burlingame, and we are unaware of any planned events in Burlingame, local businesses are encouraged to take whatever precautions they deem appropriate under the circumstances to safeguard their property. The Burlingame Police Department has increased patrols in our business districts and is constantly gathering intelligence information in the hopes of abating any potential issues. We will continue to pass along any pertinent information we gather.
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A number of stores were closing early--just what we need in the mist of the pandemic......

[Concerned]

Burlingame's City Council needs to step up and provide the Police Department full support to stop vandalism, rioting and destruction in our streets. No stepping aside and allowing anarchy in our streets.

This is their primary responsibility instead of taking away our gas appliances and playing with designs on an overpriced Rec Center.

Step up to keep the Peace.
We will forever remember your actions, or lack thereof.

[resident]

Here is the approach the county will take:

A countywide two-day curfew in San Mateo County will go into effect today, June 2, beginning at 8:30 p.m. and ending at 5 a.m. to help maintain the health and safety of residents and prevent property damage and looting, according to officials

The curfew applies to the entire county, both the unincorporated areas and each of its cities. Cities can implement stricter curfew based on their local needs, according to the county.

[[email protected]]

Dear Resident and Concerned.
Calm down. No looting will happen in Burlingame. Apple may get robbed a few more times, but overall, everything will be OK.

[Concerned]

Hollyroller,
Is that a guarantee?
Have you foreseen everything that has happened over the last few months?
I hope you are correct but your opinion provides little comfort.

[resident]

I was disappointed by the email from the city tonight. I don't want to hear about all the diversity training our cops have taken. I want to know that when our neighbots shops and restaurants are under attack our cops will be doing WHAT WE PAY THEM TO DO. hollystupid knows nothing about anything.

[Cassandra]

Remember the group of young women, I think they were called rainbow girls, who would run into stores in San Francisco and steal a bunch of clothes and people would just watch them run out the door?I think that’s what’s happening on a larger scale with no negative consequences being visited upon the looters. The looters are learning tricks so that when the protests stop they can still get their cars, drive from central California, and target shopping centers or upscale neighborhoods as was the case during the recent Oakland looting.

The tool I wish law enforcement had was a sticky glue gun for looters who could be covered with a gummy substance that would become crusty. The police officers would then remove them to a city park where they have to deal with the crusty goo all on their own and find a way home. Make it stinky. And every time that they would come to our town to cause trouble they get covered in the sticky stinky goo.

[MBGA]

As the homeless problem grows here in Burlingame what are the plans?

We should be thinking about them because one of these days SF is going to have to start kicking the druggies and criminals out of the hotels.

[Barking Dog]

Great point MBGA. Was on a bike ride with grandkids yesterday...anyone seen the Red Roof Inn parking lot lately?

[Joe]

Three people shot at the Embassy Suites parking lot yesterday

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/burlingame-shooting-sends-three-to-the-hospital/article_19e1c10a-5eb6-11eb-b9aa-fb6319dffbbf.html#utm_source=smdailyjournal.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1611586814&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

[MBGA - not anymore]

No reason to worry. "Burlingame Police Department believe this is an isolated incident." That one always cracks me up.

[resident]

Is the Embassy Suite one of the hotels the county is using to house the homeless?