Full Notification

Impacting Anonymous Crime

Car burglaries are one of the most prolific crimes in the San Fernando Valley, and they are hard to interdict because they are one of the anonymous crimes, that is, the suspect is rarely seen and usually has no connection to the victim.

Besides the most obvious ways like stings and stakeouts, cops have other ways to interdict car burglars that the public might not realize. And it starts with being curious and informed of local crime problems. An arrest the other day by LAPD officers assigned to the Mission Area Police Station illustrated how this happens.

Police officers Goodwin and Lopez noticed an adult man riding a bicycle just before 9 PM in Sylmar, in an area the officers had been told in their briefing was prone to recent house burglaries.

Since the rider had no headlight, riding at night, they decided to stop and talk to him. The man admitted to being on probation for a prior conviction, which gave the officers the right to search the man without a warrant. They found checkbooks in the name of a woman, but the man explained he was merely taking the checkbooks to his mother’s friend.

Being curious, the officers checked the alibi with the mom, who said she knew nothing of the checkbooks. The officers called the owner of the checkbooks who said they had been stolen from her car in the Devonshire Area, west of Sylmar.

So our bike rider on probation was booked for receiving stolen property, but not on the car burglary because the officers could not prove that he was the person who broke into the car, though it’s highly probable that he was.

The story illustrates how officers’ curiosity, while following the law and good police practices, can unmask the anonymous crooks who commit so many of the anonymous property crimes in our area. Moreover, it shows how mobile many of these criminals are too, committing crimes in far flung areas of the Valley.

While the direction for cops is, BE CURIOUS, and educate the public, the answer for the public is to remove items from your car; lock your car; and use deterrence devices like alarms and steering wheel locks.

HIDE IT; LOCK IT; KEEP IT! Happy Holidays

by Lt. Paul Vernon