Car burglaries are off the hook. Not a day goes by where we don’t get at least 5-6 calls of car burglaries being reported. Shouldn’t be a surprise though, what easier way is there to get free stuff to sell or trade for drugs? After most responsible people with jobs have eaten dinner, watched the evening news and dozed off to sleep, the scum of society comes out of the woodwork, just like roaches. They walk or cruise through neighborhoods looking for free stuff, stuff you left out for them. They look into cars to see what’s there; maybe a laptop, a nice phone, a briefcase, a nice stereo that someone didn’t take the faceplate off, a purse, wallet, backpack, anything that might have value. They try door handles because a lot of people make it easy for them by leaving cars unlocked.

My daughter used to leave a book bag in her car telling me it was a hassle to bring it in each night and that nothing of value was inside except books. I’d tell her that she might know nothing of value was inside but thieves don’t know that. To a thief, a book bag or backpack might contain a laptop or something of value so they break in to "check". If a thief looks inside your car and sees nothing, they move on. A thief usually doesn’t waste time breaking into a car just to "look" for something, they break into cars to grab what they see. If a car is unlocked they may rummage through an ashtray looking for loose change or car keys.

While most car burglaries occur during the night (less traffic, most people asleep, less potential for witnesses, thieves able to see approaching headlights etc.), there are some bold thieves that target shopping centers during the day. Where else can you find hundreds of cars all parked together with many containing laptops, purses, wallets and more? These thieves walk through rows of cars looking inside all the cars. If they see something, they grab it. If the car is locked they break a window. If they see nothing they keep walking until they see something in another car. Again, they don’t waste time breaking into a car "just to see" if something might be inside, they target cars where they know something is inside.

What prompted me to write about this topic again is that I went outside this morning to get into my truck to go to work. The windows were frosted over from the cold but I saw the "telltale" sign that the "roaches" were out that night. My drivers window had a clear "wipe" mark on it where someone had wiped the frost off and looked inside to see if anything was visible. Luckily I keep nothing in view so they moved on to other cars in the neighborhood. If I had left something of value in the car I would have found broken glass on the ground and my stuff missing. I’m sure if I took the time to circle my block I would have found cars broken into.

So take the precautions;

Lock your doors and most importantly, don’t leave ANYTHING in view in your car. If a thief looks inside your car make sure they don’t see anything and they’ll just keep walking on to the next car.

Motion lights over your driveway are GREAT! Thieves don’t like light, get a million watt bulb to light up the roaches when they approach your driveway and most of the time they’ll keep walking.

Car alarms, if you have one use it! A thief isn’t going to take the time to rummage through a car if a blaring alarm is going off drawing attention.

But keep in mind, even with lights or alarms, if something is in view they’ll smash a window and grab it, it only takes a second. The best protection is to not leave anything of value in your car.

So take precautions and keep your stuff safe. With the economy the way it is, burglaries and thefts are skyrocketing. If you leave stuff in your car it’s not a matter of "if" your car is broken into, it’s a matter of "when".      

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The Holiday season is upon us. And so are the scamming cold- hearted criminals who prey upon others. And this time of year it’s a little easier for them because people make it easy for them. Here are a few examples of incidents I’ve already started seeing occur:

** A man pulls into the Best Buy parking lot in a strip mall and a man approaches him stating that he works in a Best Buy warehouse that supplies televisions to Best Buy. The man stated that he had several 52” LCD televisions that were unsellable in the store because the box was damaged. The man stated the televisions were brand new with the factory warranty and that he was selling the televisions for $500 in the parking lot because the store could not sell them inside with the damaged boxes. The man said he had one left in his nearby car.

I don’t know about you, but I think this would make most people walk away quickly thinking scam. But, greed makes people victims all the time and this case was no different. The victim walks to the suspect’s vehicle and sees a sealed 52” TV box in the back of the suspect’s car. He quickly hands the suspect $500 cash and the suspect starts to get in his car. He tries to stop the suspect and the suspect pulls a gun and robs the victim for his wallet, cell phone and keys. The suspect drives off to go pull the scam again at another Best Buy store.

Greed……it will make you a victim. Remember the phrase “if it seems too good to be true then it probably isn’t true”. Guy thinks he’s going to get one over on Best Buy and get a new TV for more than ½ off but ends up getting robbed. Then he wastes our time calling us to help him. If he hadn’t been greedy and tried to commit an illegal act himself in the first place, he wouldn’t have gotten robbed. I think all calls involving greed and stupidity should be cleared as lesson learned.

** A woman goes Christmas shopping at several stores in a mall. After buying gifts at each store she puts the bags and packages in the car before going on to the next store. Pretty soon the car is stacked with goodies. A passing thief spots the bounty and breaks a window. The thief grabs several bags and items and also the woman’s purse which was left in the car (she didn’t want to get her purse snatched so she left it in the car on the seat). Woman returns to her car and everything is gone.

This time of year thieves LOOK for this kind opportunity. It really is like Christmas for them because they get so many free things during the holiday season. Go to any mall or major outlet store parking lot and just park and watch. You’ll see people “casing” the parking lot. Thieves walk, ride bikes, and the ones lucky enough to have a car or steal one cruise the parking lots looking for victims; women with purses hanging loose and not paying attention, cars stacked full of packages and gifts, purses, briefcases, laptops laying on car seats, greedy people who make easy targets for scams, etc etc.

Then there’s the scammers who bring their young children to the parking lots and scam money out of people stating they are poor and they need money to buy their child clothes and a toy for Christmas. This is the time of year most people are in the holiday spirit and vulnerable to these scammers. People feel sorry for them, hand them $5 or so and feel they did something nice for a poor person at Christmas. In reality all they did was buy some heroin, methamphetamine or a couple of 40 oz bottles of beer for a habitual loser who just scammed them.

I may sound cynical, in fact I know I sound I sound cynical, but you have to remember I’ve been a cop for over 20 years and see this all the time. Are there truly needy people and families out there? Absolutely! But it’s usually not the ones hanging out in parking lots or on street medians begging for beer money.

If you want a feel good feeling that you helped someone at Christmas, donate items to a Goodwill or Salvation Army type of organization. Give extra jackets or food items to a shelter or holiday collection drive. Volunteer at a homeless shelter or food kitchen over the holidays where you know your help is going towards a good cause.

Remember, there are far more scammers out and about this time of year because they are much more successful this time of year. Don’t let your greed or sympathy make you a victim.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Years. Don’t let thieves or scammers ruin your holidays.

And hopefully we will be back soon with our Podcasts. Unfortunately much of our time is now being spent dealing with a terminal illness in our family.

Happy Holidays and Stay Safe!

Mark & Jim

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