An easy crime that commonly helps individuals commit a more serious offense later may be just as easy to prevent.
Beaumont police spokesperson Ofc. Haley Morrow said vehicle burglaries come up every time she prepares a report on common crimes for local neighborhood associations.
“… it is unfortunately such an easy crime for suspects to commit because all they have to do is pull on door handles, and so many people leave their vehicles unlocked,” Morrow said.
Car burglaries appear to largely be committed in groups by young local residents, Morrow said.
In the state of Texas more than 65,000 cars and trucks are stolen and almost 200,000 are burglarized each year, according to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.
“Many jurisdictions report that keys left inside and doors unlocked are major factors in stolen and burglarized vehicles,” the department’s Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority information said.
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A “Lock, Take, Hide” campaign helps remind people to lock their cars, take their keys and hide their valuables. But hiding valuables does not always deter burglars who may be lurking nearby for an opportunity.
For example, Morrow said a woman may hide her purse before going for a hike, hitting the bike trail, or exercising at the park.
“Most of the time but they will put their purse underneath their seat, on the floorboard, or they will sometimes just leave it on their seat,” Morrow said. “Suspects who are targeting that location knows that it may be one of the reasons why they go there, because they know once she starts off on her exercise, ‘Even if we have to break the window, we know we are going to get a purse.”
It comes down to risk and reward for would-be burglars who go door-to-door pulling on handles in neighborhoods, apartment complexes and business parking lots
“When a door opens, because it is unlocked, they are definitely going to go through it. They are going to look through the glove box, they are going to look up in the seams, they are going to look in the center console — anything valuable,” Morrow said.
Purses, wallets, loose chains, electronics — “you wouldn’t believe valuable things that people leave inside their vehicles, a lot of times unlocked,” Morrow said.
Individuals rifling through vehicles especially look for firearms, she said.
“We have a ton of firearms stolen every year from auto burglaries because people carry them in their vehicles, but then they don’t take them inside of their house then don’t secure them,” Morrow said. “A lot of people will leave their doors unlocked, but even if they don’t and for some reason the suspects do force entry into the vehicle, they are looking specifically for firearms.”
These stolen firearms then often show up in other criminal cases, Morrow said.
“It is not always immediately but over time, there is no telling how many times that firearm changes hands,” Morrow said. “We have recovered stolen firearms in homicide cases. These are guns that have been stolen out of … vehicles and they are being used on aggravated robberies and homicides.”
“That is just not a great thing to have on your conscious,” she continued. “If you are a law abiding and you do have a firearm it is your responsibility to make sure that you take care of it and keep it secure at all times …”
Morrow encourages removing valuables, when possible, but offered advice when hiding items may be the only option.
“Hide it before you get to the location you are going to,” she said. “Don’t go to the location, get it out and then hide your purse under your seat. You have to operate under (the thought) that maybe the suspects are there, and they are watching you.”
For example, an individual will sit in a bank parking lot to watch and wait for a customer to walk out with a bank bag or envelope full of cash.
“A lot of people, again, don’t operate as though they are being watched,” Morrow said. “They will get in their car, they will put their bag of money in the front seat, center console or the visor. These suspects are specifically targeting people who are taking money out.”
The burglar will then follow the bank customer to their next location.
“They know exactly where you put that money because they just watched you,” Morrow said. “We have had people who have left their doors unlocked with several thousand dollars in the front seat. That was super easy — they just had to drive up, open the door, grab and move on.”
Statistically, crime data show when a person is committing an auto burglary at an apartment complex or in neighborhoods they do not not typically force entry, Morrow said.
“Statistics show us that there are just too many people who leave their doors unlocked, ‘Why would I want to draw unnecessary attention to myself by the alarm going off and the glass breaking,’” Morrow said. “So, they just go door to door, they get plenty of valuable items that way, but they will take that chance and risk it if they see something inside that looks potentially valuable. So, if I leave my laptop bag on the front seat of the car, but I took my laptop in — they don’t know that. They are going to assume there is a laptop in there. That is when we see where the suspects forced entry.”
Police encourage everyone to lock their vehicles doors and take their valuables out. But some community members have told police they do not lock their car doors because they do not want a burglar to have their window busted out.
“Well, statistically speaking they are not going to bust your window unless they see something valuable. That can be anything from a backpack … to a firearm …”
Police have used surveillance videos to help prevent and investigate these types of cases. In fact, she said several auto burglary rings were captured because of doorbell cameras, neighborhoods communicating on various platforms such as NextDoor and through watch groups. The groups would post about a group walking down the street and pulling on door handles, and also call police to report the concern.
meagan.ellsworth@beaumontenterprise.com
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