Summer Thefts Begin

From two email groups. One from Lowry Park area (LPCCA) and one in SE Seminole heights

"I'm. . . . just north of the zoo.I have some friends visiting and we all had motorcycles parked in front of the house. This morning all the saddle bags on all the bikes were hanging open. There was nothing in them, so nothing was lost. My neighbor two houses over says that his wife's car radio face-plate was heisted last night. He saw a half-dozen high-school age kids hanging out on N. Orleans near W. Carissa as he came home from work at 0130. All white, five male, one female. He is not filing a police report. My wife says that a colleague of hers who lives just a couple blocks over had his car radio face plate snagged as well. He is intending to file a police report."

". . . of McBerry & Olney area, just called to warn me that his tenant’s car was stolen from their front driveway last night."

So what can we do?

TPD has tips on their website
Auto Burglary Prevention

"the simple act of placing valuables into the trunk of their car can significantly reduce the likelihood of being a victim of auto burglary"

"One of the techniques used in modern crime prevention is "natural surveillance." While this principle is usually applied to building and area design, you can use it to your advantage too. Park in an area where the likelihood is greatest that others will view it with the greatest frequency. Criminals do not like to commit their acts in plain view of many people, they like seclusion. "

A couple of years ago one of our neighbors had a checkbook stolen from her car. The previous night her tenant had her wallet stolen. In both instances the window was smashed. I left a briefcase in my van when it was parked outside my fence and the window was smashed and the bag was stolen.

Auto Theft
"Cars with a steering wheel lock device in use are four times less likely to be stolen. "

We use the Club on both of our cars. If you don't have one, you are increasing your chances of getting your car stolen. When we bought Susan's car, after we moved into the neighborhood, the car came with the Club. We stopped using it and the car was stolen.

"Time is the car thief's enemy. The longer it takes to steal a car the more likely they will be noticed and caught. Some criminals can take your car in less than 2 minutes. While there is no perfect method to stop someone from stealing your car, there are many ways to deter them. The goal is to "harden the target" so to speak -- make your car less appealing to the thief. This can be done through the use of any of a number of anti-theft devices available today."

"Close all windows, lock all doors, and take the vehicle keys with you. 25 percent of stolen vehicles had the keys in the most. Most with the engine running (just for a minute)! "

I was at the BP Station on Nebraska and Sligh the other day getting gas. As I walk up to the store to pay, this guy gets out of his car, leaves the door open, with the engine running to get pack of cigarettes from inside the store. With the number of people who hang around that store he was lucky it was not stolen. Frankly he was an idiot.

"Don't leave your original registration or title in your car "

Do you know your tag number or VIN number? I'll bet you don't. When you call the police, they are going to ask for that info. So where is that info? In your stolen car. That's what happened to me. Fortunately they tossed some papers out of the car and a neighbor called me and in the papers was the registration.

Operation Inventory
"The Tampa Police Department conducted a nine-month survey of stolen property. Out of 18,737 articles stolen only 719 of the articles where reported stolen with serial numbers. This equaled less than 4% of stolen property with reported information."

When our bikes were stolen, I could not even give a good description of them much less give any serial numbers.

"DESIRE + ABILITY + OPPORTUNITY = CRIME"