In case you missed it, about 100 residents from across the neighborhood gathered at Halcyon for our September Happy Hour. What a great turnout! Neighbors enjoyed drinks and hors d’oeuvres while chatting with friends and meeting some new ones!

As most of us know, LGNA has seen a significant spike in car break-ins recently – enough to cause NBC 5 Reporter Katy Blakey to cover the story.

As a result, DPD Officer Pham was on hand at the Happy Hour to answer questions, give insights into how the perpetrators operate, describe the steps that DPD is taking to address the issue, and make suggestions on what we as residents can do to reduce the likelihood of having our cars targeted.

Residents had lots of questions for Ofc. Pham and many expressed a lot of frustration about the lack of progress. Ofc. Pham said that DPD is increasing patrols in areas seeing increases in car break-in activity.

However, he acknowledged that it is very difficult to catch perpetrators of these sorts of crime because of the speed with which the criminals spike – often into your car and gone within a matter of minutes. Additionally, residents often only discover the crime hours later and, if detectives don’t have evidence to work with (video, photos, etc.), there is often little they can do to find the criminals.

He also acknowledged that DPD must prioritize calls and responses. Responding to incidents involving people (murder, armed robbery, home invasions, missing persons, etc.) must take priority over taking reports on car break-ins. This is frustrating but unfortunately is the reality of the situation.

Modus Operandi

• City-wide problem – not just LGNA
• Multiple groups of criminals
  • Sometimes a single person in a single car
  • Sometimes two cars working together
• Multiple cars across multiple streets will be hit on a single night
• Common nights are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – often 1:00am-5:00am
• Crews seem to work a neighborhood for 1-2 weeks and then move to a different neighborhood
  • But they will come back after the heat has died down!

Suggestions

• File a police report by calling 911
  • Do not file online for this type of crime
  • Submit videos, photos, etc. to DPD – ideally with faces, license plates, make/models of car, etc.
  • Crime reports drive the crime stats, which DPD uses to determine how to deploy resources, so file reports even if you have no evidence
• Park off-street (garage, driveway, etc.) if possible. Otherwise, park in a well-lighted area
• Do not leave items in your car – even items you do not consider valuable
  • Criminals are likely looking for firearms, money, and anything they can sell
• Hire off-duty police officers to patrol the neighborhood