News and Events

Northern battles vehicle burglaries

By Officer Adam Young

May 2006 - Northern Division accounts for approximately 16% of vehicle thefts and 29% of all vehicle burglaries in the City of San Diego. Traditionally, Northern has been high in vehicle burglaries, but recently that trend has increased.

The command assigned Officer David Speck and me to address the car prowl problem. An immediate result of this team effort was an increase in communication with patrol officers, and the number of arrests for vehicle burglary has gone up. Dave and I took a “Problem-Oriented Policing” approach to the problem and made flyers and informational pamphlets to educate the public about vehicle burglary prevention. We also created a new prevention technique utilizing Retired Senior Volunteers (RSVP).

The RSVPs will go into a high-burglary area and evaluate vehicles as being “hard” or “soft” targets. Soft targets have property left in the vehicle, doors are unlocked, windows are rolled down, etc. The RSVP will leave a “report card” on the windshield in an effort to educate the vehicle owner about how his or her own habits affect their own victimization.

Dave and I are hopeful that vehicle-owner prevention will make a significant impact on the number of burglaries.

Adapted from San Diego Police Department Code 4 Chronicles, 5/16/06