|
| Coastsiders less likely to be victims By Greg Thomas [ greg@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:28 PM PDT In the wake of two recent high-profile car burglary arrests by local law enforcement, it may seem like Coastside residents are more likely than their over-the-hill neighbors to be targets for the crime. Not so, according to data compiled by a number of sources. Actually, thefts from cars on the coast have somewhat subsided in comparison with previous years and Half Moon Bay ranks as one of the cities in San Mateo County where motorists are least likely to have their car burglarized. And in unincorporated parts of the Coastside, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office has no reports of thefts from cars in the first month and a half of 2008, the latest figures available. That is not to say that the Coastside is not a target for some opportunists and groups of perpetrators. Local law enforcement officials have a range of theories as to the causes of auto burglary on the Coastside, some of which overlap and others stand in juxtaposition. But one fact rings true: There is no fool-proof prevention of these incidents. Authorities agree that auto burglary is, in most cases, a crime of opportunity — difficult to anticipate, let alone suppress. Though residents might be aware of how to protect themselves from becoming victims and law enforcement is taking precautions to stifle the crimes, reports of 60 or more car burglaries have occurred elsewhere in unincorporated parts of the county this year alone. Some officials have said that residents on the coast are not targeted specifically but rather that tourists who frequent the beach this time of year are at risk. Lt. Marc Alcantara of the Sheriff’s Office described how a typical case of auto burglary occurs on the Coastside — and it’s a crime of opportunity. “Oftentimes, (tourists) will hide their keys around their vehicle, so they don’t have to take them down to the beach,” he said. “And oftentimes the suspects will sit in the area and they will watch this occur. They wait and then they use the keys to steal whatever they might find. “Crashing waves muffle the sound of breaking glass and ... mostly it’s against the tourists,” he said. “It’s not necessarily an issue for residents.” Other officials attest to the reverse, claiming that the majority of incidents on this side of the hill occur on quiet side streets of coastal communities in the dead of night. These instances are characterized as pre-meditated acts committed by small, organized groups of perpetrators, as was the case on July 7 when three young men from Oakland were spotted on Oak Avenue, pursued and arrested. “For us, it seems like it’s been more in the residential areas,” Half Moon Bay Police Chief Don O’Keefe said. “Within the last six months, a couple groups have gone through at night. It seems to go in spurts. Whether that has anything to do with school getting out, we don’t know.” O’Keefe recounted that, in his experience, these crimes tend to increase on the Coastside in the summer months. That, coupled with the fact that the last two cases involved young male suspects, suggests a theory that students on break, with more time on their hands, find their way into mischievous acts like car burglary, he said. The reported goods stolen in auto burglary cases in the county from this year suggest crimes of opportunity. Perpetrators wasted no time smashing windows and making off with purses, credit cards and iPods — true to the modus operandi of criminal opportunists. And in many cases, these incidents are not a top priority of law enforcement. That’s due to the method in which the cars were entered and the value of the goods reported stolen. “Technically, for it to be an auto burglary, the windows must be fully up and the doors must be locked, regardless of what’s taken,” O’Keefe explained. “But if you leave that stuff open, then it depends on the value of the items — over $400 and it’s a felony, under $400 it’s only a misdemeanor. “There’s a low chance of getting caught if they don’t break windows or take over $400 (worth of valuables), so they tend to look for the easy pickins’.” County and local law enforcement officials say they are working cooperatively to staunch the efforts of Coastside car burglars. “When we have a rash (of incidents) we will conduct undercover stings,” Alcantara said. “We’ve had bait cars out there in the past and we continue to do so. We are trying to do something about it, but again, it’s something that’s going to occur, unfortunately.” Officials have employed a number of tactics to proactively prevent these crimes, including patrolling in unmarked police cars at night, keeping a special detective, A.J. Johnson, on the payroll, and at times using decoy patrol cars. “You’d be surprised how many people see the patrol car — it scares them,” O’Keefe said. “You never know how many (crimes) you’re preventing just by being there on regular patrol.” Officials said that due to the nature of many of these incidents, in which less than $400 of valuables were taken, it’s difficult to employ the resources to pursue these cases to their fullest extent. “If we had the money for a crime analyst, we’d be able to better track these stats,” Alcantara said. “As it is, we rely on the data that we can get, which is pretty much where they’re occurring, so we can’t really tell you exact trends.” “When these things come up it’s important to us,” O’Keefe said. “Anyone who’s had their car burglarized, including myself — it’s important not just to feel safe but to be safe. “We certainly want to take this seriously ... but we also want to get the community involved to decrease the chance of (residents) becoming victims.” |