One of my jobs in the Community Services Division at the New Berlin Police Department is crime statistics and mapping. Dan Hanlon and I read through every police report as Dan compiles his monthly e-mail update and our crime maps on http://www.crimereports.com/. I update the property crime map that the officers and sergeants use to track where crimes such as theft, burglary and vandalism are occurring. They use this information to look for patterns and trends in property crime so that extra patrol can be given to the areas where the most crimes are being committed.
So far this year, we have taken 76 reports of thefts from vehicles. I've compiled some statistics that may be of interest. Of these 76 cases, 25 of the vehicles were locked and 51 were unlocked. In all cases of locked vehicles being entered, a window was smashed to make entry. In 17 of these 25 cases, the theft occurred at a public place, such as a theater, restaurant, or a workplace in the industrial park. Four of the 25 cases occurred in apartment complex parking lots, meaning that only four vehicles were broken into in residential driveways. Thieves do not like to break glass in residential neighborhoods. It makes too much noise and they do not want to draw attention to themselves. They usually only break glass when they see something that has a high resale value that draws their attention. Please keep your valuables out of sight. Taking the item with you when you leave the car is the best option, locking it in your trunk would be second. The last option, and the one most people are going to utilize, would be to put the item in the glove box or under a seat to keep it out of sight.
The problem is, the thieves don't have to break the glass on most cars, because they are left unlocked. I never ceased to be amazed at what type of stuff is taken from unlocked cars, many of them left out in a residential driveway overnight. The most common items taken are GPS units, satellite radios, I-pods, wallets, purses and after-market car stereos. In cases where purses and wallets are taken, the loss of your credit cards, driver's license and other identification is a much bigger hassle than losing the cash. A great deal of the overnight residential thefts from vehicles suspects are just neighborhood kids looking for change. They will seize the opportunity and take more if you leave it unsecured in your car.
Although New Berlin is one of the safest communities to live in and has a very low crime rate, sometimes we get too complacent with our valuables and they end up being taken from us. Please lock your car and keep your valuables out of sight.
